'It takes a village:'
EMAG, CEMA conferences
gather emergency
management professionals
By Brandy Mai and Julia Regeski
that the workshops available will
provide you with the tools you
need to excel the next time a storm
threatens our area.”
Brock Long, Federal Emergency
Management Agency administrator
and former GEMA/HS statewide
planner and school safety
coordinator, was the keynote
speaker for the EMAG conference.
He presented FEMA’s 2018-2022
strategic plan, which set three
overarching goals: build a culture
of preparedness, ready the nation
for catastrophic disasters and
reduce the complexity of FEMA.
While each year’s conference
puts a special emphasis on
partnerships within the state’s
emergency management
community, the 2018 theme,
“All In,” particularly resonated
with all in attendance due to
the state being impacted by
two major storms in as many
years. This theme carried
over into workshops taught
by various professionals from
across the state as well as
GEMA/HS employees.
“I would estimate that we
had more presenters from the
different aspects of GEMA/
HS that we’ve had in the last
10 years,” said Ed Westbrook,
GEMA/HS training and
exercise program manager
and one of the planners of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long delivered the keynote
EMAG Summit. “We covered
address at the April 2018 Emergency Management Association of Georgia Summit. (Photo by
Julia Regeski)
everything from the IMT
In April, emergency management
professionals from across the state
gathered in downtown Savannah
to learn from one another and
share best practices as they plan
ahead for future incidents. The week
held two conferences that helped
those professionals, as well as
Georgia Emergency Management
and Homeland Security Agency
employees and county EMA
directors: the Chatham County
Hurricane Conference and the
annual Emergency Management
Association of Georgia Summit and
Training Session.
The week began with Chatham
County Emergency Management
Agency’s annual Chatham County
12
Hurricane Conference. In step
with this year’s theme, “gearing
up for success in emergency
management,” attendees were
able to choose from several
paths of focus, including “public
works, utilities and infrastructure,”
“mass care, sheltering and
medical,” and “public information,
community outreach and volunteer
management.”
A focus on hurricanes was
pertinent not only for Chatham
EMA, but for the whole state.
“The conference is designed to
support you, regardless of the role
you play in your agency,” wrote
CEMA director Dennis Jones in
his welcome letter. “Our hope is