Fraternity prepares campus, community for disaster
Posted: November 1, 2011
ATSU-KCOM Sigma Sigma Phi honors fraternity brought together members of the Kirksville community for the first Disaster Preparedness and Awareness Day (DPAD) on March 26.
Cold temperatures couldn’t keep the crowd away as 250 healthcare professionals, students, volunteers, and community members gathered to raise awareness of the steps to take whenever a community disaster occurs. Second- year ATSU-KCOM students Colleen Emge and Michael Musso coordinated the event.
“We wanted to raise community awareness,” Emge said. “After the tornado in 2009, Red Cross and FEMA weren’t able to get here for two days and locals were self-dependent and we wanted to get out information on how to respond to a future crisis.”
Community fire departments, ambulance districts, and local law enforcement joined with Northeast Regional Medical Center, A.T. Still University, and other community healthcare organizations, setting up stations, lectures, and demonstrations to benefit the community and students.
“We definitely want to see this become an annual community event,” Musso said. “We will look to bring back everything next year and to add new pieces as well.”
With the success of DPAD, Emge and Musso were asked to present the event as a workshop at the 2011 Student Osteopathic Medical Association national convention in Washington, D.C., on April 9.
Two other schools of osteopathic medicine have already taken notice. Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, Wash., and Touro University Nevada in Henderson, Nev., have inquired about a videoconference session with event organizers to implement similar programs on their campuses.