This winter has been an especially active one in the Northeast. While I am accustomed to significant snowfalls being from upstate New York, Region II has been busy responding to this year’s major winter storms with our federal, state, and local partners throughout the region. I would like to share one particularly valuable element of FEMA’s support of first responders, the Incident Management Assistance Team, or IMAT.

IMATs are made up of dedicated and experienced senior-level emergency management professionals that are able to deploy upon a moment’s notice when requested by the state. IMATs are generally consist of 10 members, with expertise in operations, logistics, planning, and recovery. They are a rapidly deployable asset to anywhere in the region or the country, supporting our states and territories in their emergency response efforts.

IMATs provide a forward federal presence to facilitate the management of the national response to catastrophic incidents. The primary mission of an IMAT is three-fold:
 

• rapidly deploy to an incident or potentially threatened venue,
• identify ways federal assistance could be used to best support the response and recovery efforts, should it become available, and
• work with partners across jurisdictions to support the affected State or territory.

One of the most important aspects of the IMAT’s role is to support and take their direction from the state. As our mission states, FEMA’s role is to “support citizens and first responders”. After a disaster, state and local emergency responders, along with voluntary agencies and faith-based groups, are called on to meet the immediate needs of the affected community, and IMATs are FEMA’s team of experts that stand ready to support if they are called upon.

Just last week, I visited the Region II IMAT who spent the week at New Jersey’s Regional Intelligence Operations Center, training with the region II Defense Coordinating Element. This opportunity allowed the team to sit in the actual space that New Jersey would provide them during a real incident and the team was tasked with making that empty room into a fully operational office. Even though it was an exercise, it is impressive to see the team in action as they support our states and territories.

Within hours the IMAT and the Defense Coordinating Element were working together to support the state and had access to key communications channels and capabilities, such as video-teleconferencing. As part of the exercise, the participants also discussed operational planning to continue to improve procedures during an actual IMAT deployment.

As we continue to strengthen relationships with other members of the emergency management team, IMAT’s are a critical part of making sure all members are collaborating with one another, providing the most coordinated response effort possible.

- Lynn

Editor's Note: This post is from the U.S. Fire Administration's “Chief's Corner."

In celebration of African American History Month this February, I thought it would be most appropriate to look back and remember African Americans who have lead the way in making American fire service history:
 

• The oldest documents identifying government sanctioned African American firefighters were found in New Orleans, Louisiana. A devastating fire in July 1817 led the governing body to organize its people to avoid another conflagration. All draymen and their equipment as well as individual free men of color and slaves were recruited.
• The first woman firefighter was an African American. Molly Williams worked alongside the men of the Oceanus Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 of New York City in 1818.
• Patrick H. Raymond was appointed on January 5, 1871 as the first African American Fire Chief in the United States (Cambridge, MA).
• The International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters was organized in Hartford, CT in 1970.
• Robert O. Lowery was the first African American Fire Commissioner of a major U.S. city. He was the Fire Department of New York's 21st Fire Commissioner, serving from January 1, 1966 until September 29, 1973.
• Toni McIntosh of the Pittsburgh (PA) Bureau of Fire was the first African-American woman to become a career firefighter in June of 1976.
• Cecelia O. Salters (now Cecelia Owens-Cox) was the first woman to be assigned to a New York City truck company in 1984.
• Black Women in the Fire Service was established as a subcommittee of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters in 1988 to address rising issues related to African American firefighters. The organization became a stand-alone committee in 1996.
• The first African American United States Fire Administrator, Carrye B. Brown, was appointed in 1994.
• The first African American woman appointed as Fire Chief for a career fire department was Chief Rosemary Cloud with the East Point (GA) Fire Department in 2002.
• The second African American United States Fire Administrator, Kelvin J. Cochran, was appointed in 2009.

It is important for the American Fire Service to recognize the accomplishments of these pioneering individuals. I encourage you to visit the African American Fire Fighting Museum's website for more information on the struggles and accomplishments of African American firefighters, and the links below for multicultural and diversity strategies for the Fire Service.

- Glenn

An alert citizen, combined with a well-trained team of first responders, can save a life.  Just ask Col. Lawrence Barrett Holmes, the Defense Coordinating officer at FEMA's regional office in Atlanta. 

Col. Holmes was dining at a restaurant while on assignment in Kentucky when he suffered a stroke. His waitress, Sandy Beanblossom, noticed a change in behavior and alertly called 9-1-1.  Because of her quick action and the work of the emergency medical technicians who quickly arrived on the scene, Colonel Holmes’ effects from the stroke have been minimal (read the full article from the Louisville Courier-Journal).

On Friday, February 23, the Kentucky Emergency Management Agency and Bullitt County Judge-Executive Melanie Robert honored Sandy and three members of the EMT team for their quick, decisive and ultimately life-saving actions.

Like Sandy, you can make a difference in your community, too - whether it's calling 9-1-1 when you notice an emergency, making sure the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarm are working, or helping your employer prepare for an emergency.  We encourage you to look into the training opportunities offered in your community, like CPR, first-aid, or an emergency preparedness course.  And if you're interested in helping your community better prepare for disasters, then contact your local Community Emergency Response Team for specialized training opportunities.

As Administrator Fugate pointed out yesterday, FEMA Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness, Tim Manning was in Christchurch, New Zealand when the earthquake struck two days ago. 

Specifically, Deputy Administrator Manning was about to board a plane when the earthquake struck.  Check out Ed O’Keefe’s story from the Washington Post to see Tim's answers to some pointed questions, including:

• What did you do right after the quake?
• What’s the first thing a person should do immediately after an earthquake?
• What should people do to prevent potential quake damage to their home or office?
• How much longer will you be there?