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2006 Virginia Emergency Management Conference
Quarterbacking Emergency Management
Williamsburg Marriott · April 4-7, 2006
Sponsored by Virginia Emergency Management Association and Virginia Department of Emergency Management
Registration Materials:
Mobile Bunkhouse Display
Thanks to the Gulf Breeze Police Department in Florida, this mobile "bunkhouse" will be on site at the Virginia Emergency Management Conference in Williamsburg in April. Complete with a kitchen, garage, generator, air conditioners, office space and restroom, this 38-foot, fifth-wheel trailer sleeps 10 during disaster response.
"We transported two pallets of MREs and two pallets of water to Mississippi when we responded to Katrina, and our folks lived in it for two weeks," says Chief Peter Paulding with the Gulf Breeze PD. "It will be used as our communications center of last resort here in Gulf Breeze if we need to house a long-term temporary dispatch center." The police department is located in the crumple zone of a water tower.
Conference Agenda
Please note that there have been some schedule changes since the printed conference agenda was distributed. The agenda below is up to date.
Tuesday, April 4
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Conference Registration
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Preconference Seminar A: Technology Seminar
An all-day session presenting cutting edge information on technology available for use by the emergency management community. $85/person
8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Evening Activities: Pre-Game Tailgate Party
An evening of networking with conference attendees and guests.
Wednesday, April 5
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Conference Registration
7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Coffee Service
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Exhibits Open
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
General Session: Pre-Game Planning
Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Tom Hassler, VEMA President
- Michael Cline, State Coordinator, VDEM
Guest Speakers:
- The Honorable John Marshall, Secretary of Public Safety
- The Honorable Robert Crouch, Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness
Keynote Speaker:
- The Honorable William Leighty, Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor
Break
Guest Speaker:
- R. David Paulison, Acting Director, FEMA
“Exercise Coordination—A Partnership”
This session emphasizes the cooperation among public and private partners in conducting local and regional exercises.
- Hampton Hart, VDEM Exercise Coordinator, Moderator
- Ryan Winmill, Department of Homeland Security
- Gary A. DuBrueler, Emergency Management Coordinator, Frederick County, Virginia
- Larry Mullendore, VCU Senior Emergency Preparedness Planner, Chair, MCV Hospitals Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee
- Randy DeVaul, M.A., RSHEP, Safety Products
- Bud Droke, Senior Military Analyst, NERO OPS
- Steve Chafin, Dominion Virginia Power
- Jack Potter, MD, Winchester Medical Center, NSPSI Planner
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Lunch on your own
1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
VEMA Business Meetings
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Session A
- Pre-Game: Emergency Manager/Director Orientation - Part A
This is the first of two workshops for new and nearly-new local emergency management staff. This session focuses on building a strong local emergency management program. Topics include planning, grants, and the coordination role of the Virginia Emergency Operations Center.
- Gordon Barwell, VDEM, Moderator
- Michael Cline, VDEM
- Harry Colestock, VDEM
- Julian Gilman, VDEM
- Ted Costin, VDEM
- Game: Emergency Preparedness Considerations for First Responders in a University Environment
This session will address emergency planning at colleges and universities, emphasizing the need for interaction among the locality, response organizations, and the educational institution on expectations, roles, capabilities, and priorities. Potential hazards associated with research activities and how to interact with the research community will also be discussed.
- Zack Adams, Virginia Tech
- Game: Bombing Incidents - London
Presenters will share information obtained from a briefing with officials in Great Britain.
- Battalion Chief James Daugherty, Arlington County Fire Department
- Post-Game: Business Continuity/COOP
In the wake of recent natural disasters, emergency planning, including continuity of operations (COOP) and business continuity (BCP) has become a national security priority. This session focuses on the fundamentals of emergency preparedness and business continuation based on industry standards and best practices. Participants will learn what a COOP/BCP Plan is, the 10 critical elements of each, and the biggest problems individuals face when writing a plan.
- Clarence Elliott, Business to Business Solutions, LLC
- Brittany Schaal, VDEM
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Concurrent Session B
- Pre-Game: Public Health Threats
The presentation will focus on planning for a possible pandemic of influenza, as a model of emergency response to any large outbreak of a contagious infectious disease. This will include planning within the healthcare and public health communities, as well as a discussion of how planning for a prolonged infectious disease emergency differs from planning and response within the emergency response community to an emergency of limited geographic scope and duration. Also, discussion will include the need for Continuity of Operations Plans by all organizations and businesses that include the possibility of decrease in the workforce by up to 25 percent at any point in time.
- Lisa Kaplowitz, MD, MSHA, Virginia Department of Health
- Pre-Game: Emergency Managers/Directors Orientation - Part B
The second of two workshops for new and nearly-new local emergency management staff. Topics in this session focus on the essential functions of local government during and after disasters or emergencies and the importance of messaging.
- Gordon Barwell, VDEM, Moderator
- Michael Cline, VDEM
- Greg Britt, VDEM
- Deborah Mills, VDEM
- Marc LaFountain, VDEM
- Game: Power Outage Emergencies
This session addresses issues related to non-traditional power loss such as blackouts and brownouts caused by energy shortages.
- Steve Chafin, Dominion Virginia Power
- Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives
- Post-Game: Bombing Incidents - Richmond
An investigation of "mysterious booms" in Richmond culminated in two successful conclusions, as well as establishing the first U.S.G.S. seismic monitoring station in Central Virginia in more than 10 years. Many agencies and departments coordinated efforts to achieve this and other goals.
- Ben Johnson, City of Richmond Emergency Management
- Lt. Gary Ladin, City of Richmond Police Department
5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Vendor Sunset Seminars
8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Hospitality Suite
Thursday, April 6
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Conference Registration
8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. to Noon
General Session: Game Plan
- “Special Events—Planning and Coordination”
May 13, 2007 marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the first permanent English settlement in the Americas at Jamestown. Virginia will celebrate with a variety of events, both large and small, beginning in May 2006 and continuing through 2007. Planners expect the celebration to focus world attention on the Commonwealth and the Historic Triangle and to increase visitation in the region—both of which will challenge public safety resources. This presentation provides an overview of the major events and examines challenges facing public safety planners.
- Danny McDaniel, Jamestown Celebration 2007
- “Hurricane Katrina—A Local Perspective”
- General Benjamin “Joe” Spraggins, Harrison County, Mississippi Emergency Manager
- “Katrina Lessons Learned – Maintaining Civil Order”
Officials from the Gulf States will review the challenges and successes experienced during Hurricane Katrina. A Gulf Breeze, Florida police official will address law enforcement’s response during the 2005 hurricane season.
- Captain Darrin Peterson, Biloxi, Mississippi Police Department
- Chief Peter Paulding, Gulf Breeze, Florida Police Department
Noon to 2:00 p.m.
VEMA Awards Luncheon
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Session C
- Pre-Game: Utilizing Public Transit During Emergencies
The session focuses on urban localities use of mass transit during emergency evacuation.
- James Talbot, City of Norfolk Emergency Management
- Ron Keys, City of Norfolk Emergency Management
- Matthew Greenwald, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
- Pre-Game: National Weather Service Storm Ready Certification
NOAA's StormReady program was developed in 1999. Communities that meet a set of rigorous criteria are recognized for their efforts to prepare and educate citizens, monitor weather/river conditions, and receive and disseminate National Weather Service watch and warning information to their citizens. Currently, 10 Virginia communities are StormReady, including the City of Norfolk, which is also TsunamiReady.
- Bill Sammler, National Weather Service, Wakefield, Virginia
- Dave Manning, National Weather Service, Sterling, Virginia
- Phil Hysell, National Weather Service, Blacksburg, Virginia
- Game: Best Practices in Emergency Management - Part A
One presenter will discuss innovative ways to present emergency management training to prepare staff for work in an emergency operations center. The second presenter will share information about the City of Chesapeake’s Hurricane Katrina Relief Task Force.
- Pat Collins, Prince William County Emergency Management
- William E. Ward, Ph.D., City of Chesapeake
- Post-Game: Business Recovery
Colonial Pipeline Company is the largest refined liquid petroleum products pipeline in the world. With more than 5,500 miles of pipeline running from Houston, Texas to Linden, New Jersey, Colonial is critical to the infrastructure of the United States. This was evidenced in the recent Hurricanes Katrina and Rita when hurricane damage caused the pipeline to shut down temporarily and immediate impacts were seen at the gas pump. Colonial recovered in a timely manner, however, the lingering effects of the hurricane still impact the market.
- Clyde Hoey, Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
- Danika Yeager, Colonial Pipeline
- Darren Pruitt, Colonial Pipeline
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Concurrent Session D
- Pre-Game: Building Emergency Operations Centers
This session will provide local and state perspectives on funding, building, equipping, and staffing emergency operation centers.
- Harry Colestock, Virginia Emergency Operations Center
- Robbie Symons, Rockingham County Emergency Management
- Jim Junkins, Rockingham County Emergency Management
- Mark Marchbank, City of Virginia Beach Emergency Management
- Game: Youth Gang Violence
Gangs have been identified as having a significant presence in the Commonwealth. This workshop will provide an overview of gangs in Virginia, gang identifiers, community gang prevention strategies, and managing potential gang violence during an emergency response.
- Marilyn DiPaolo, Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice
- Benjamin Anthony, Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice
- Game: Virginia National Guard Roles During Emergencies
A representative from the Virginia National Guard will explain how the guard responds during emergency situations.
- Lt. Colonel Tom Morgan, Virginia National Guard
- Post-Game: Best Practices in Emergency Management - Part B
This session will provide a rural perspective on response to emergencies, including interoperability and successful exercise programs.
- Terry Hall, York County Division of Emergency Communications
- Tal Luton, James City County Emergency Management
- Robin Hillman, Goochland County Emergency Management
Friday, April 7
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
Breakfast Buffet
8:15 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
General Session: Post-Game Analysis
- “2006 Hurricane Season”
A National Hurricane Center representative will give an overview of what’s in store for the 2006 hurricane season.
- Chris Landsea, Ph. D., National Hurricane Center
- NIMS Compliance
- “Virginia’s Response to Hurricane Katrina – Stakeholders Update”
Presenters will describe the stakeholder process, report on findings from stakeholders’ meetings regarding response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and outline future approaches to evacuation and sheltering.
- Gordon Barwell, VDEM
- Al Pace, VDEM
- Frank Williamson, VDEM
11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Closing Remarks
- Janet Clements, Chief Deputy State Coordinator, VDEM
- Doug Young, VEMA President-elect
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