Sept. 26, 2007

Virginia State Animal Response Teams
VASART is seeking volunteers to create local teams that can respond to the needs of animals during an emergency. VASART can coordinate training and resources in order to develop County Animal Response Teams, or CARTs, in every locality throughout the state. VASART is a private-public partnership of organizations, businesses, federal and state government agencies, and volunteers who help animals and their owners to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural and man-made emergencies.

For information about the VASART program, visit http://www.virginiasart.org. If your locality wants to start a local team, contact VirginiaSART@aol.com.

Commonwealth's Training and Exercise Planning Workshop
The Training and Exercise Planning Workshop originally scheduled for Oct. 9-10 has been changed. The conference will now be conducted in a one-day format on Oct. 10, starting at 9 a.m. at the Great Wolf Lodge, Williamsburg, Va. Emergency managers are invited to to review and update the existing Multi-Year Exercise Plan for the period 2008 - 2010. The focus of the workshop is to coordinate all training and exercise activities occurring throughout the Commonwealth to:

• Prevent duplication of efforts
  
• Avoid overextending resources during training or exercises
  
• Maximize the efficiency of training and exercise funds

Additionally, the workshop will review the training and exercise plan, its goals and methodology, and its compliance with the Commonwealth's State Homeland Security Strategy.

For a copy of the Multi-Year Plan, contact Hampton Hart, director of VDEM's Office of Training and Exercises, at (804) 897-6500, ext. 6593 or at Hampton.Hart@vdem.virginia.gov, or contact Vivian Beasley, training and exercises specialist, at (804) 897-6500, ext. 6537 or at Vivian.Beasley@vdem.virginia.gov.

National Preparedness Guidelines and Target Capabilities List
The Department of Homeland Security released two tools to organize national efforts to strengthen preparedness. The National Preparedness Guidelines establishes a vision for national preparedness and provides a systematic approach for prioritizing preparedness efforts across the nation. The Target Capabilities List describes the collective national capabilities required to prevent, protect against, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. The National Preparedness Guidelines document replaced the document once known as the National Response Goal originally issued in March 2005. A copy of the guidelines is available at http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1189720458491.shtm.

Exercises...

• Fauquier County hosted a Region 2 full-scale exercise involving a hazardous materials incident and a hostage situation within a school on Sept, 22. The exercise provided emergency responders, emergency managers, school administrators, public health personnel and healthcare providers an opportunity to assess plans, policies and procedures, including mutual-aid agreements and memorandums of understanding.
  
• The Office of the Attorney General is holding a tabletop exercise today to define and address potential legal issues during a response to and recovery from public health and other emergencies. Possible issues include sheltering, isolation and quarantine; licensed and non-licensed volunteer liability; standards of care; human resources; the environment; resource supply (including food, fuel, medicines and other goods); law enforcement; and technology support. Additionally, the exercise examines issues related to Continuity of Operations for state agencies.
  
• The city of Roanoke will host a Region 6 tabletop exercise involving a terrorist hazardous materials release on Sept. 28. The exercise will allow participants to examine, discuss and demonstrate policy, procedures and coordination processes. Participants include the city of Roanoke, supporting jurisdictions and a major commercial partner, Norfolk-Southern Rail Company.

Conferences...
Virginia Hazardous Materials Conference and Expo
The Virginia Association of Hazardous Materials Response Specialists and VDEM are sponsoring the 24th Annual Virginia Hazardous Materials Conference and Expo, Oct. 15-19 in Hampton. The conference offers more than 70 educational workshops and exhibits.

Conference information and online registration are available at http://www.virginiahazmat.org.

Mid-Atlantic All Hazards Forum
The Mid-Atlantic All Hazards Forum is an annual gathering that brings together law enforcement, fire, EMS, public health, transportation/public works, local and state government, private sector, university and other nonprofit agency representatives. The forum allows participants to share information from a regional perspective and to improve regional preparedness in the broad areas of homeland security and emergency management.

The forum is Nov. 6-8 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Registration and information are available online at http://www.allhazardsforum.com. For questions about the program, contact Mary Powell at (757) 343-3671 or marypowell@charterinternet.com. For questions about registration, contact Bernadete Alves at (301) 493-5500 or alves@ejkrause.com.

Virginia Public Safety Outreach Conference, "Ready Virginia"
Registration and a tentative conference agenda for the 2007 Virginia Public Safety Outreach Conference are now available at http://www.vaemergency.com. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management and Virginia Citizen Corps will sponsor the conference, Wednesday, Nov. 14 at the Newport News Omni.

Conference sessions will focus on an array of topics, including how to leverage the Ready Virginia campaign to improve emergency preparedness locally. More information about Ready Virginia is available at http://www.readyvirginia.gov. E-mail questions about the conference to pio@vdem.virginia.gov.

Training...
Hazard Mitigation Program Training
Several hazard mitigation grant programs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will become available in FY08, once the federal budget is approved. To support state agency, local government and colleges and universities that wish to sponsor a mitigation project, VDEM is offering two workshops:

• Benefit-Cost Analysis: Entry-Level Training (G278), Nov. 7-8, is a two-day workshop. Participants will learn how to obtain benefit/cost data and to use the software modules required for structural mitigation projects. John Squerciati, a nationally recognized expert in flood and hurricane mitigation, will be the lead instructor. Participants should bring a laptop with Excel in a Windows 95, 98, NT or WP format; software will be provided. Registration deadline is Nov. 1. For more information and to register, visit VDEM's online Training Calendar at http://www.vaemergency.com/train/calendar_course.cfm?id=95.
  
• Hazard Mitigation Grant Project Development Workshop, Nov. 9, is a half-day workshop that will provide participants with an understanding of how to prepare a competitive structural hazard mitigation grant application. The workshop will cover eligibility, project scoping, application processes and grant schedules/deadlines for FY08. For more information and to register, visit VDEM's online Training Calendar at http://www.vaemergency.com/train/calendar_course.cfm?id=96.

Both workshops will be at the VDEM Trade Court Facility in Chesterfield County.

EMAC Train-the-Trainer
The Emergency Management Institute is offering the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Train-the-Trainer Course, Oct. 29 – Nov. 1. This course will train state EMAC staff and coordinators to teach the new EMAC Field Course. More information is available online at http://training.fema.gov/EMICourses/crsdetail.asp?cid=E430&ctype=R. To apply, complete a General Admissions Application (FEMA Form 75-5) at http://training.fema.gov/EMICourses/.

Produced by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management
10501 Trade Court, Richmond, Virginia 23236