Lincoln County Health and Human Services (HHS) and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) have selected Samantha Buckley as their new County Assistant Emergency Manager. The assistant position is a grant funded position through the Oregon Health Authority for Public Health Emergency Preparedness program and the Office of Oregon Emergency Management for Emergency Management Performance Grants.
In January of 2014 Lincoln County Public Health and the Sheriff’s Office aligned both the public health and the County emergency management programs under the direction of Jenny Demaris, County Emergency Manager. This collaboration allowed a streamlining of program functions and the full time hiring of the assistant position to assist with support of both programs.
Ms. Buckley moved from Coos County where she had served in the Public Health Department as their Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Oregon and is currently pursuing a master of public health with the University of Washington.
A strong focus of Samantha’s position will be to liaison with the public health community partners, develop advocacy relationships with those that serve the vulnerable populations and encourage the promotion of preparedness efforts and development of response plans.
Nicole Fields, Interim Public Health Director stated “It is very exciting to have Samantha join our Team Lincoln County; she brings with her the necessary tool box of public health preparedness skills, resources and a passion for helping communities with preparedness and resiliency planning.”
Lt. Adam Shanks, Administrative Lieutenant commented “We were very pleased with the interview panel’s recommendation to select Samantha as the Assistant Emergency Manager and feel her prior coastal community connection in Coos County will provide for a smooth transition to Lincoln County”.
Specific goals for EM Buckley’s position in the first year will be to organize a quarterly public health partner collaborator meeting, assist the local care facilities with the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) requirement’s and coordinate with Oregon Health Authority on their first state-wide medical counter measures point of dispensing exercise. Over the next few months Ms. Buckley will orient to the Lincoln County landscape, policies, and emergency response functions in support of the county’s Emergency Operations Plan. Public Health Partners will be contacted directly by EM Buckley this week to initiate an introduction and a point of contact for preparedness assistance.
Jenny Demaris, County Emergency Manager stated “having EM Buckley join our Emergency Management Team will be another asset to help our communities prepare, respond and recover from disasters; her enthusiastic outlook and eagerness to build relationships among the health partners will serve Lincoln County well as we move forward in strengthening our community resilience.”
Samantha Buckley
Assistant Emergency Manager
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
Emergency Management
225 W. Olive St.
Newport, Oregon 97365
sbuckley@co.lincoln.or.us
(541) 265-4199 Office
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Respectfully submitted,
Virginia "Jenny" Demaris
Emergency Manager
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
Emergency Management
225 W. Olive St.
Newport, Oregon 97365
vdemaris@co.lincoln.or.us
(541) 265-4199 Office