FEMA Prepares The Nation By Highlighting "Smart Practices" Of State And Local Emergency Managers And Responders
Release Date: November 7, 2002
Release Number: HQ-02-211
Washington, D.C. - The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing the nation by launching a new initiative to gather and share the smart practices of state and local emergency managers and responders. The shared information will benefit the national emergency response community by improving state and local preparation and response plans for emergencies and disasters of all kinds.
"FEMA's effort to prepare the nation includes highlighting the smart practice of state and local emergency managers and first responders to strengthen their preparedness and response capabilities," FEMA Director Joe M. Allbaugh said. "By collecting and sharing the best ideas from the state and local level, FEMA can help communities improve their emergency preparedness and response-related activities for effective programs."
State and local smart practices could involve: effective mutual aid practices, response operations, training, assessment tools, planning models, exercises, standards and competencies, incident management and much more. For example, the first release of "Smart Practices" highlights the City of Pittsburgh's efforts to evaluate the risks and vulnerabilities of high-rise buildings in the city after a plane crashed within 50 miles of downtown Pittsburgh on September 11, 2001.
Selected smart practices will be e-mailed to state and local customers in a weekly Spotlight on Smart Practices bulletin. The smart practices will also be available on the FEMA website: www.fema.gov/onp.
To submit a smart practice idea to share with other emergency managers and responders or to subscribe to the weekly Spotlight on Smart Practices, e-mail a request to SmartPractices@fema.gov.
Last Modified: Wednesday, 02-Jul-2003 16:26:35