The Kansas Department of Agriculture will host seven regional emergency response training workshops for individuals who have an active role in the Kansas agriculture industry, are interested in learning more about agricultural emergency response, or are interested in participating in the Kansas Agriculture Emergency Response Corps.
The workshops will cover a variety of topics, including:
- Foreign animal disease response general overview
- Kansas’ agriculture response model, including lessons learned from previous ag emergency exercises
- Newly launched Kansas Agriculture Emergency Response Corps and volunteer integration
- FEMA incident command system
There is no cost for the workshops, and they are open to anyone interested in learning more about responding to agricultural incidents; you do not have to be signed up for the volunteer corps, but participants will receive more detailed information about the program.
Dates and locations for the emergency response training workshops are as follows:
- Feb. 23 — Clay Center
- March 5 — Lawrence
- March 9 — Wichita
- March 16 — Chanute
- April 6 — Garden City
- April 20 — Colby
- May 4 — Manhattan
All workshops will be from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP at least a week in advance. Space is limited to the first 30 registrants. To register, contact David Hogg, KDA assistant emergency management coordinator, at 785-564-7468 or david.hogg@ks.gov.
The new agriculture emergency response corps began in 2017 as a comprehensive volunteer corps to address agriculture emergency response. It is made up of volunteers representing a broad range of skills who will be trained and prepared to respond rapidly and efficiently to an agricultural emergency. For more information about the Kansas Agriculture Emergency Response Corps, go to agriculture.ks.gov/KAERC.