In case of a health or infectious disease-related emergency, there’s now an emergency preparedness coordinator for a whole region, including Webster County.

The Webster County Board of Supervisors approved hiring Tyler Woodard as the new Region 7 Emergency Preparedness coordinator Tuesday.

This position is part of a new regionalization move which started in July, thanks to the federal and state governments, said Webster County Health Department Director Kari Prescott.

“What’s happened is the federal government and the (Iowa) Department of Public Health has formed regions,” Prescott said, “and they are requesting these regional entities have a coordinator designated to address emergency response patterns, focusing around hospital, ambulance service and public health.”

Woodard will work under the Webster County Health Department, but will be in charge of the seven-county region, which includes Webster, Buena Vista, Sac, Calhoun, Pocahontas, Hamilton and Humboldt counties.

His salary will be paid through a federal grant sent to the Iowa Department of Public Health and passed on to Webster County, which is the fiscal agent for the region.

An important focus for the job is to be prepared in case of a terrorist attack, or a large-scale infectious disease scenario, Prescott said. The health department gets daily updates on infectious diseases.

“It’s really to get response patterns … for someone who might have an infection disease, or anthrax,” she said. “If we had something odd, some terrorism, come through our county they really want to have a system in place to transport the sick.”

UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge is an important hub for many of these counties, Prescott said.

“There’s affiliations with UnityPoint in all seven counties, so that’s kind of how they structured that region,” she said.

Woodard was hired by a committee representing the seven counties, Prescott said. He has a bachelor’s degree in emergency management, with experience with response teams, organizing volunteer programs and establishing a comprehensive emergency management program.

He will start work Aug. 14.

Woodard’s job is not related to Scott Forbes, Webster County Emergency Management coordinator, who coordinates responses and plans between fire departments, law enforcement, hospitals and other agencies that would respond to any major disaster.