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Public Safety Forum Emergency Preparedness


Public Safety Forum Emergency Preparedness


 

This forum was organized by Patrick Smaldore, the Public Safety Liaison Chair, and introduced by the former President, Rob Jackson on March 16th, 2022

This presentation by emergency management professionals provided valuable information about the Citizens Core Council and the various volunteer organizations and programs, which are designed to make our citizens and communities better prepared to respond various emergencies.

 

The guest panelists highlighted the Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council that brings together our community’s fire and rescue service, emergency managers, health care providers, law enforcement, other support agencies, and the volunteer community to involve all citizens in emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, crime prevention, and emergency training. The Core Programs are the Community Emergency Response Team, Fire Corps, Medical Reserve Corps, Volunteers in Police Service and Neighborhood Watch.

 

Our distinguished guest panelists were:

  • Courtney Arroyo, Community Engagement Manager, Fairfax County Department of Emergency Management and Security (DEMS)
  • Marco Johnson, Citizen Corps Council, Mason District Representative
  • Jim Kirkpatrick, Citizen Corps Council Vice Chair, Springfield District 

When disaster strikes, the citizens must be prepared, ready to act and survive.

Where you live will determine your survival strategy.  The West Coast has different disasters than our area.  The various organizations in this forum either have classes and/or instructions on disaster preparedness.  There is much to learn and to prepare for an event.  Let’s hope that such a disaster never occurs but you never know when such an event will occur such as the Derecho storm of 2012 where the power was out for several days.  What should you do when you or a loved one has medical needs or you have children or pets?  These are questions that you need to have answered before a disaster strikes.

 

I am CERT trained and just recently had a course offered by FEMA on how to prepare for a disaster.  It was very informative and one of the lessons taught is that each family must have their emergency plan specific to them.

 

In the presentation, there is a link to the Community Emergency Response Guide as well as other links   This will help you, your family and your business prepare for emergencies.    The MCA urges you to access and read it.

 

Below is a video recording as well as the slide presentation.

https://bfc-demo.s3.amazonaws.com/MCA/20220316+-+MCA+Public+Safety+Forum