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Governmental Affairs Committee |
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US FIRE GRANT SUPPORT GAC Resources For GAC documents, announcements, and information please click here to visit the microsite. Home Day 2007 Toolkit To download the Home Day 2007 Upcoming Events
HELP THE GAC!
Dear FAMA/FEMSA member: In January, you received an e-mail from the FAMA/FEMSA Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) asking you to complete a survey that will help the GAC and its consultants learn what congressional relationships FAMA/FEMSA member companies have established. This information is essential to the GAC’s work to increase FAMA/FEMSA’s dialogue with federal government agencies in an effort to educate key officials on the important role our industry plays in providing equipment and services to the nation’s first responders. To help us enhance these efforts, we once again ask you to take a few moments to complete the enclosed survey. Specifically, this survey will help the GAC compile a comprehensive list of FAMA/FEMSA members’ locations and the congressional senators and representatives for those locations, an important step in establishing an educational network with the members of Congress and the administration. Please note that the survey can be conveniently completed online here. We also ask that the survey be completed as soon as possible. We have tried to keep this survey as simple and straightforward as possible. We thank you in advance for your assistance in this important effort. Sincerely, FAMA/FEMSA Governmental Affairs Committee
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NVFC Board Member Appointed to National EMS Advisory Council CSB Safety Videos: A Training Tool for Emergency Responders Tool Helps Emergency Personnel Track Resources Bush to Make Smaller Security Fund Cuts National Response Framework Released
NVFC Board Member Appointed to National EMS Advisory Council The Department of Transportation announced on January 15 that Ken Knipper, Kentucky State Director for the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and Chair of the NVFC’s EMS Committee, has been appointed as a charter member of the National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC). NEMSAC was created to provide formal input to the Department of Transportation, which houses the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of EMS. The Office of EMS provides administrative support to the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS), which coordinates federal EMS activities and includes representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "I’m humbled by this appointment," said Knipper. "Over the past 30 years, EMS has emerged as an extremely important component of emergency response. NHTSA’s Office of EMS plays a vital role in executing federal EMS policy and I look forward participating in this process by representing the interests of volunteers to the best of my ability through the NEMSAC." Knipper has been an active volunteer EMT for 25 years and helped establish EMS provision in his volunteer fire department. He represents the NVFC on the National Fire Protection Association’s EMS Committee and has participated in numerous NHTSA Office of EMS initiatives, most recently in the EMS Workforce for the 21st Century project and developing EMS 9-1-1 Guidelines and Protocols for Pandemic Flu. NEMSAC is comprised of 24 individuals selected to represent a wide range of EMS functions and disciplines. Knipper was selected to represent the volunteer EMS community, which includes fire service-based and non-fire service-based systems. Source: NVFC CSB Safety Videos: A Training Tool for Emergency Responders The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) aims to achieve continued interest in its chemical accident investigations by keeping the fire protection community informed of the latest CSB news releases and safety videos. Hundreds of fire chiefs and fire marshals are already using these videos to train department personnel since the program was launched in December 2005. CSB safety videos provide a graphic overview of agency investigations, and the recommendations that have resulted – all aimed at chemical accident prevention. The cautionary messages are channeled through powerful real-life accident damage scenes and computer animated reenactments in order to promote an interest in chemical process safety. Over 45,000 safety videos have been distributed by the CSB. All videos are free of charge and can be ordered online at www.safetyvideos.gov. Simply click on one of the video titles and select “Request a DVD of this video” from the menu on the left-hand side of the video player, fill out the appropriate information, and the CSB will mail you a safety video DVD. The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems. The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. For more information on the CSB, visit www.csb.gov.
Source: NVFC Tool Helps Emergency Personnel Track Resources The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing a new collaborative mapping tool designed to help emergency management officials better coordinate event and incident planning. According to an article on the Science Daily website, GTRI has teamed with Atlanta-based company Emergency Visions to provide mapping capabilities for a resource database the firm developed to identify, activate, track and coordinate response assets. “Researchers began developing the Geographic Tool for Visualization and Collaboration (GTVC) in 2000 for military applications, but it has since been tailored to the needs of the emergency management community and first responders,” the article says. The GTVC is designed to track chemical or smoke plumes and help management personnel plan evacuation routes for emergencies such as hurricanes, fires or flooding. To do this, the system tracks resources, including the locations of hospitals, fire stations, schools, nursing homes, sand bags, dump trucks, water, personnel and supplies in an affected region. The software can also give emergency planners a snapshot of what is going on during the disaster. The information is displayed on the map with the Department of Homeland Security’s official emergency management icons. To read the full article, click here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080116080255.htm
Source: Disaster Resource Guide Bush to Make Smaller Security Fund Cuts The White House has been planning to cut the counterterrorism funds for police, firefighters and first responders across the country. But now a new report says those cuts won’t be as deep as originally planned. The Associated Press’ Eileen Sullivan is reporting the White House will now request $2.2 billion for the funds in 2009, up from the original $1.4 billion proposed last year. That marks a 10 percent increase in what the president requested for 2008, but 40 percent less than Congress handed out. “I see this as a solid victory in that we reversed OMB’s cuts,” New York Rep. Peter King told Sullivan, referring to the Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the administration’s spending plans. “But we’re still short of where we have to be. We won the first round, but now we still have a few more rounds to go.” Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Homeland Security Department has given $23 billion to states and local communities to fight terrorism. However, Sullivan says a November 26 document justified the cuts by saying the administration is not convinced the money was well spent and thinks the nation’s highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their security needs. King told Sullivan the request in the November 26 document was done without the president’s knowledge or approval. After Bush learned of the drastic cuts, “The president overruled the bean counters,” King told her. To read the full article, click here: http://www.examiner.com/a-1166673~Bush_to_Make_Smaller_Security_Fund_Cuts.html
National Response Framework Released At an afternoon press conference today, Secretary Chertoff and FEMA Administrator David Paulison announced the release of the National Response Framework (NRF), successor to the National Response Plan. Under development for a number of months and incorporating nearly 5,700 comments from stakeholders, the NRF provides a national plan for response to and short-term recovery from all-hazard disasters and emergencies. It is the culmination of collaboration among the nation’s emergency management community. In remarks prepared for today’s press conference, the secretary said, “…I want to emphasize [that it] is not a federal plan, but a national plan that is designed to help emergency managers at all levels deal with everything from the smallest localized disaster to a nationwide catastrophe…It provides a clearer understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and relationships necessary for effective emergency response…[and] boils down the key elements of what it means to have a unified and coordinated response.” The NRF is designed to be scalable, flexible, and adaptable; always in effect; and to articulate clear roles and responsibilities among local, state, and federal officials. To make it a “living system” that can be revised and updated in response to real-world events, the NRF Resource Center (www.fema.gov/nrf) has been developed as a repository for the base NRF document and its component parts, the Emergency Support Function Annexes and the Support Annexes. Both the secretary and Paulison emphasized that, for the NRF to be effective, it needs to be used. In prepared remarks, Paulison said, “Working together we can make sure the NRF is used, not sitting on a shelf…We now turn our focus to the next steps: training and implementation.” Beginning April 11, FEMA will have released 24 individual NRF training courses, each focusing on a key element of the framework, with the goal of having all federal first responders trained in the new system before the start of hurricane season on June 1. A press release, including additional information on the NRF, is available at: http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1201030569827.shtm.
Source: DHS The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatalities: Name: Christa Dawn Burchett While on the scene, Chief Burchett was evaluating and assisting a female patient, who also happened to be pregnant, when a coal truck that was coming over a hill towards the accident scene braked in icy conditions and struck both Burchett and her patient, Erica Brown, after first striking a police cruiser. Brown was pronounced at the scene. Police say she had not appeared to have suffered any major injuries in the initial vehicle accident. Burchett was transported to Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced at 1004hrs. Another firefighter/EMT, Brian Moore, was treated and released from Hall Regional. Funeral Arrangements: Viewing and visitation Friday (01/25/2008) with services on Saturday, January 26th at Lawrence County Middle School, 9 Bulldog Lane, Louisa, KY 41230 (USNG: 17S LC 592 174). Times are still pending, but Chief Dixon invited those interested to contact him on email for more information: bobdixon@paintsville.org Memorial Fund Contact and Address: In honor and memory of Assistant Chief Christa Dawn Burchett, C/o Paintsville Fire-Rescue-EMS, 116 Main St., Paintsville, KY 41240. Name: Louis P. Berra
Source: USFA |
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