Keeping up with training is not a cheap proposition in this day and age, and county officials are turning to grant funding to help keep the training process moving.
This week, Emergency Risk Manager Amy Miller reported on efforts to keep training projects advancing with the help of grant funding.
“Each year, Barton County Emergency Management applies for grant funds with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management. For the FY2011 year, Barton County is eligible to receive $24,000 by completing planning, exercises and other special projects outline by the state,” she explained.
Keeping up with this process, however, if not always easy, Miller explained. “In order to receive the grant funds for this year and 2012, KDEM changed the guidelines in September. 
“As a result, every county emergency management director was required to complete 11 Federal Emergency Management Agency Independent Study Program courses in order to receive the EMPG grant funds.”
Because of that, Miller reported, she completed the required courses during November. She added that other county staffers also participated in the required training and all of them “received a certificate of achievement for completing the professional development series offered by FEMA and the Emergency Management Institute.”
And in another training issue, Miller reported that late in November, her department “held a training and exercise planning workshop for emergency response partners within Barton County. 
“The purpose of the workshop was to provide participants an opportunity to develop a coordinated and comprehensive exercise and training calendar that would support the needs and reporting requirements of all response partners within Barton County,” Miller explained.
Miller explained the training is important to keep the county staff ready to respond to a variety of emergencies. “The thought behind this long term planning is to efficiently meet agency training and exercise needs with cooperative planning and allow interaction between response partners. 
“It is expected that such cooperation will result in a more efficient use of time and resources for all involved agencies. 
“In addition, the group made exercise and training suggestions for the calendar years 2013 and 2014.”