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Governmental Affairs Committee |
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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 Click Here 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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IAFC Board to Review Preliminary Report on NIOSH Program Improvements NVFC Launches National Firefighter Health Week National Response Team Prepares to Help Coast Guard, FEMA and TSA Respond to Minnesota Bridge Collapse: DHS components work with state and local authorities in coordinated response Call for Nominations: NVFC Lifetime Achievement Award Deadline Is August 15 Treasury Secretary Paulson To Hold Conference on Business Tax System
FEMA Announces Assistance to Firefighters Grants On Friday, FEMA announced the first round of awards under the FY 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, which will provide over $490 million to fire departments and nonaffiliated Emergency Medical Service organizations across the nation. This first round of awards provides 459 departments just over $35 million. “Through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, the department demonstrates its continued support for the men and women of our nation’s fire service,” said FEMA Administrator David Paulison. “AFG provides first responders with critically needed equipment, training, and other resources to ensure they are fully prepared to protect our communities and to do so safely and effectively.” Since FY 2001, and including FY 2007, the AFG program has distributed more than $3.3 billion to fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical services organizations. Source: DHS IAFC Board to Review Preliminary Report on NIOSH Program Improvements Fairfax, Va., July 27, 2007... In February 2007, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Safety, Health and Survival (SHS) Section was directed by IAFC President Harmes to review the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP) and report its recommendations for program improvement to the IAFC Board of Directors. Over the past six months, the SHS Section Task Force working on this project, along with representatives from other fire service organizations, has completed a preliminary report that has been forwarded to the IAFC Board of Directors for review. Members of the task force will present their findings at the August board meeting in Atlanta, Ga., just prior to Fire-Rescue International. Source: IAFC NVFC Launches National Firefighter Health Week As part of its ongoing effort to promote and strengthen the health and safety of firefighters and EMS personnel nationwide, the NVFC is launching the inaugural National Firefighter Health Week from August 13-17. The NVFC encourages all fire and emergency personnel, their departments, and their families to focus on health and wellness during this week. Each of the five days of National Firefighter Health Week spotlights a different health issue of particular concern for emergency responders. These are: Monday: Behavioral Health Source: NFVC National Response Team Prepares to Help When natural disasters strike around the country, it’s traditionally the job of the National Guard to come to the rescue. But now a new national emergency response team in Pennsylvania is aiming to take over some of that burden. According to an article by Caitlin Heaney in Pennsylvania’s Evening Sun Reporter, the National Disaster and Emergency Response Team is in its first year as a nonprofit organization. The NDERT’s goal is to train its members to provide security and help during emergency situations in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Jonathan Williams, an Air Force veteran and one of the group’s founders, told Heaney the idea of the group is to help the law-enforcement community in security and other capacities. “Williams has a background in security and search and rescue, and he said he saw how law enforcement responding to Hurricane Katrina was undermanned and out-gunned,” Heaney says. “Although Pennsylvania and Maryland do have search-and-rescue teams, he said, the groups are always needed.” “Either it is evidence collection or searching, even (for) a lost child, things like that need to be looked at,” Williams told. “So we decided to intermingle that idea.” Heaney says NDERT already has a mutual-aid agreement with Adams County and is pursuing similar arrangements with nearby counties. It is also working closely with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. To read the full article, click here: link Source: Disaster Resource Guide Coast Guard, FEMA and TSA Respond to Minnesota Bridge Collapse: DHS components work with state and local authorities in coordinated response The U.S. Coast Guard and FEMA continue to assist state and local authorities involved in the rescue and recovery operation at the site of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minn., which collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday killing several people and injuring many others. President Bush visited the site on Saturday. The Coast Guard has established a seven-mile closure of the Mississippi River to support local responder's efforts to search for victims and remove debris from the waterway. A 25-foot smallboat crew from the Marine Safety Detachment from St. Paul, Minn., was on scene after the collapse, and HH-65C Rescue Helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., along with the Coast Guard Auxiliary in St. Paul, Minn., were deployed to assist in search and rescue operations. Region V Administrator Edward Buikema traveled to Minneapolis from Chicago following the collapse and went to the State’s Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) just after the incident. According to Buikema, FEMA and local DHS representatives from TSA and the Coast Guard were part of the SEOC, along with representatives from other federal agencies. “All worked closely with their state counterparts to ensure a coordinated response,” Buikema said. Source: DHS Sounding the alarm: Emergency notification systems can alert the right people, no matter where they are, in a variety of formats By David Essex, Special to GCN The tragic shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in April was only the most recent, but perhaps most poignant, proof of the need to communicate emergency alerts and instructions to thousands of people simultaneously. In the aftermath, government agencies have been taking a hard look at emergency notification systems that automate the process. Mass notification and alerting has other critical uses. The Air Force Reserve Command, for example, will use AtHoc’s IWSAlerts to recall, within four hours, 30,000 reserve personnel when orders come down, using automated, text-to-speech voice mail. It replaces a phone-tree system that is a manual process, said Col. John Hayes, the command’s chief information officer. “The system we ended up buying has up to 10 ways to contact people.” Other government and vendor sources say many agencies still use phone trees to alert first responders. The quaint method simply asks each person to phone the next one on the list. The reality is messy, though, with participants not knowing what to do if someone doesn’t respond, and the tree can turn into low-tech spaghetti code. “It’s very inefficient,” said Lynn Churchill, chief technology officer at Invizeon, maker of CHAIN. The e-mail lists some agencies use are not much better, he said. Churchill said a good emergency notification system has four major elements: Source: GCN Call for Nominations: NVFC Lifetime Achievement Award Deadline Is August 15 Time is running out to nominate an outstanding volunteer firefighter for the 2007 National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominations must be received by August 15. Sponsored by Scott Health & Safety, this prestigious national award annually honors an individual whose remarkable achievements in the volunteer fire service and community exemplifies outstanding performance. Nominated by their peers, the recipient is honored during a special Awards Banquet at the NVFC Fall Meeting and earns a place in history with the NVFC. To submit a nomination, complete the nomination form available at www.nvfc.org/award_ffoty.html, and send it, along with letters of recommendation and the nominee’s resume, to: NVFC Lifetime Achievement Award Please include details regarding the nominee’s accomplishments and other information that will help the selection committee during the review process. Additional information regarding the award and criteria is available at www.nvfc.org/awards.html. Source: NFVC Senate Passes FY08 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill by Margin Wide Enough to Override Possible Presidential Veto On July 26, 2007, the Senate passed the FY08 Homeland Security appropriations bill, HR 2638, by a vote of 89 to 4. This appropriations bill includes the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program as well as the Staffing Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program. This bill’s final spending levels for the AFG program is at $560 million and the SAFER program is funded at $140 million for the coming fiscal year. The president has threatened to veto this appropriations bill. Because the Senate passed this bill by such a wide margin, the Senate could easily override a presidential veto. The next step for this bill will be to go to conference committee before going before the president. Source: D Initiatives Treasury Secretary Paulson To Hold Conference on Business Tax System. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is holding a one-day conference in Washington, D.C., today to examine ways in which our current tax system specifically the U.S. corporate tax rate affects economic growth and U.S. competitiveness in the global economy. Panelists at the conference which include policy experts from academia, government and the business community are expected to discuss a wide range of issues related to business taxes including the impact of business taxes on the U.S. economy and competitiveness. The NAM supports reducing the federal corporate tax rate by at least 10 percentage points; strengthening and making permanent the R&D credit; and pursuing international tax reforms, permanent lower tax rates on investment income and a package of tax incentives for small businesses. Details: Dorothy Coleman, (202) 637-3077. Source: NAM The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatalities: Name: Kevin Williams Name: Austin Cheek Fire Department: Noonday Volunteer Fire Department Incident Description: While conducting search and rescue operations, Funeral Arrangements: http://www.noondayvfd.com/ A combined firefighter memorial service has been planned for Capt. Kevin Captain Kevin Williams' funeral and burial information: Visitation: Firefighter Austin Cheek's funeral and burial information: Visitation: Memorial Fund Contact and Address: Noonday Firemen's Tragedy Fund, Tribute is being paid to Captain Kevin Williams and Firefighter Austin
Source: USFA |
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FAMA/FEMSA GAC Hill Day - September 27, 2007 - Washington, DC |
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