Emergency Management Interns Help Communities

Published 07.13.2016

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Six students enrolled in emergency management technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology are honing their skills and helping their communities while serving in internships this summer.



Penn College emergency management technology students, including Emily V. Lenhart (right), of New Tripoli, participate in a tornado disaster exercise at the Emergency Operations Center in Williamsport. The students and their assignments are: Christina R. Inman, Sugar Grove, interning with Emergency Services at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hamot, Erie; Emily V. Lenhart, New Tripoli, with Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Department of Public Safety & Emergency Operations, Allentown; Daniel S. Lewis, Hamilton Square, New Jersey, with the Mercer County Office of Emergency Management, Trenton, New Jersey; Corbin P. Snyder, Harrisburg, with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, Reisterstown, Maryland; Jamie L. Steer, South Williamsport, with the Little League Baseball World Series; and Christopher H. Warney, of Williamsport, with the Burlington County Office of Emergency Management, Westampton, New Jersey.

The internships supplement the hands-on education the Penn College students receive in the classroom and at community-based training exercises.

The emergency management technology curriculum is designed to equip students with a comprehensive understanding and hands-on application of skills across the emergency management spectrum. The students are trained to analyze natural, manmade, biological and technological hazards and vulnerabilities; build community partnerships that expand resources; communicate risks and safety information; handle crisis communications and psychological first aid; and recognize local, state and federal laws, regulations, policies and procedures related to emergency management efforts.

Among the community-based training simulations Penn College emergency management students participated in during the Spring 2016 semester were a mass-casualty and decontamination drill on the Williamsport Regional Medical Center campus and a tornado disaster exercise at the Emergency Operations Center in downtown Williamsport.

“I really enjoy the hands-on aspect of the exercises,” Lenhart said. “What we learn in the program is not just written on paper through exams or homework. We get to go out and put our knowledge and skills to the test and see where we struggle and must improve, not only as individuals, but as a group, as well. I really enjoy the writing and research aspects of the major, too. It allows us to conduct research and learn about events that have occurred before some of us were even born, and learn how emergency management has evolved over the years.”

For eight weeks this summer, Lenhart is interning with the Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Department of Public Safety & Emergency Operations through the network’s Research Scholar Program. She’s conducting research to determine more efficient ways to conduct patient transport to and transfer from LVHN facilities and is shadowing various aspects of the patient transport, admission and discharge processes, and the network’s emergency preparedness and emergency management.

Lenhart is also expecting to travel with her department to the Pennsylvania 400, held in late July at the Pocono Raceway. She says LVHN handles medical needs during races at the legendary racetrack.

For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education and workforce development, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.