Spring Break
RIEMA executive director details emergency systems
Nicole Vazquez
Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: News
11/18/08 - On Friday, David Smith, the executive director of Rhode Island Emergency Agency, discussed the importance of emergency preparedness to University of Rhode Island students and others.
Students enhanced their knowledge about emergency systems throughout Rhode Island, and how they are advancing.
Smith, a former URI student and a Rhode Island native, has had plenty of experience in the emergency fields. He began as a cop in Westerly in 1979, and was chief of police in Westerly and Narragansett. After a short term at Roger Williams University as director of Public Safety and Transportation, he got his position at RIEMA.
Smith began the lecture by explaining RIEMA's mission, detailing each aspect so students would be able to understand the importance of being prepared.
He emphasized his passion for his job, and encouraged students to become aware of emergencies that can effect them on small and big scales. An example was a small emergencies like a house fire compared to a statewide emergencies like California's forest fires.
Smith further explained his involvement in the communication radar system here in Rhode Island. He was a part of the team that allows fire stations, police stations and ambulances to communicate to each other through radio.
Ninety percent of Rhode Island emergency services are connected through this radar system, which allows stations to communicate through radio, he said.
Smith said the most important part of his job is "to protect you and to put the bad guys behind bars, and exonerate the innocent, we make it better."
Smith's dedication to preparedness is obvious. He said he always has a snow shovel in his car in the middle of June, because with crazy weather "you never know what could happen in a matter of seconds.
Students don't have to be involved in police work or have any former experience to get involved in what Smith does.
The "College Cirque Team," an emergency response team, is tapping into thousands of college students.
This program "allows kids to be mentors, the training to be prepared and to assist in emergencies," Smith said. He also said the program instills in students the ideas of "prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery." Smith encouraged students to get involved, and become more aware of natural or man-made disasters that could change their lives within a matter of minutes.
Smith's lecture is an eye-opener to people who do not realize that they are at risk of disasters, and could have their lives changed forever. Although Smith's job could be risky at times, he ended his lecture, saying "I prefer to say that I am a moving target …but I love where I am right now, and love what I do."
Students enhanced their knowledge about emergency systems throughout Rhode Island, and how they are advancing.
Smith, a former URI student and a Rhode Island native, has had plenty of experience in the emergency fields. He began as a cop in Westerly in 1979, and was chief of police in Westerly and Narragansett. After a short term at Roger Williams University as director of Public Safety and Transportation, he got his position at RIEMA.
Smith began the lecture by explaining RIEMA's mission, detailing each aspect so students would be able to understand the importance of being prepared.
He emphasized his passion for his job, and encouraged students to become aware of emergencies that can effect them on small and big scales. An example was a small emergencies like a house fire compared to a statewide emergencies like California's forest fires.
Smith further explained his involvement in the communication radar system here in Rhode Island. He was a part of the team that allows fire stations, police stations and ambulances to communicate to each other through radio.
Ninety percent of Rhode Island emergency services are connected through this radar system, which allows stations to communicate through radio, he said.
Smith said the most important part of his job is "to protect you and to put the bad guys behind bars, and exonerate the innocent, we make it better."
Smith's dedication to preparedness is obvious. He said he always has a snow shovel in his car in the middle of June, because with crazy weather "you never know what could happen in a matter of seconds.
Students don't have to be involved in police work or have any former experience to get involved in what Smith does.
The "College Cirque Team," an emergency response team, is tapping into thousands of college students.
This program "allows kids to be mentors, the training to be prepared and to assist in emergencies," Smith said. He also said the program instills in students the ideas of "prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery." Smith encouraged students to get involved, and become more aware of natural or man-made disasters that could change their lives within a matter of minutes.
Smith's lecture is an eye-opener to people who do not realize that they are at risk of disasters, and could have their lives changed forever. Although Smith's job could be risky at times, he ended his lecture, saying "I prefer to say that I am a moving target …but I love where I am right now, and love what I do."
