Episode 33: Oso to opioids with Shari Ireton and the Sheriff's Office

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6+ y ago 53:53

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Usually, the phrase is, "Baptism by fire."

For Shari Ireton, Director of Communications for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, her introduction to emergency management was baptism by mud.

It was March 22, 2014, a Saturday, and Ireton was out with the family shopping for science fair supplies when she got a message about a slide that had closed Highway 530. "I didn't think much of it because slides happen all the time," Ireton said.

What was unusual is that she heard nothing else for the next several hours. "Usually, there's a flurry of activity, but this was completely silent," Ireton said. "A couple of hours later, I called."

Starting that afternoon and for the next five days straight, Ireton was the on-site public information officer for the massive Oso landslide that claimed the lives of 43 people.

And Ireton, still relatively new to her job, had not yet been through the training provided by the Federal Emergency Management Administration that virtually all public agencies use manage responses to such events. "I was on the waiting list," Ireton said.

"There were lots of others helping," she said. "And, I have to give a shout-out to the Everett Herald … those reporters; we walked through it together from day one."

Ireton notes that she is not a commissioned officer, doesn't carry a gun and can't arrest people.

What she can and does do is interact with the media and public and tell the stories of the Sheriff's Office.

"The role is changing," Ireton said. "Deputies are doing more social work, mental health work that we've ever done before."

Ireton made note of effort that started in 2015, pairing a deputy with a social worker. Together, they visit homeless camps and make other contacts with the goal of addressing underlying causes. Ireton said that almost always they find a combination of untreated mental health and addiction issues. The approach, she says, "has been really successful."

Episode length: 47:20

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