State's new emergency management director reflects on his Penn State experience
Penn State News
By Jennifer Miller
Decades before Richard Flinn Jr. became head of emergency management operations for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he was working as an emergency medical technician (EMT) at Penn State, teaching first aid courses to students and faculty members across the state, and earning a bachelor of science degree in health planning and administration.
Today, Flinn, who Gov. Tom Wolf recently appointed as director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), oversees statewide response to disasters and initiatives to prevent and reduce the effects of disasters.
A combination of his time serving as a firefighter, EMT and paramedic; more than 35 years of military experience; and academics, including his time at Penn State, prepared Flinn for his new role.
At Penn State, Flinn said he gained many critical skills he still utilizes today, such as public speaking, interpreting statistical analyses and other skills specific to emergency management.
“What I learned at Penn State, from a planning perspective, is the idea of really understanding how you look at a problem,” Flinn said. “First defining a problem, working your way through it, coming up with various courses of action and then developing an implementation plan.”
To Penn State and back
In 1972, Flinn enrolled at Penn State Beaver with an interest in journalism and experience as a sports writer. A year later, during the Vietnam War, Flinn began his military career by enlisting in the U.S. Army as an active duty combat medic and medical clinical specialist from 1973-76.
Next, Flinn enrolled at University Park to complete his bachelor's degree. With extensive emergency response and medical experience on his resume, Flinn changed his area of study to health planning and administration. While studying, he served as an EMT at University Park. Instead of tailgating before football games, he sat on the hood of an ambulance inside Beaver Stadium ready to assist with medical emergencies.
"Years later, I took my son to a game and experienced tailgating for the first time," Flinn said. "It was a tremendous experience."
While studying, David Lindstrom, former director of emergency preparedness in the College of Medicine at Penn State, became Flinn's mentor. During summer breaks, the pair traveled to Penn State campuses teaching instructors a continuing education course in classroom emergency care. Flinn also instructed first aid courses to students at University Park.
"If it wasn't for Lindstrom and Penn State, I probably wouldn't be sitting here today," Flinn said.
Turning education into action
Lindstrom, a member of Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council, helped Flinn become involved with one of the council's committees at Penn State.
The council is a nonprofit mandated by state law to serve as the state advisory council to the Secretary of Health regarding emergency health services.
After graduating in 1979, Flinn became a safety engineer for U.S. steelworkers in Pittsburgh. Four months later, the council offered Flinn a position in Harrisburg where he helped develop a comprehensive emergency medical system for Pennsylvania. Flinn worked for the council for 24 years and ultimately became executive director.
Wolf appointed Flinn as director of PEMA in January. He is also a member of the governor's cabinet.
"My goal is to make us one of the best emergency management agencies in the country," Flinn said.
Flinn said he plans to enhance the agency by strengthening relationships with fellow cabinet members and emergency managers at the county level. He also plans to enhance relationships with a broader community.
"Disasters are not just government centric," Flinn said. "They involve entire communities. It's not a PEMA disaster; it's a commonwealth disaster. We will work closely with county emergency managers, but also other government agencies, the private sector and academia."
Specifically, Flinn noted the impact academia has on emergency management, from research to community outreach.
"There are over 25 colleges and universities throughout the country that offer degrees in emergency management. Research from lessons learned after events, to studying human behavior, to examining how we are organized in an emergency operations centers and many other topics are and will be invaluable to improving how government, the public, the private sector and the voluntary organizations prepare for, respond to, mitigate and recover from disasters," Flinn said.
As director, Flinn also plans to build a relationship with state climatologist Paul Knight, who is based at University Park, to examine how climate change and weather events are changing "so that we can better understand and be prepared to respond to new and different weather events in the commonwealth."
He also noted the student-organized Penn State-Michigan State Blood Challenge for the American Red Cross, now in its 21st year.
"That's a great program that exists and is a way to get young people involved in emergency management," Flinn said.
Most recently, Flinn served as the deputy director of the Operations Division at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he assisted the director in overseeing the National Response Coordination Center, the National Watch Center, the FEMA Operations Center at Mount Weather, the National Incident Management Teams, and the National Urban Search and Rescue Program.
From September 2005 until October 2010 Flinn served as deputy director for PEMA. Prior to joining PEMA, Flinn worked for the Pennsylvania's Governor's Office of Administration as the special assistant for Continuity of Government.
Flinn has more than 35 years of military experience and retired in December 2013 from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard as the commander for the Pennsylvania Medical Command with the rank of colonel. He has more than 40 years of experience in emergency services, serving as a firefighter, EMT and paramedic. He served as a volunteer fire chief and a township emergency management coordinator for more than 10 years.
Flinn has a master's degree in governmental administration from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School, and is a certified emergency manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Decades before Richard Flinn Jr. became head of emergency management operations for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he was working as an emergency medical technician (EMT) at Penn State, teaching first aid courses to students and faculty members across the state, and earning a bachelor of science degree in health planning and administration.
Today, Flinn, who Gov. Tom Wolf recently appointed as director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), oversees statewide response to disasters and initiatives to prevent and reduce the effects of disasters.
A combination of his time serving as a firefighter, EMT and paramedic; more than 35 years of military experience; and academics, including his time at Penn State, prepared Flinn for his new role.
At Penn State, Flinn said he gained many critical skills he still utilizes today, such as public speaking, interpreting statistical analyses and other skills specific to emergency management.
"What I learned at Penn State, from a planning perspective, is the idea of really understanding how you look at a problem," Flinn said. "First defining a problem, working your way through it, coming up with various courses of action and then developing an implementation plan."
