The Evolution and Impact of a Meteorological Outreach Program for Public Safety Officials: An Update on the Oklahoma Mesonet's OK-First Program
Hocker, James E. ; Melvin, Andrea D. ; Kloesel, Kevin A. ; Fiebrich, Christopher A. ; Hill, Robert W. ; Smith, Richard D. ; Piltz, Steven F.
Since 1997, the Oklahoma Mesonet (the state's automated mesoscale weather station network) has served a community of more than 1,400 public safety officials (emergency managers, fire officials, law enforcement, etc.) across Oklahoma through a weather data and training program called Oklahoma's First-Response Information Resource System using Telecommunications (OK-First). OK-First provides free weather and radar data interpretation classes to eligible public safety officials and, following successful completion of training, password-protected access to weather data tools including a website and software. The objective of OK-First when it began was to fill significant gaps in weather product training and data access for Oklahoma's public safety community. Though the core mission remains the same 20 years later, many aspects of OK-First have evolved over time, including participant membership, training curriculum, formats of training, training requirements, website and software technology, and program feedback. The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on the Mesonet's OK-First program, with a particular focus on training, tools, and the impact it has had on the public safety community.
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