More women heed the call to public service in emergency management world

As emergency management specialists at Lebanon County’s Department of Emergency Services, Devyn Iozza and Brianna Laliberte are trailblazers in their chosen profession. 

They’re at the forefront of a recent paradigm shift in what was once a male-dominated field within the world of emergency management services. 

“It’s a good mix. I think it’s largely men, but there are women in emergency management throughout many areas of the nine-county region,” Iozza said. “Not all of them, but if you look at Lancaster, they’ve hired quite a few women in the past few months, and York has several women, too.”

Higher education

Both Laliberte and Iozza have obtained master’s degrees, with Laliberte noting that’s been the biggest shift she’s seen within this profession. 

“I was going to say, I think that’s where the paradigm shift has been. It’s definitely a male-dominated field, but that is changing, I think, because of the education that is now being required of people,” she said. “I think that’s why you’re seeing females come into it a bit more.” 

After a light-hearted moment where she answers LebTown’s question that “women are indeed smarter than men” and Lebanon County DES director Bob Dowd, who’s also their boss, says it feels like he “felt a jab there,” Iozza agrees with Laliberte.

“I was in my master’s program only a year and a half ago, and I felt that there were more women in my program than there were men. And I don’t know if that has to do with the new programs coming out for emergency management, but I felt there were more women in my program and classes,” she said.

Both ladies took similar paths in their educational studies on the road to becoming emergency management specialists in Lebanon County. 

Laliberte, the “senior” county employee of the two, said she obtained her bachelor of arts in Environmental Hazards and Emergency Management from Millersville University and her master’s degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security at Arizona State University. 

Iozza’s bachelor of science degree in Intelligence and National Security was obtained at Point Park University and her master’s in Emergency Management came from Millersville.

“Both of them are right here because they were the best (candidates), it’s that simple. And most recently you (Iozza) – I don’t remember how many applicants we had – but you were the very clear top pick. So I couldn’t even tell you the ratio of men to females that applied, but there were more females that applied. I don’t believe you were the only one,” Dowd said, with Laliberte, who participated in Iozza’s interview, agreeing.

A life of public service

Besides being the best applicants during their respective hiring rounds, both shared a common work-life goal to be public servants. 

“I always knew I wanted to be in a position where I was able to help people,” Iozza said. “And then when I saw the emergency management world, that was kind of it for me.” 

“I wanted to be a meteorologist since I was 5 years old,” Laliberte said. “But I think it worked out the way it was supposed to be.” 

Weathering the storm

Both are also fascinated with weather and get to act when it is inclement on a scale where it may become a major event in the Lebanon Valley.

“I was always standing outside (when young), watching the storms come in with (my dad). And so I’ve always loved the weather. I was always fascinated by all the clouds rolling in and the different things that happen across the United States,” Iozza said. “Part of my master’s degree was studying climate change and all the different trends, and just to see the wide range of disasters that are happening and how they’ve gotten more expensive, how they’re becoming more frequent, and more violent. So all of that kind of ties into what we’re doing now.”

Dowd told LebTown that both work on pre-storm and real-time messages concerning weather events. The real-time messaging occurs within the department to avoid duplicity with public annoucements made by the National Weather Service.

“They watch the weather on a more local level and they’re constantly making sure they understand what the local impacts would be if something were to happen so that they can pre-plan things like responses and messaging and any sort of mitigation actions that might have to come from whatever storm is happening,” Dowd said. ”Sometimes it’s just a matter of saying, ‘Hey, you know, what we’re tracking has enough potential that we should upstaff the 911 Center.’”

In that scenario, the management specialists pass that message to Dowd who then addresses it with 911 leadership so that there’s appropriate staffing on hand in case the expected bad weather event hits Lebanon County.

“They might say, ‘I know the probability of something is significantly higher than what it normally would be. And here are the things we want to watch from the emergency management side of the house.’ So that could be flood indicators, that could be wind speed indicators, that could be anything. They take the generic national weather service information and watch and keep an eye on what type of local impacts that could have and what we need to do to respond to that or be prepared for that.”

Reaching the public

Public outreach and education are also key components of their job descriptions.

“The basis of all of this is relationships. Our job is to build relationships because you don’t know when you’re going to need to rely on them during a disaster or an emergency,” Laliberte said. “With that, though, we build relationships with different organizations and entities throughout the county. So in our schools, (and) I deal with the daycare facilities as well. Also work on the access and functional needs registry, oversee the interns, (but) all of it leads back to relationship building.”

“I do our nursing facilities, so that is from dialysis centers to the retirement communities to the skilled nursing facilities, all of that under one umbrella, helping them with their emergency plans,” Iozza said. “And then I have the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and I do the community engagement for our department. So I’m heavily involved with community events that are happening across the county and going out there to share information on what we do here and how to help individuals and families prepare for the things that we’re talking about.”

Preparedness matters

Emergency preparedness is a core component to their outreach efforts.

“We look at preparedness on a big scale. Our job is to protect the lives, property and environment of everyone who lives in and travels through Lebanon County on a daily basis,” Laliberte said. “We plan and we do our best to prepare and we think we are in a good space to be prepared for any disaster that comes our way.”

They stress that personal emergency preparedness is also an individual’s responsibility. 

“However, there is some individual preparedness that has to take place, too. It can’t just be us putting in all the effort,” Laliberte added. “Everyone should have their own emergency plans. If they own a house, they should have homeowners insurance. If they rent, they should have renters insurance. Individual preparedness is becoming increasingly important in this space that we are in.”

“Like was said about the tornado, you know, coming through and taking out the house, that is difficult to prepare for (the loss of a home). However, that individual and family preparedness really places emphasis on reducing injury and death,” Iozza said. “So protect you and your family by going to the basement, even though the rest of the house is gone. Just doing those little things to promote life safety.” 

‘Hazards’ of the job

One of the occupational hazards of their jobs is to be members of the special operations team in the county’s hazmat unit. 

Neither consider these to be jobs they particularly love – although hazmat calls do have a way of ensuring no two work days are exactly alike, they say.

“I didn’t want to do it in the beginning, but I’ve come to love it with time and training,” Laliberte said. “It’s not something you really know about and so coming into it with no knowledge of how any of it works, no background in it. I was not a first responder at all prior to this, so it just is not something I really ever pictured myself doing.” 

Asked if the community service aspect of hazmat duty makes it easier for Iozza to do it, she responds with an emphatic, “no,” which elicits laughter around the room.

“I didn’t really want to do it. Again, same thing as Bri, I was not a first responder before this. I had zero knowledge of hazmat response. And because I’m still very new to it, when a call comes in I’m still very nervous,” she said. “I’m excited in a way because chemicals are fascinating. But in terms of being comfortable and being safe, I’m still very nervous about certain things.”

Role models

Both are aware, whether they are in the field conducting a hazmat operation or at an educational event, that they are role models for other females. 

“I hope that it empowers younger girls, younger women, to want to do something like this now that they’ve seen people here be able to do something like that,” added Iozza.

“It’s not really something I really thought about too much when I first started in this job but it’s something I’ve pondered a little bit more as I’ve been here longer and and have seen more females come into the role – especially as we’ve interacted with more and more people in the community and drawn their curiosity,” Laliberte said.

“I think it’s important for girls to be able to see themselves where they maybe never thought they could be,” she added.