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On Oct. 24, FEMA participated in the Department of Homeland Security's annual open house event: "DHS Day on the Hill." The event gave participants an opportunity to interact with the department staff who work to protect the nation.
During the open house, FEMA was able to interact with Congress, educating them on important FEMA programs. Representatives were present from the following FEMA programs: the Response Directorate, Urban Search & Rescue, Ready Campaign, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, and the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination.
For more information about DHS programs, visit the website.
FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) program will staff exhibit booth #337 at the International Association of Emergency Managers 2019 Annual Conference & Expo held Nov.18 - 20 in Savannah, Ga.
IPAWS is a valuable tool for communicating life-saving information to people regarding threats to public safety. Since 2012, IPAWS delivered more than 50,000 alerts in response to wildfires, floods, volcanos, missing and endangered children and adults, dangerous person, police activity, and other man-made and natural disasters.
Although more than 1,400 state, local, tribal, and territorial governments are IPAWS Alerting Authorities, this represents less than half of communities across the nation. Approximately 1,900 local authorities do not have the ability to use IPAWS to quickly send alerts when minutes matter most, which is a critical gap in local ability to alert and warn the public of impending danger.
FEMA recently launched a national initiative, “Close the Gap” in partnership with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions. The IPAWS exhibit at the conference will help to push this initiative. Members of the IPAWS engineering team and lab staff along with the customer support branch will be at the booth to answer questions. To learn more about IPAWS, visit the FEMA website.
In episode 51, listen in on a walking tour of the National Response Coordination Center from Josh Dozor, the Deputy Assistant Administrator for FEMA Response Directorate, during the recent Hurricane Dorian activations. The NRCC includes representatives from across the federal government that help to coordinate the overall federal response and recovery.
The FEMA podcast is an audio program series available to anyone interested in learning more about the Agency, hearing about innovation in the field of emergency management, and listening to stories about communities and individuals recovering after disasters.
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