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SERV-OR Bulletin 📣 September 2025
September is National Preparedness Month
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Story of Service: Joshua Smith, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Umatilla County | written by Jessica Hamner
In Eastern Oregon, Joshua Smith is quietly weaving a stronger, more connected public health preparedness safety net. As the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Umatilla County, Josh has spent the past eight months building bridges – between agencies, communities, and people – ensuring that when public health emergencies strike, the county is ready.
Josh describes his role simply: “I get out and build relationships.” But the impact of his work is anything but simple. Click here to read full article.
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Deployment Personal Preparedness |
Mary Ellen Winterhalter and Libet Streiff
For National Preparedness Month, Mary Ellen Winterhalter interviewed Libet Streiff. Here are the seven questions posed and Libet’s responses when considering and preparing for an emergency response deployment.
Question 1
What steps do you take in advance to ensure you are ready to deploy at a moment’s notice?
I have a separate small suitcase in which I store my general deployment supplies – mostly...  Click here to read full article.
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Reflections: Harney County Deployment with Robyn Greenlund | written by Caye Gomez de Soler
In April 2025, Harney County experienced significant flooding due to the overflow of the Silvies River. In response, the American Red Cross established an emergency shelter at the Harney County Fairgrounds, where trained volunteers managed shelter operations.
Following the shelter’s activation, a request for additional medical support was submitted to the State. Upon the Governor’s declaration of emergency, the State Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Oregon (SERV-OR) initiated volunteer activation notifications to deploy medical personnel. Click here to read full article.Â
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Recruiting Leaders Statewide for the SERV-OR Advanced Team
In 2022, the SERV-OR’s State Managed Volunteer Pool (SMVP) launched the first ever pilot of the Advanced Team (A-Team). This group spearheaded the pilot in pursuit of developing volunteer leadership units across the state. Our pilot launched in Southwest Oregon counties, also known as Regions 3 and 5 of Oregon’s Hospital Preparedness Regions. The purpose of the SERV-OR Advanced Team is to de-centralize volunteer coordination of SMVP deployments by developing local leader-type volunteers, using Incident Command System (ICS) principals, who can provide on-the-ground leadership, volunteer coordination... Click here to read full article.
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Pathfinder Exercise 2025 | written by Stuart C Vaughters and Sophie Flora- DeSartÂ
Held in June on the Rock Creek campus of Portland Community College, this year Pathfinder was a single day exercise focusing on the foundational skills of an all-hazard mass casualty event. Participants received a half day of didactic training on topics such as Radio Communications, the En Route Patient Staging System (ERPSS), Patient Triage and Re-Triage for Transport, and a Burn Care Basics course. The afternoon consisted of a scenario-based, full-scale medical response drill designed to test medical response teams' ability to coordinate internally and conduct rapid triage of live and simulated patients. Click to the read full article and view photos from the exercise.
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Inform. Empower. Prepare. Together.
WANTED: A few good volunteers. We are enthusiastically recruiting for the Bulletin Development Team (BDT). Are you interested in volunteering for the BDT to help produce this marvelous newsletter? The BDT is a small yet mighty group that meets virtually once every other month to prepare for the upcoming issue of this bi-monthly newsletter. We critique the most recent edition, review distribution statistics and begin planning for the next edition by discussing story ideas, suggesting formatting changes, and sharing feedback. Volunteer members write articles, proofread and/or edit stories, recommend links to useful information to be included in the resource sections and... Click here read more.Â
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Oregon Historical Event: Christmas Flood of 1964 | written by Stuart C Vaughters
A major flood in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California in December 1964 and January 1965 has been labeled the Christmas flood of 1964. Oregon Governor Mark Hatfield declared a State of Emergency on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1964. Driven by a combination of heavy rain, melting snow, and frozen ground caused extreme runoff, erosion and flooding throughout the Pacific Northwest. In Oregon, at least 17 people died because of the disaster. The National Weather Service rated the flood as the 5th most destructive weather event in Oregon in the 20th century. Click here to read more about this historical event.
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Thank you: Danielle Brown, Samantha Buckley, Sophie Flora-DeSart, Cayetana Gomez de Soler, Robyn Greenlund, Gloria Hale, Jessica Hamner, Velda Handler, Carissa Heiniege, Â Joe Johnson, Paul Kaplan, Jessica Kosydar, Eric Missman, Abby Morris, Mojisola Obiako, Cynthia Rodriguez, Shane Sanderson, Josh Smith, Libet Streiff, Kristy Tibbets, Stuart C Vaughters, Lila Wickham, and Mary Ellen Winterhalter.
Oregon scenic images courtesy of Heather Chapin, Mary Ellen Winterhalter and Jeff Rubin.
Those named above contributed to the production of this edition of the SERV-OR Bulletin. Your contributions are greatly appreciated!
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Mission
The mission of the State Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Oregon (SERV-OR) and Oregon’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) network is to ensure health and well-being, educate, and protect all people in Oregon.
We will accomplish this through recruiting, registering, training, exercising, and deploying licensed volunteer health professionals to support public health initiatives, health and medical needs during public health crises, and by improving access to preparedness education and resources for all individuals and communities.
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