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Henrico County is ready for an emergency!
Henrico Officials participate in FEMA's
Emergency Management Institute
More than 70 Henrico County officials spent the last week of August honing their emergency-response skills and evaluating the county's crisis planning at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Henrico County was chosen by FEMA to participate in EMI's four-and-a-half day program, which is designed to enhance the proficiency of officials at all levels of government to prepare for, respond to and recover from the potential effects of disasters and emergencies. The institute provides exercise-based training activities that place emergency operations center personnel in realistic crisis situations. FEMA selects only 15 localities from across the country each year for the institute. The county incurred no costs to attend.
Board Chair Pat O'Bannon and Vice-Chair Frank Thornton participated, as did County Manager Virgil Hazelett, and leaders from nearly all of the county's 36 agencies, ranging from the divisions of Fire and Police to General Services, Finance, and the Health Department.
Hazelett noted the fortuitous timing of Henrico's session at EMI, with Hurricane Earl churning toward the mid-Atlantic coastline as the week progressed.
  "Henrico County was very fortunate from a timing and training standpoint, to be invited by FEMA to attend the institute during the last week of August, " he said. "It reinforced past training officials have recieved, as well as what we have experienced in real time with emergencies such as Hurricane Isabel and Tropical Storm Gaston."
Officials participated in classroom sessions and tabletop exercises designed to test Henrico's ability to respond. EMI examined the role of each agency during a crisis event, and evaluated the county's procedureds, such as activating the Emergency Operations Center (EOC); opening emergency shelters; answering calls for Police, Fire and EMS units; assessing damage; coordinating with volunteer groups; and providing for long-term recovery. |
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FEMA Training for Henrico |