Owen ready to take over Emergency Management role

For Sarah Owen, Putnam County is home.

She has served as a volunteer, done professional work in Putnam County and has helped assist the most vulnerable citizens as chief executive officer of Putnam County CERT.

For all those reasons and then some, it is why Owen believes her new transition to Putnam County Emergency Management Director will be a seamless one. She replaces David Costin, who is retiring.

“It is exciting to be stepping into this new role here in my home county. My background both as a volunteer and professional work experience has prepared me in a lot of ways to step into this position with confidence. There is still a ton to learn, and I am very grateful to be getting a lot of one on one time with David Costin as I prepare to take the position over next month,” Owen told The Putnam County Post.

In 2012, Owen joined the Putnam County CERT team and was elected chief a little over four years ago.

“This time with PC CERT has given me a lot of first hand experience, training in and a much broader viewpoint of the vital role volunteers play in effective disaster response. As an EMA deployed resource, PC Cert will continue to be something I am involved in just from a new perspective,” Owen acknowledged.

Her new role will consist of making sure the county is operational should a natural disaster hit Putnam County.

“Whenever a disaster, crisis or other emergency occurs that is beyond the resources of the community to adequately resolve, the EMA Director serves as the Liaison or Point of Contact, by statute, between state and federal assets that can be called upon to assist the community in these circumstances. Additionally, the EMA Director researches risk/potential for such circumstances, seeks mitigation strategies to reduce this risk and prepares, trains and establishes plans to respond and recover from such risk,” she explained.

As she prepares to take over duties, Owen does so with several goals in mind. Her top goal is to make sure she maintains the quality of the planning, response and recovery network Costin built over a lifetime.

“His efforts and consistency have made sure that everyone is at the table and invested. This is not a small thing to have developed and maintained. Making sure our community is as prepared as possible is the core of this position,” Owen said.

In addition, she said she will be keeping a close eye on legislative changes that could have an impact at the local, state and federal levels to ensure her department is aware and able to adapt to challenges, if needed.