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 REGION 2 BI-WEEKLY 
      	Volume 1, Issue 20							           July 17, 2009
	

	Preparedness — both individual and family — is widely recognized as the key to mitigating the affects of disaster. 
	Under the leadership of Administrator Craig Fugate , it is the FEMA’s mantra. So it was particularly gratifying to hear Puerto Rico’s Governor Luis Fortuño pick up that refrain following an exercise organized by Region II  with Puerto Rico’s Emergency Management Agency (PREMA). The drill? To prepare local officials on the principals and tactics of emergency management.  "The continuous education of agency officials, as well as the emphasis on citizen preparedness, may be the difference in saving a life," Gov. Fortuño noted. 
	Accompanied by Region II Acting Administrator Michael Moriarty (below, right), Caribbean Division Director Alejandro de La Campa (center), and PREMA’s Director, Heriberto Saurí, the Governor (left)  applauded the fact that nearly 1,000 island residents have been trained as Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members by PREMA. 
	In addition, Puerto Rico has set up an Emergency Management Cyber Institute website to help residents prepare for emergencies. So far the site has had more than 5,000 hits and has issued 1.650 electronic certificates of course completion.
	“We have to mobilize all resources to reach as many residents as possible,” said Caribbean Division Director Alejandro de La Campa. “Preparedness is everyone’s responsibility, from government to individual residents. We are all in this together, and we owe it to our first responders , our families and ourselves to be prepared.”

   FACES OF REGION II
		 END OF AN ERA

TOM FARGIONE

Tom Fargione has come over to the other side.
Prior to joining Region II as the Operations Section Chief for IMAT, Tom was the Deputy Director for Response at the New York State Emergency Management Office (SEMO), where he coordinated that agency’s operational and logistical response to emergencies, disasters and anti-terrorism and security programs.  
Tom joined SEMO in 2003 as Deputy Director for Preparedness, overseeing the Operations, Planning and Training/Exercise sections. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of New York’s Incident Management Teams.  
Tom began his career in law enforcement with the Albany Police Department in 1972, where he headed the Special Investigations Unit. He joined the Albany County Sheriff’s Department in 1993 and headed the Critical incident Management Unit. He retired as an Inspector.   
A leader in the effort to develop Incident Command-based interagency task forces for rapid deployment, Tom was tapped after the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 to serve as SEMO’s liaison between Ground Zero,  NYC-OEM Operations Center at Pier 92, FEMA’s Disaster Field Office at Pier 90, and the State EOC in Albany.   
As the Incident Commander of NYS’s Type 2 Incident Management Team (IMT), Tom responded to numerous major events including plan crashes, mass shootings, capsized vessels and flooding, as well as such national incidents as hurricanes Francis, Ivan, Dennis, Katrina and Gustav.
	Tom may have crossed over, but he clearly will be right at home here in Region II.

By Mike Moriarty
THE WAY FORWARD 
IN 140 CHARACTERS
Region II’s Citizen Corps has stepped into the 21st century: Its Twitter account is connecting the Region’s residents to Citizen Corps, FEMA, the FBI, NYPD, FDNY and many others government agencies, as well as such private, non profits as the American Red Cross and World Health Organization.  
Led by David Fortino, Region II’s Citizen Corps Program Manager, the Twitter account, which opened in late June, has connected 19 government agencies and 29 civilian organizations with individual accounts, most of whom are CERT members.  
Through this new social media networking, the Region’s Citizen Corps is able to share and receive information regarding threat levels, disease information and updates, storm and disaster information and, perhaps most importantly, tips for the prevention of fires, floods and other hazards people may face during the summer months. 
While the Region’s Twitter account is new, it has already proven itself a useful tool for  getting out information to local jurisdictions and community activists. As access to real time information is critical during disasters and disease outbreaks (or even during training sessions), the Region’s followers can only grow, 140 characters at a time.  To visit the twitter page visit http://twitter.com/FEMARIICitizen/followers?page=1 or look for the profile of FEMARIICitizen

After 28 years with FEMA — 10 years as a FCO — Marianne Jackson retired July 3rd.  Staff gathered in-house to wish her well, with many telling humorous  
“war stories” about their long-time Chief. Marianne has made a lasting contribution to FEMA’s mission, setting up the agency’s first Special Needs program to support older adults and people with disabilities. She was also instrumental in setting up a telephone disaster application center in Puerto Rico to serve Spanish-speaking disaster victims nationally. Cookies and donuts were followed by drinks and more good wishes at a neighborhood restaurant. 
	
	Our role in the emergency management world is to be coordinators and facilitators.  We don’t respond in turnout gear or a level  A HazMat suit , but we support the people that do. We ensure first responders are equipped, trained and cognizant of the larger mission. Their readiness, and ours, is critical to the well being of other first responders and all those affected by disasters.  

	This coordination prior to, and during a disaster is critical to mission success, and ultimately is the measure of our own success or shortfall. 

	As technology improves and the tools of our trade evolve, so must we.  As professionals, it is our responsibility to keep up with the latest technology and to leverage it to provide the best actionable information to both our state and local partners and our fellow citizens.  

	The face of  emergency management is not covered in soot and smoke. Rather it is that of trained facilitators, getting information and assets where they are needed most as quickly as possible.

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INSTITUTIONALIZING    
	PREPAREDNESS