Wheatland County Unified Incident Command

Published: 2020
By Mandie Reed

In March 2020, the Wheatland County (Disaster and Emergency Services) DES coordinator quickly realized that the COVID-19 pandemic was different from most emergencies. The pandemic has been a prolonged incident. The Unified Incident Command team asked Wheatland County MSU Extension agent Mandie Reed to serve as the team's information officer, coordinate virtual team meetings, disseminate information on social media, and serve as a community contact. This partnership has allowed the other team members to address the emergency and keep the community safe and informed. Wheatland County MSU Extension created a Facebook page for UIC to serve as a community resource. We also began hosting community updates via Webex with Wheatland Memorial Healthcare, the Central Montana Health District, and other agencies as needed to allow community members the opportunity to ask questions and access to information.