(Clarinda) -- One of Page County's newest emergency management officials is looking forward to her new role.
Last week, the Page County Emergency Management Commission offered the Page County EMA Director position to Jill Harvey, who then accepted the job. A 1994 University of Nebraska-Kearney graduate, Harvey has served as the Deputy Emergency Management Director in Phelps County, Nebraska, since December 2015 and has filled in as the director since April. Harvey also currently serves as the secretary and conference planning committee chair for the Nebraska Association of Emergency Management and has been a volunteer EMT and firefighter for Loomis Fire and Rescue since 2003. Harvey tells KMA News she looked at the Page County position as an opportunity to expand her knowledge and experiences in emergency management.
"As an opportunity where I could use the training I've had and I do have some family in Iowa and it would move us closer to them and we'd get to see them a little bit," said Harvey. "But mostly just an opportunity to expand my training and serve people in a new area."
Harvey says her interest in emergency management can be traced back to 2006 when a major ice storm struck a good portion of central Nebraska, leaving the Phelps County Courthouse running on a generator for nearly 30 days. She assisted the Loomis Fire Department in providing care to those in need.
"We actually ran one of the shelters in our town and serviced probably 50 people over night, and we had some health issues, so we were there all night long with the fire department providing services for people there," said Harvey. "We ran unit calls out of there, and everything was impacted by that ice storm and it just showed so many areas where assistance is needed. It just kind of became an interest of mine to help however I can."
Harvey has also assisted in planning training exercises for Nebraska's south-central region.
"The planning exercise training region is made up of I believe 17 counties and I do most of the planning for that," said Harvey. "I work with the state to plan some of those classes that they provide. We also have an outside training agency that comes in and does those trainings for us. But, I work with them to schedule that."
Harvey also assisted in wildfire responses in southwest Nebraska and flood response back in 2019. Harvey says she looks forward to collaborating with the different city and county officials and first responders.
"There are a few more towns there than what is in my current county, so I look forward to seeing what kind of goals we can set and meet together," said Harvey. "And create partnerships that will not only benefit is locally but across the county and maybe even across the state."
While the hire is pending final county procedures, Harvey is expected to be on the job by October 31.
