The Grinnell Rotary Club held its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Following the opening of the meeting, members shared good news and club business. The speaker for this week’s meeting was Brian Paul, Poweshiek County Emergency Management Coordinator.
Brian Paul has been coordinator of Poweshiek County Emergency Management since November 2017. His background is in fire and EMS. He has been a firefighter and paramedic for twenty-three years! Brian still provides part-time support to the Grinnell Fire Department.
The common question is often what is emergency management and what does it us provide on a daily basis? The four pillars of emergency management are Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Mitigation.
Under the Preparedness phase comes a lot of training, education, and exercises. Examples are preparing for active shooter threats, holding disaster drills with our schools, outreach efforts at public events like the county fair, national night out, giving presentations, and distributing flyers.
The next pillar is Response to incidents like natural disasters and confirmed fires in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, schools, factories, HazMat events, etc. Evacuation of those affected by fire requires bringing in resources to move people into shelter. Response might reach out to include Interstate I-80.
In the Recovery pillar, in an emergency for example, people will need help in finding shelter, moving back home, etc. This might be with the help of Red Cross, families, friends, or a hotel for a few nights. For larger scale events, Brian must work directly with Poweshiek County, the state of Iowa, or Federal resources.
Finally, the Mitigation phase is where the focus is on prevention. Strengthening existing structures, fire prevention, construction of safe rooms (these are usually too costly for FEMA approval), all fall under mitigation. An example is the outdoor warning sirens. A grant was received and work completed to repair or replace seventeen outdoor sirens, having all sites equipped with battery backup or generators. These sirens, by the way, turn off after three minutes.
There is a Federally mandated hazard mitigation plan that Poweshiek County is required to update every five years. This plan is currently being updated. It involves all stakeholders, city councils, mayors, school districts, County Board of Supervisors.
The next pillar is Response to incidents like natural disasters and confirmed fires in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, schools, factories, HazMat events, etc. Evacuation of those affected by fire requires bringing in resources to move people into shelter. Response might reach out to include Interstate I-80.
In the Recovery pillar, in an emergency for example, people will need help in finding shelter, moving back home, etc. This might be with the help of Red Cross, families, friends, or a hotel for a few nights. For larger scale events, Brian must work directly with Poweshiek County, the state of Iowa, or Federal resources.
Finally, the Mitigation phase is where the focus is on prevention. Strengthening existing structures, fire prevention, construction of safe rooms (these are usually too costly for FEMA approval), all fall under mitigation. An example is the outdoor warning sirens. A grant was received and work completed to repair or replace seventeen outdoor sirens, having all sites equipped with battery backup or generators. These sirens, by the way, turn off after three minutes.
There is a Federally mandated hazard mitigation plan that Poweshiek County is required to update every five years. This plan is currently being updated. It involves all stakeholders, city councils, mayors, school districts, County Board of Supervisors.
Brian’s presentation appears on the Rotary Club of Grinnell website in the section labeled “Stories, April 21, 2026.” Grinnell Rotary Website https://portal.clubrunner.ca/1642
If you are interested in learning more about membership in the Rotary Club of Grinnell, the club meets every Tuesday evening at 5:30 at West Side Family Restaurant.
Peter Jackson.
