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Details

The Emergency Preparedness Program partners with Franklin County communities to facilitate the continuous improvement of emergency management in the region. We do this by:

  • Coordinating preparedness efforts amongst town governments, first responders, and the private sector,
  • Writing regional emergency plans,
  • Offering trainings and exercises,
  • Providing technical assistance with emergency planning, post-incident analysis, and inter-municipal sharing of services, and
  • Advocating for the region’s interests.
Hazardous Materials Exercise Participants Discussing Strategy.
Participants In A Mass Casualty Exercise Receive A Briefing From The Exercise Leader.
Preparedness Planner Dan Nietsche Presents A Briefing To Attendees At A Regional Sheltering Workshop And Exercise.
Staff From The FRCOG Discuss Hazardous Materials Exercise Progress With The Chair Of The Hampshire County Regional Emergency Planning Committee (REPC).

Post-COVID-19 Regional Preparedness Planning

Prior to COVID-19, the regional understanding of the role of Emergency Preparedness Program staff during an emergency was to provide some technical assistance while towns collectively managed their individual response (EPP staff are overwhelmingly grant-funded–traditionally, there has been no funding to pay FRCOG Preparedness staff to provide direct response coordination).

The level of technical assistance and operational coordination required of the FRCOG and the Emergency Preparedness Program was unprecedented, and required thoughtful analysis to inform our organizational role in the region during future large-scale or long-duration states of emergency.  With that role more clearly defined, we can pursue the necessary mutual agreements and funding to plan for the future.

Throughout 2022, the FRCOG engaged in organizational and programmatic After-Action Reviews to evaluate:

  • The role of the FRCOG overall, as well as the role of the Emergency Preparedness Program, in regional response coordination, a need evidenced by COVID-19
  • The efficacy of current Emergency Dispensing Site Plans and planning processes
  • The impacts of multiple preparedness planning groups advising the FRCOG and Emergency Preparedness Program

The FRCOG contracted with Ardent Decisions Group, an established and respected consulting firm with decades of experience in post-incident analysis. Ardent worked with the FRCOG to design and conduct stakeholder surveys, interviews and focus groups amongst all communities and government sectors within the region.

Local public safety (police, fire, EMS), Emergency Management Directors, Town Administrators, members of Select Boards, Boards of Health, Health Directors and Agents, Public Health Nurses, as well as regional leaders from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Northwest Incident Management Team, and the FRCOG Council participated in this process, resulting in final recommendations from Ardent Decisions Group in November of 2022.

In 2023, the FRCOG and it’s Emergency Preparedness Program staff will work to present and discuss these findings with our member communities to arrive at mutually understood and agreed-upon roles for the FRCOG during incident and events that strain the capacity of local municipal management and existing mutual aid.

After Action Report Recommendations (PDF, 1.4 MB)
Publications

The primary purpose of this plan is to provide the framework and methodology to efficiently respond to hazardous materials emergencies within the communities of the Franklin County Regional Emergency Planning…

Communities have tremendous responsibility for managing and coordinating emergency response. During the early stages of an emergency it is very difficult to develop timely, effective and consistent public messages. In…

The Family Reunification Plan Template (PDF. 3.5 MB) is a result of WRHSAC’s Children in Disasters: Keeping Kids Safe project. The ability to reunify children with their families or care givers following…

Staff
Nick Licata headshot.

Nick Licata

Emergency Preparedness Planner

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Dan Nietsche headshot.

Dan Nietsche

Emergency Preparedness Planner

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Xander Sylvain headshot.

Xander Sylvain

Emergency Preparedness Program Manager

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Boards and Committees
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