Strengthening Emergency Response: Eric Missman, Yamhill County MRC Coordinator | Mark Schorr *

Eric Missman is the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Coordinator for Yamhill County. Holding the role for the past year and a half, he prepares for public health emergencies like disease outbreaks, wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and hazardous material or bioterrorism incidents. “My job is basically to make sure public health isn’t scrambling when something bad happens, mostly by writing and implementing plans, coordinating with partners, and ensuring staff readiness.”

Eric previously worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) where he served on the Region 10 Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) primarily supporting Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. When taking the job, he fully expected to be called out to help with “fires, floods and maybe an earthquake.”  Little did he, nor the rest of the world realize, that COVID-19 was about to sweep across the globe. Rather than focus on adverse weather conditions, his first assignment found him working with his team and other federal partners to get critical supplies (such as N95s and ventilators) to states, surge medical support staff, and stand-up mass vaccination and testing sites, such as the one operated out of the Oregon Convention Center throughout the pandemic. He was also involved in more traditional responses, including the 2020 Oregon Wildfires, and Alaska Typhoon Merbok response in 2022.

Eric’s interest in helping out dates back to his desire to be a 911 operator while in high school. He stresses the importance of volunteers, “It’s a huge force multiplier in emergency response. Volunteers fill critical gaps that government and professional responders just can’t realistically cover alone. Volunteerism also strengthens local resilience with community members who have established informal networks, and already know the neighborhoods, the geography, and the vulnerable populations. That makes response efforts faster and more targeted, especially in rural areas or during widespread incidents where outside help may be delayed.” He noted that as governmental agencies wrestle with uncertainty over funding, having a solid volunteer base can provide a valuable safety net.

In his role as PHEP Coordinator, Eric also oversees the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) unit housed under Yamhill County Public Health. The unit “had been inactive for a while” but currently is up to about 160 volunteers. He “hopes to continue toward long-term sustainability and capacity building. We established a volunteer leadership board in 2025, and plan to continue developing strategies to identify more enhanced training and educational opportunities, as well as hopefully some exercises for MRC volunteers in 2026 and beyond.”  He added, “More coordination and collaboration with the county’s CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is also high on our list for 2026.”

Eric currently resides in Newberg, and in his spare time, enjoys checking out local breweries and spending time with his four-year-old beagle, Ivy.

*Mark Schorr is a SERV-OR Volunteer and a member of the Bulletin Development Team