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The Western Territory is pleased to welcome Ms. Monica Severson to the Community Relations and Development department as the new territorial director of Emergency and Disaster Services. She brings a wealth of experience in emergency management and continuity of operations, and training expertise in those fields as well as anti-terrorism, natural hazards, federal emergency programs and health issues.
Severson holds a Masters Degree from The George Washington University in Public Administration with a concentration in Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management. She earned her undergraduate degree in Planning and Development from the University of Southern California.
Most recently, Severson served as an Emergency Management and Training specialist for the United States Capitol Police where she designed and implemented emergency management training courses for the 1,600 Capitol Police officers, 400 civilians employed by the department, and the congressional staff who work at the U.S. Capitol complex.
She has also served the American Red Cross for the last eight years as a volunteer in Disaster Health and Safety. In that role she was an instructor for the Emergency Response Vehicle operations, CPR, and first aid training courses and was trained in disaster functions such as food handling, in-kind donations, logistics, shelter operations, and mass casualty, among others.
On her list of short-term goals, Monica plans to serve as a liaison with NHQ, facilitate the implementation of the National Disaster Training Program, Medic First Aid and Incident Command Training courses in the territory. She also plans to assist the divisions with disaster preparedness planning, research potential sources of new funds for divisional disaster planning and response, work with Silvercrest on updating their Emergency Operations Plan, and facilitate the recruitment and training of personnel for deployment in large national and international disasters.
