Shea Lane has accomplished many things in his career, but given the nature of his job, he’s not at liberty to talk about some of them.
Lane, a weapons of mass destruction specialist, is coordinator of the Greene County Homeland Security Regional Response System Task Force and the planning section chief of the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management.
“We respond to all hazardous incidents in and surrounding Greene County, Region D and the state of Missouri,” says Lane, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Homeland Security and defense at Missouri State University.
While his role includes making sure the region is prepared to deal with terrorism, there are other situations in which he is called upon to help. He shares the story of a potentially dangerous incident that recently occurred in west Springfield. A house exploded, and his team worked with the Greater Ozarks Chapter of the American Red Cross’ disaster assistance team and on-site emergency response vehicle to render aid to 30 individuals.
He also helps write incident action plans for hazard responses, exercises and special events.
His role in one recent local event makes him particularly proud. For his team, it was dubbed Project 704, but the rest of the community knows it better as the ABC “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build in Ash Grove last summer.
Crews had seven days to demolish an existing home and build a brand new one, and as planner and operator, Lane helped to make sure everything – from traffic management to contractor safety and security to perimeter control – went off without a hitch.
“Through the leadership of the Office of Emergency Management and a host of other groups, the event was a complete success, with no injuries and very little negative impact on the community,” he says.
Lane takes an active role in engaging other young professionals in Homeland Security and emergency management, through helping to train future Community Emergency Response Team members to be ready for disasters.
Lane also developed and now manages an intern program within the Office of Emergency Management, making sure that participants leave with portfolios that include certifications, nationally recognized training, firsthand knowledge of emergency management procedures and mentor relationships.
Off the clock, he works with Boy Scouts of America Troop 201 in Ozark. More than 25 of the 60 active scouts have been certified through the Christian County Emergency Management Agency as Teen CERT members, and Lane coordinated the compilation of their field deployment backpacks.[[In-content Ad]]
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