Horizons Fall 2014

16 HORIZONS “I thought, ‘How do you keep a large, public hospital and community safety net—that can’t close its doors—prepared and running in the midst of a serious disaster?’ Sustaining hospital operations when disaster hits—like maintaining power, responding to a surge of patients overwhelming the emergency room, or having to evacuate parts of the hospi- tal and transfer patients to other facilities—interested me.” Technically a subject matter expert on medical and public health issues, Barnwell helped his agency move beyond disaster response in the field. “That had been FEMA’s specialty—getting people shelter and helping them apply for assistance. But FEMA was still developing a med- ical and public health response, with the goal to efficiently treat disaster survivors who need more extensive medical or public health care. That’s how I started,” said Barnwell, who joined FEMA in 2010. Barnwell, who also serves as cochair of NSU’s Washing- ton, D.C., Metro Area Alumni Chapter, is part of a team that meets regularly with White House officials to ensure FEMA continues to identify likely threats and build core emergency response capabilities at the local, state, regional, tribal, and national levels. His other roles include helping to coordinate national mutual aid, such as when equipment and personnel may be needed quickly from neighboring states. “You need to have an existing system and agreements in place to request and receive that assistance,” he explained. Barnwell is work- ing on threat and hazard identification; risk assessment; and a national initiative to help responders identify poten- tial natural, technological, and man-made threats and hazards. He is also working to further develop and sustain response capabilities. return to nsu Barnwell has brought his knowledge back to NSU. He and another FEMA colleague traveled to NSU in 2012 to discuss risk management, create a sustainable business- continuity plan, and further develop the university’s entire emergency management program. They worked with James Ewing, director of NSU’s Public Safety Department, and Leonard Levy, D.P.M., M.P.H., director of the Institute for Disaster and Emergency Preparedness (IDEP) and a profes- sor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “We discussed ways to leverage the capabilities of the existing Institute for Disaster and Emergency Preparedness and combine its efforts with NSU’s Public Safety Depart- ment, to create a more robust and comprehensive emergency management program, encompassing all NSU campuses. Following that initial face-to-face meeting, we maintained communications,” said Barnwell, adding that Jacqueline A. Travisano, M.B.A., CPA, NSU’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, “has been a critical and sup- portive point of contact from university administration.” As a FEMA representative, Barnwell provided docu- ments, guidance, feedback, review, and evaluation and helped NSU connect with Florida emergency management officials for further assistance. He also provided guidance to NSU’s Public Safety Department in its planning of a mock drill to activate its incident command system and test its current capabilities. “We provided guidance on the consideration of all pos- sible disaster scenarios that could affect each NSU campus,” he said. These natural and man-made disasters include The key to a safe campus is a solid and diverse communications plan using multiple platforms.