House Republican Press Release

September 9, 2008

Press Office: 860-240-8700

A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE

State Representative Ruth Fahrbach

DEMHS stresses importance of preparing for emergencies

The state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) is Connecticut’s resource and response team when disaster strikes. The department has been stressing the importance of emergency preparedness throughout the course of this year.

According to the agency, the primary mission of DEMHS is to serve and protect the citizens of Connecticut and The United States.

This mission includes:

♦ Working to mitigate, plan and prepare for emergencies

♦ Public emergency education and preparation

♦ Coordinating emergency response and recovery efforts;

♦ Collecting and disseminating critical information;

♦ Investigating terrorism;

♦ Preparing and equipping a dedicated Urban Search and Rescue Task Force;

♦ Actively seeking funding opportunities to support the overall preparedness of the State of Connecticut.

The Connecticut Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, CT-TF1 is a multi-discipline group comprised of more than 150 doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, paramedics and police officers that represent municipal, state and private industry emergency response organizations from all corners of the State of Connecticut.

Members of the team are highly trained specialists that are capable of locating and rescuing victims that are entrapped in confined space, low to high angle rope, structural collapse, and trench rescue emergencies that exceed the capabilities of the local response effort.

The concept of operation is that this team provides the local Incident Commander with a multi-discipline resource that supports responders in accomplishing their technical rescue incidents objective.

The folks at DEMHS encourage residents to visit www.ready.gov or call 1-800-BE-READY to learn how to prepare your families, homes and businesses for all types of emergencies including natural and human-caused disasters. Free materials, including family emergency plan templates and sample business continuity plans, are available through these resources.

State Rep. Ruth Fahrbach represents the 61^st District, including Suffield, and parts of Windsor and East Granby, in the General Assembly.