Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Severe Weather Awareness Week

Know Your Risk,  Take Action,  Be a Force of Nature

This week is Severe Weather Awareness Week and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are teaming up to prepare the public and help save lives from severe weather.

In August 2011, Chester County experienced the devestating storms, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.  These two storms rocked communities due to the widespread flooding.  Also, our community experienced the impact of the multi-state earthquake.  The earthquake reminded everyone that severe weather is unpredictable and that we must plan for every type of weather event.

"Severe weather can happen at any time and often with little or no notice. " said FEMA Regional Administrator Mary Ann Tierney.  "We can't control where and when severe weather will hit but we can control how prepared we are as individuals and communities." 

To "be a force of nature" FEMA and NOAA encourage citizens to prepare:

Know Your Risk:  understand the type of weather that can affect where you live and work, and how the weather can impact you and your family.  Sign up for alerts from Emergency Management Officials by going to http://www.readynotifypa.org/ 

Take Action:  develop an emergency plan with your family based on your local weather hazards.  Practice your plan, including how to shelter-in-place.  Create or refresh you emergency kit for food, water and medicine.  Get a NOAA Weather Radio so you can receive severe weather alerts in your area.  Understand the difference between the weather warnings and watches.  For more information on shelter-in-place go to http://emergency.cdc.gov/preparedness/shelter/

Be a Force of Nature:  once you have taken action, tell you family, friends and co-workers how they can prepare.  Share the resources and alert systems that you have discovered with your social media network of friends.  When you do shelter-in-place during an emergency, send a text, tweet or post a status update so that your friends and family know.  You might save their lives too.

For more information on Severe Weather Awareness Week and how you can be prepared - go to www.ready.gov/severeweather

Note:  information provided in this blog posting came from a FEMA press release that was released on April 23, 2012. 

Monday, April 23, 2012

Youth Leadership Program visits Emergency Services

On Wednesday April 18 The Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry’s (CCCBI) Youth Leadership Program came to the Government Services Center to learn more about the Department of Emergency Services. The CCCBI Youth Leadership program focuses on creating business educational opportunities for Junior and Senior Chester County High School students. CCCBI Vice President Marianne Martelli, Chair of the Youth Leadership Committee, brought about 30 students from multiple public and private schools out for a day of tours and presentations focused on career opportunities within the Department of Emergency Services.
The day started with a welcome from Robert Kagel, Deputy Director of Emergency Management. The next portion explored the career field of law enforcement. Former Tredyffrin Police Lieutenant Mike Spirito, and current Deputy Director of Tech Services, gave the students insight on jobs within law enforcement on the local, state and federal levels. The group was then given tours of the 911 Center by Quality Analyst Aprille Kronmuller. The students were very fascinated in learning about how calls are answered and units were dispatched. In addition questions dealing with how call takers handled callers speaking foreign languages and how it is determined which unit will respond based on their respective municipalities.
After the tours the group got to engage in a table top exercise in the emergency operations center run by Volunteer Management Coordinator Janet Zeis. Once the exercise was completed students had the opportunity to learn more about careers in emergency management as well as volunteer opportunities with various organizations. The morning was then wrapped up with EMS Training Coordinator Rob Linnenbaugh and ALS Coordinator Harry Moore providing some insight into careers in the emergency medical services field. The usual question of “what was the worst or most memorable call you have been on” came up and the students were given an inside look as to what our first responders encounter while responding to emergency medical situations.
During lunch in the GSC cafeteria students had the opportunity to ask additional questions and get to know some of the other employees here at the GSC. The afternoon consisted of a presentation by Fire Training Coordinator Jeff Groves who spoke about his extensive career in the fire service and the multiple opportunities available to become either a career or volunteer fireman. Many students expressed interest in some of the live in or volunteer fire fighter opportunities available at colleges and universities throughout the nation.  The day wrapped up with a presentation by Captain Joe Carbo of the Chester County Sherriff’s Office.  Captain Carbo, also a former Tredyffrin police officer, focused his presentation on what the Sherriff’s office does and how it differs from what a traditional police officer does. While the training is the same, their duties vary.
Overall the day went very well and the students were glad to get an inside look at the Department of Emergency Services. They were very impressed with the speakers’ wealth of knowledge and the high tech equipment in both the emergency operations and 911 centers. Most of the students expressed their plans to attend college and a wrap up provided information on how they can obtain internships and summer jobs within the County of Chester.  DES was glad to host the event and hopes to have the group back next year.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Commissioner Declare ban on open burning

April 13, 2012

EDITORS: The following is for immediate release. If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Brain, Communications Coordinator at (610) 344-6279 or Mark Rupsis, Chester County Chief Operating Officer, at (610) 344-6025.



Chester County Commissioners declare ban on open burning
Ban endorsed by fire officials and Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry

            WEST CHESTER, PA _ The Chester County Board of Commissioners declared a ban on open burning for all Chester County residents and businesses, effective immediately.  The temporary 30-day ban is based on current weather conditions and forecasted conditions, as well as the recent wildfire in French Creek State Park.  Gusting winds, combined with dry fields and forests have made conditions extremely unstable for open burning.

            Open burning of any combustible material out-of-doors in either a burn barrel (screened or unscreened), fire ring or on the ground is banned.  This includes the burning of garbage, leaves, grass, twigs, litter, paper and vegetation from land that has been cleared. 

            The lack of green foliage in the spring, little rainfall, low humidity and sunny, windy days have increased the chances of forest and brush fires spreading.  The William Penn Forestry District 17, which covers Chester County, advises on its website that conditions today are “extreme”, meaning fires start quickly, spread furiously and burn intensely. 

“The Forestry District may elevate these conditions to “Red Flag Warning” over the weekend, indicating that critical fire weather conditions are either currently occurring or will shortly be occurring,” said Robert Kagel, Chester County Department of Emergency Services Deputy Director for Emergency Management.   

            For more information on fire conditions for wildfires and open burning, go to the Pennsylvania Fire Wardens Association District 17 website, http://www.pffwal17.org/. 

Chester County is the first county in Pennsylvania to initiate a strategic planning process and has a Aaa rating on its bonds from Moody’s Investors Service as well as AAA ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.  Established by William Penn as one of Pennsylvania’s three original counties, Chester County has been named by Forbes.com as one of America’s best places to raise a family and is ranked the healthiest county in Pennsylvania by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

PA APCO had a class on Credentialing

Lindsay Yeager was recently a presenter at PA APCO for "PIV-I/First Responder Authentication Credentialing" along with representatives from PEMA and FEMA.
A discussion on the process of credentialing was outlined. So what happens when you receive a credential? Credentialing occurs when we have validated the qualifications of personnel and assessed their background for authorization. This validation is presented in the form of photo identification and will grant access to an incident, involving mutual aid at the local, state, and nationwide level.
The goal like in any emergency we face is to get the right person, to the right place at the right time. Credentialing will help support early identification in response to mutual aid requests allowing us to accomplish that.
Chester County is always looking for new opportunities to be prepared for disaster. Credentialing is just another way we are achieving this. For more information regarding the project, please visit us at: http://www.chesco.org/des/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=648931&desNav=|.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week

                                  National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week
                                                     April 8 - 14, 2012



                From Left:  Commissioner Ryan Costello;  Deputy Director for
                9-1-1 Operations, John Haynes, Mike Arganetto,
                Commissioner Kathi Cozzone and Commissioner Terence Farrell


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

At today's meeting, the Board of Commissioners proclaimed the week of April 8 - 14, 2012 as National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week.  Accepting the proclamation this year was Mike Arganetto.  Mike joined Emergency Services in September, 2010.

National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week honors the men and women who service as Call Takers and Dispathcers in 9-1-1 Centers across the nation,  Chester County has 78 full-time and 6 part-time Telecommunicators who are ready 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - inclucing weekends, holidays and birthdays,  In 2011, Chester County 9-1-1 Center handled over 291,000 telephone calls for emergency assistance.  That's about 800 calls per day or about 33 calls an hour.

To the Chester County Telecommunicators -- THANK YOU !!!!