By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
EL RENO – First responders and emergency personnel from across the region will soon converge in central Canadian County for a three-day training event.
The annual Southwest Emergency Management Workshop will be Wednesday through Friday, Feb. 23-25 at the Canadian County Expo & Event Center, 3001 Jensen Road East.
Canadian County Emergency Management will host the upcoming training workshop.
“Every police department, fire department, EMS (emergency medical service) agency, and emergency management agency in the entire southwest region of the state will be in attendance,” Canadian County Emergency Management Director Andrew Skidmore said.
The spacious Canadian County Expo & Event Center, just south of Interstate 40, opened in July 2021.
“We currently have over 100 registered for the workshop but are expecting some participation from the central and northwest regions as well just due to our geographic location,” Skidmore said.
“The workshop was originally set to be hosted at Fort Sill in Lawton, but due to the current COVID conditions, Fort Sill isn’t allowing visitors on base. So, we needed a new venue and Canadian County was picked because of our new expo and event center.”
SESSIONS, SPEAKERS
Participants will attend training sessions on topics like emergency operations center (EOC) operations, active shooters and volunteer disaster response organizations.
Featured speakers will include Mark Gower, director of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security; and Jerome McCalvin, vice president of the southwest area.
A workshop highlight will be the announcement of the “Southwest Emergency Manager of the Year” and recognition of retired emergency managers.
The Oklahoma Emergency Management Association’s annual conference will be March 27-31 at Choctaw Casino in Durant.
