Local responders part of Florida effort

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Following the landfall of Hurricane Ian, and receipt of a request for help, a team of Ohio 911 dispatchers, radio technicians and support personnel are heading to Florida to lend assistance.

The Ohio TERT Team, part of the Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce, is a group of public safety personnel from across Ohio who have volunteered for a 14-day deployment to assist local 911 centers, fire, EMS and law enforcement agencies whose own personnel have been on duty without break since Ian’s landfall near Cayo Costa on Sept. 27. TERT Teams from Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and other states are also responding to Florida’s call for help.

The 18-member team is comprised of members from across the state, and includes personnel from centers in Strongsville, Gahanna, Champaign County (Urbana), Bedford, Westlake, North Lawrence, Franklin County and the State of Ohio. They will be assigned to work 12-hour shifts in centers in the hardest hit part of Florida, to allow home agency personnel time to decompress, and address their own home situations, which were not immune from Ian’s impact.

This team is a Mission Ready Package (MRP), which is a specially created asset bundle used in disaster recovery and response. MRPs are defined as “specific response and recovery capabilities that are organized, developed, trained and exercised prior to an emergency or disaster” (Emergency Management Assistance Compact, 2014). The use of MRPs is a major component of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). Using the EMAC system, states can request or deploy equipment, personnel (including volunteers) and other resources through MRPs to assist in disaster recovery efforts.

Champaign County 911 Director Amy Collins said that two Champaign County telecommunicators left early Monday morning as part of a convoy of equipment and personnel. They planned to arrive in Florida on Tuesday afternoon.

Champaign County is represented in a group of public safety personnel from across Ohio who have volunteered for a 14-day deployment to assist after Hurricane Ian.
https://www.urbanacitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2022/10/web1_EMA-team.jpgChampaign County is represented in a group of public safety personnel from across Ohio who have volunteered for a 14-day deployment to assist after Hurricane Ian. Submitted photo
Telecommunicators part of team

Submitted story

Info from EMA

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