Events
Emergency Preparedness For Everyone:
Region II Hosts Conference On Special Needs Populations
Region II of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently convened a two day conference on emergency preparedness for individuals with special needs. Attendees included public policy makers, academicians, state and local officials, non-profits organizations, community-based service providers, advocacy groups and first responders.
Held at the City University of New York's Graduate Center in Manhattan, the conference provided a forum for promoting and providing comprehensive emergency management services -- mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery - for the special needs population.
In addition to an update on planning projects in New York and New Jersey, attendees heard about such replicable initiatives as Senior Centers that function as Safe Centers in times of disaster, as in Alabama and Florida, and Emergency Medical Technician training modules that alert responders as to what medical or functional issues they will encounter on their initial call.
Institutionalizing the Region's commitment, a new subcommittee to the Regional Advisory Council (RAC), a Congressionally-mandated, post-Katrina initiative to ensure community input into emergency preparedness and planning, was announced. The Special Needs Population Subcommittee will be chaired by Elizabeth Davis, a former member of the NYC Mayor's Office for people with disabilities, the first Special Needs Advisor to the NYC Office of Emergency Management, and the first Director of the Emergency Preparedness Initiative of the National Organization on Disability.
The new sub-committee has the authority to forge partnerships with experts in the field, other institutions, and private and not for profit entities on both ad hoc special needs issues and long-term initiatives.
The FEMA Region II Conference heightened awareness and helped raise the bar on what is now required to address special population needs. It represents an important step toward fulfilling the FEMA mission and assuring that this population takes its rightful place in all aspects of the emergency management process.
Information Emergency Preparedness for Special Needs Populations August 2008.
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