A 10-year veteran with the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, James McMahon was recently reassigned to incident management, where he relies more heavily on his fire and emergency response management degree from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
McMahon ’16 was part of the special operations battalion as a member of Hazmat 1. But when the pandemic hit, he transitioned to the incident management team.
“The mission of our team is to support agencies in the event of an emergency while utilizing basic incident command system strategies,” McMahon said.
During the pandemic, team members are spread out to support the fire operations control center, infection control division and a few—including McMahon—are taking on multiple roles with the help of the district’s homeland security and emergency management agency.
McMahon has two roles within the team. On weekends he serves as the fire department’s liaison at the emergency operations center with representatives from other district government agencies. During the week, he works alongside the department’s partners in the department of human resources.
“We fall under the operations division and our goal is community outreach,” McMahon said. “It is our mission to provide necessities, such as sheltering for isolation and quarantine, for those who are positive for COVID-19. We also provide a way for identified vulnerable citizens to obtain groceries, hygiene products and everyday living supplies during their time of need.”
They have opened 10 food distribution hubs and are now operating out of a warehouse, which is used to store and distribute other household goods for those identified as part of the vulnerable population.
Working with so many different agencies, McMahon is thankful to lean on his education from UWO for guidance.
“I had no idea how valuable my education in emergency management would be within my role in the fire department,” McMahon said. “UWO’s program opened my eyes and taught me that the fire department specifically was a small drop in the large bucket that is emergency management.”
“Now more than ever due to the pandemic, we look to provide a broader umbrella and mission to work under. My education at UWO helped lay the foundation for an understanding on how it takes a collaborative effort across multiple agencies to help complete a mission.”
Being on the front line of helping so many during the pandemic, McMahon understands the hardships COVID-19 has brought and is hopeful everybody is able to stay positive during this difficult time.
“Look within your community, reach out and ask how you can be part of the solution,” he said. “Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. We’ll get through this, and the only way we can do that is together.”
Learn more: