NW Missouri Times

Northwest Missouri State University students and faculty participated in the annual New York Hope training exercise in August, gaining essential skills in emergency and disaster management. The event took place at the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany, New York, and included participants from various states such as Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

The training covered a wide range of topics including search and rescue operations, needs assessments, the incident command system, radio and convoy operations, medical aid in austere settings, rescue operations, emergency services partner agency training, disaster psychology, and patient handoff simulations.

Among the Northwest participants were students Cheyenne Martin, Ewan Mills, Michael Myers, Kaelyn Simnitt, Will Roberts, and Will Thornsberry. They were joined by faculty members Travis Surprise and Dr. Lauren Leach-Steffens as well as alumni Mackenzie Baker, Tim Davis, Kelsie Krier, and retired faculty member Dr. Mark Corson.

Kaelyn Simnitt attended New York Hope for the first time this year. She highlighted the value of practicing mass casualty and rescue operations. "I definitely need to work on my teamwork skills," she said. "But I think no matter what you go into, you’re going to learn something about yourself."

Michael Myers attended for a second year but served as a staff member this time around. He emphasized the importance of passing on knowledge to future participants. "The biggest takeaway is essentially taking that information that I learned from being a participant and sort of just paying it forward for future participants and future staff members who may be new," he said.

New York Hope is sponsored by the Consortium for Humanitarian Service and Education (CHSE), New York Police Department Task Force 2 (NYPD TF2), and the New York State Preparedness Center (NYSPC). The CHSE also sponsors an annual fall event at Northwest Missouri State University.