LWV NEWS RELEASE
The League of Women Voters of Los Alamos will hold their community event, Lunch with a Leader, on October 20, via zoom at noon-1PM. Beverley Simpson, their speaker, is the Emergency Manager for Los Alamos County where she organizes and directs operations of the Emergency Services Bureau and Consolidated Dispatch Center (CDC). The Emergency Services(OEM) mission is to protect Los Alamos County through regional and local partnerships and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain and improve the capacity to effectively and efficiently mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism or other man-made disasters. OEM activates the Emergency Operations Center (EOC); coordinates information and resources during a disaster; supports first responders; writes emergency plans; trains public safety agencies; holds exercises on disaster response and recovery; maintains public warning systems; manages Federal grant funds; assists in disaster declarations and educates and prepares our community for disasters.
These past two years, Beverley has been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Alamos County. She sent out the first situation report for Los Alamos County on Feb 6, 2020 which officially began COVID-19 response planning for the County. Mass vaccination clinics started on Dec 19, 2020 and in January 2021 the vaccination clinics began and continue today. In all, 32 vaccination clinics have been conducted, 15,000 vaccines were administered, and Los Alamos County has remained one of the top jurisdictions for fully vaccinated residents in the State.
On April 22 at 1500, the Cerro Pelado fire started in Sandoval County. A CodeRED informed the public that smoke could be seen from the Southwest. Messaging continued throughout the event. An Emergency Declaration was issued and activated at the Police Department. Preparations to evacuate the County were instigated. Pre-evacuation of the residents who required assistance and large animals began .
Beverley is also a Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserves, assigned as the Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer (EPLO) to New Mexico. As the NM EPLO, she advises the Region VI Defense Coordinating Officer, other Federal entities, New Mexico, and other civil emergency management leadership, Identifying
relevant gaps in civil disaster response capabilities.
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Oct 20, 2022 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kf-qprzotHtzWXZuBVEZSs0AcFWOAIZD3After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting