front&center Brandon Baker

Organizing chaos emergency management director's job

By Sara Greene

LITTLE ROCK — It has been one disaster after another since Brandon Baker started work, but then again, that's just part of the job.

Baker, 21, is director of the Conway County Office of Emergency Management in Morrilton.

This spring while Baker was finishing his degree at Arkansas Tech University, there was the tornado that struck Appleton on Jan. 8, the tornado that hit Atkins and left a swath of destruction across the state on Feb. 5; flash flooding throughout Conway County on March 18 and April 3, a tornado May 2, and straight-line winds caused damage to roofs and trees in Conway County on June 9.

"Every time we have an emergency, I learn something new, like resource accountability and management. I've learned what to ask for and what not to ask for," Baker said.

For example, if he meets several families who need diapers, he works to meet that need without announcing it to the public.

"We would end up getting truckloads of diapers.

We have actually received too much clothing during the February tornado, and we weren't quite sure where to put it all," Baker said.

Conway County Judge Jimmy Hart said Baker is wise beyond his years.

"Brandon was our Office of Emergency Management coordinator when he was finishing his degree at Arkansas Tech University, and he was baptized by water and fire both," Hart said. "He has just done an

extraordinary job for a young person. He's personable

and has a good rapport with all the agencies." When Baker was growing up in Morrilton, he was

an average student and considered becoming a high

school superintendent when he grew up.

After he graduated in 2005, Baker decided to get

a bachelor of science degree in emergency manage

ment.

"I didn't know a cotton-picking thing about disas

ters when I got to college. What I like about it is every

day is different, and I never know what obstacles I

might face," Baker said.

He describes emergency management as the pro

fession of dealing with and avoiding risks and hazards.

Prior to Sept. 11, these duties were considered civil

defense. Baker said emergency management came

along after the Department of Homeland Security

was created.

"During a disaster, my biggest challenge is coordi

nating communications between all the responding

entities. My goal is to make a little bit of organization

during a chaotic time," Baker said.

After the initial response, when Baker makes sure

residents have food, shelter and medical attention,

he starts the recovery phase.

"I am the voice of the local people to the federal

government. My job during the recovery is to get

them what they need to get back on track," Baker

said.

After residents get on the road to recovery, Baker

conducts a property needs assessment, which is a sur

vey of needs to be done to help get a family's property

back to normal.

"That might be picking family photos out of the

mud or cutting down trees," Baker said.

Baker coordinated a volunteer cleanup the day

after the February tornado. He assigned each team of

volunteers to a specific property, which he said made

the event much more organized.

"As a county employee, I can't go onto private

property to help clean it up, but volunteers can. I

think on our cleanup day we hauled off about 10destroyed homes and cleaned up about 30 sites. What we can do working together is one day would take several months for the homeowner," Baker said.

"Without the help faithbased volunteer groups, law enforcement and the volunteer fire departments, I couldn't do my job," Baker said.

He said it is important for residents to know the name and face of their local director of emergency management.

When he isn't working, Baker spends his free time studying for an emergency medical technician certification test.

"If I'm going to work with emergency medical services, I want to be able to relate to the people I'm working with," Baker said.

Baker said if he wasn't working emergency management, he'd be a mortician.

"In college, I worked at a funeral home for six years. That matured my people skills. You catch people at the worst possible time in their lives at funerals, and that is what it is like with people during disasters," Baker said.

The anticipation of when the next disaster will strike inspires him each day. When he first started working in emergency management Baker said he thought his duties would be done just days after a disaster, but learned the loose ends after a disaster are almost never ending.

"When you think you're done, you're not. It's 3 a.m.

and you get a call that there's 15 people with no place to sleep, and it's up to you to find help for those people," Baker said.

He also didn't realize the role bureaucracy plays in disaster recovery.

"There are so many county, state and federal permits you have to get. For example, you can't burn some of the debris from homes because there's vinyl siding that might releasechemicals into the air," Baker said.

When there isn't a disaster, Baker is constantly organizing training and drills to prepare for the next emergency.

"You know when we give out flu shots at the fairgrounds?

That's training for mass inoculations, which is what we would do for something like bird flu," Baker said.

He is also responsible for updating the county emergency operations plan, which has guidelines on everything from earthquakes to bird flu.

In Baker's office, a thick binder labeled Radiological Emergency Response Plan defines Conway County's role during a disaster at Arkansas Nuclear One, which is the nuclear power plant in neighboring Pope County.

"Our role would be to help shelter residents from Pope County who might need to evacuate," Baker said.

Being an emergency management director also helped Baker realize disasters don't discriminate.

"You can never have enough friends, because you never know who's going to be affected by disaster," Baker said.

matter of fact

My age: 21

Family: A sister, Cassandra Baker, and parents, Benny

and Pam Baker.

Pets: Candi, a shih-tzu

Something most people don't know about me is: I sing

karaoke. My favorites are "Old Time Rock and Roll" by

Bob Seger and "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley.

I attend services at: First Baptist Church in Morrilton.

I belong to: Morrilton Rotary Club, the International

Association of Emergency Managers and the Arkansas

Emergency Management Association.

I would like to be remembered for: My honesty.

The person I admire most is: My grandpa Ben Baker.

I cannot live without: Dr Pepper

My biggest fear is: Failure and spiders.

Someday I'll: Be famous for something.

The world would be a better place if: Cars used water

instead of gas.

My favorite memory is: Christmas.

My name comes from: I think my parents passed by the

Brandon House Furniture store in Little Rock on the way

to the hospital, and my mom thought Brandon would be a

good name.

I am most comfortable in: A group of friends.

A world leader I would like to meet is: The Pope,

because I like his car.

My favorite quote is: Don't hate the player, hate the game.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 128, 129 on 07/13/2008