Barbara Russo
OXFORD, Miss. – Barbara Russo, who holds a doctorate in fire and emergency services, has taught the subject and has many years of valuable on-the-job experience, took over March 16 as the University of Mississippi’s new emergency management coordinator.
Russo earned her Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. She comes to Ole Miss from Jacksonville, North Carolina. There, she served as the fire department’s division chief of training and standards while simultaneously overseeing the fire and emergency services degree program at Fayetteville State University, where she was an assistant professor.
“Aside from the fact that I am happy to be here and grateful for the opportunity, I welcome and encourage everyone to take an active role in keeping our campus community and our visitors safe,” Russo said. “A campus should always be defined by the good it does and not by a disaster or negative event that occurs on its grounds.”
To help the university community know her better, Russo answered some questions for Inside Ole Miss.
IOM: Tell us a little about your background in emergency management.
Russo: I got involved in emergency management and fire and emergency services back in 1997 while teaching and coaching at a small private college in Wisconsin. Following a baccalaureate service, the town was struck by a tornado, and I was so impressed by the quick response by the local volunteer fire department that I knew I wanted to be a part of serving the community in that capacity. So I became the first female to join the fire department and I have been involved in the field ever since.
Eventually, I went on to earn my master’s and Ph.D. in fire and emergency services administration from Oklahoma State University, becoming one of the first in the country to do so in this discipline. OSU was the first school to offer a Ph.D. in the field. Prior to coming to Ole Miss, I served as the division chief of training and standards for the city of Jacksonville (North Carolina) Fire Department. There, I performed emergency manager duties and I oversaw the fire and emergency services administration degree program at Fayetteville State University while serving as an assistant professor.
IOM: Talk about what made you interested in coming to Ole Miss.
Russo: The decision to come to Ole Miss was an easy one. First was tradition – when you hear the name Ole Miss, that is the first thing that comes to mind. Through the interview process I was able to determine a great foundation in emergency management was already in place. That demonstrates to me that a serious commitment has already been made by the university.
Second, was the level of hospitality on my visit. There are two levels of hospitality. Southern hospitality, which we have in North Carolina, and then what I refer to as Ole Miss-Oxford hospitality, which takes things to a whole new level. When I returned back to North Carolina and was asked about my visit, the only words I could use to describe it was that it “felt like home.” You can’t say that often. My interactions with faculty and staff were great, but the time I spent with students really made the difference.
IOM: Tell us about your role with the university and what some of your new duties will be.
Russo: My role is to sort of bring the pieces of a complex puzzle together as emergency management coordinator. If you can picture emergency management as the hub of a wheel and various departments as spokes, such as the University Police Department, Student Housing, etc., I serve in both an advisory capacity as it relates to emergency management issues and as part of the planning process for all of these areas. Virtually everything overlaps when you look at the big picture. Almost every part of our daily operations is impacted by some sort of emergency management or public safety function.
IOM: What can we expect from the emergency management coordinator job with you at the helm?
Russo: What I bring to Ole Miss is a unique perspective – I am a “pracademic” – both a practitioner and an academic. So I am someone who has not only done the job but has been educated and trained by many of the best researchers and practitioners in the country. I know and understand what the best practices are and how they can be applied in the academic setting since that is where I have spent the majority of my working career. I have seen things from the faculty side, athletics side as a coach and athletics director and as a career fire service professional.
I envision helping take our plan and program at Ole Miss and making it a model for our other state system schools to adopt, as well as other universities across the country to adopt if they are looking for a sound model to follow.
IOM: Talk about some of the most critical aspects of responding to an emergency situation.
Russo: Some of the more critical aspects of responding to emergency situations include, first and foremost, remaining calm. It is easy to get caught up in things but in doing so, you can actually put yourself or others in more harm. We are always taught to ensure that the scene is safe before approaching because we can’t help you if we become the next victim while responding.
Knowing exactly what type of incident you are dealing with is important, that’s why dispatch asks so many questions. They need to assess the situation and get the correct type of assistance dispatched. Do they need fire, EMS, hazmat? Time is of the essence with most situations.
For serious medical emergencies, we work within what we refer to as the “golden hour” before things can seriously deteriorate. Likewise, if we choose to evacuate, it needs to be done in a calm and orderly fashion so as not to cause panic and injury. We treat every situation as a unique one – there is no such thing as a routine call or emergency.
IOM: What are the keys to being safe during an emergency?
Russo: The No. 1 key to being safe during an emergency is knowing what to do during one. Do you know what to do if someone in your class falls out of his seat and suffers what you believe to be is a seizure? Do you know where to go if the tornado siren sounds? Knowing what to do is your greatest asset.
Having basic training in first aid and CPR is something everyone should have. The American Red Cross is now advocating hands-only CPR, which involves nothing but compressions. Anyone can learn to do this, and it does save lives. Same with basic first aid; it’s not rocket science.
It is amazing when you read how young children respond to emergencies after learning from programs delivered by their local fire departments. That is why I loved being able to deliver fire prevention programming. If we can save one life, it makes the aggravation of a puppet show or a stop, drop and roll presentation all worthwhile.
IOM: Tell us about what sort of services you will offer to faculty and staff.
Russo: I am more than happy to work closely with faculty and staff in a number of areas as they relate to emergency management-preparedness-disasters since I cross into both areas. Initially, it is really going to be a situation of me taking requests for information and assistance.
In the past, I have worked with residence life staff, for example, in delivering fire safety training at the start of each academic year. I have also done presentations for athletics stressing the importance of outdoor safety as it relates to lightning. For faculty, I often serve as a guest lecturer or subject matter expert in my field.
My research area primarily focuses on gender and race issues in fire and emergency services. I would like to also work with communications to distribute a quarterly emergency management newsletter to get information and training opportunities out to the university community.