When an EF-4 tornado struck Winterset, Iowa, on March 5, Diogenes Ayala, director of the Madison County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, relied on training he received from FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in his response to the storm.
Ayala felt pulled to the emergency management field following 9/11. A native of New York City, he was living in New Jersey at the time and, in the disaster’s aftermath, assisted Verizon to recover and rebuild its communications network.
“I wanted to make sure I could keep people safe in the future,” said Ayala.
After becoming Madison County’s EMA director in early 2021, Ayala looked to the CDP’s training catalog to broaden his disaster response capabilities. He subsequently completed seven web-based courses in 2021, three web-based courses in 2022, and attended the CDP’s Basic Emergency Response Training Course.
“The courses taught me a lot about mass casualty triage, which we used considerably following the tornado,” said Ayala.
The massive twister also caused several hazardous materials issues. Because of that, Ayala is now looking to enhance his skill set by completing various CDP hazardous materials courses.
Ayala is in good company. In the last five years, more than 1,200 first responders in Iowa have completed CDP courses.
