WRC Hosts Successful Emergency Management Director / Fire Chief Roundtables
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Windham Regional Commission has held two of our first Emergency Management Director (EMD) and Fire Chief Roundtables. This began after WRC ceased work with the Local Emergency Planning Commission 6 in Summer 2018. WRC's Emergency Planner felt there was a need to engage EMDs as a group and the first quarterly roundtable was held in Fall 2018. The idea was to host an event that was casual enough to promote open discussion, while also bringing up topics to keep the conversations productive.
The EMDs present at the first roundtable gave it praise and encouragement for continuing. Paul Fraser, EMD in Jamaica, suggested that the group expand to include Fire Chiefs since EMDs and Fire Chiefs work together very closely during events (and in some towns are the same person). That idea took hold. Rich Werner kindly offered the West Dover Fire Department for the second Roundtable, which took place on January 15th. That Roundtable was even more successful with both good participation and great conversation, as well as good food.
These Roundtables are meant to provide EMDs and Fire Chiefs an opportunity to skill share with each other, learn from each other, learn about new and emerging emergency management topics, network, and get direct feedback from their counterparts about issues they are facing in their roles or their towns. At the January Roundtable the need for better communication with Green Mountain Power (GMP) was raised and widely agreed to be a common concern. WRC subsequently reached out to GMP with the concerns and invited them to the next Roundtable on April 9th at the Putney Fire Department. GMP kindly accepted and was happy for the opportunity to talk about a topic that they also feel is vital. We look forward to hosting this and future EMD/Fire Chief Roundtables. Please encourage your town's EMD and Fire Chief(s) to join us, or ask about their experiences if they already have.
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