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A Message From The Director
Let us give you a little background of Emergency Management. When it started, it was know as Civil Defense. The main purpose was to protect and shelter the civilian population in case of attack during the world war. Much of the focus was on radiation protection and many public building basements were designed and used as fallout shelters. Many of the people involved in this program were also trained in rescue from damaged buildings, tunneling, shoring, and other specialized rescue assignments.
As time progressed and the threat of war on American soil decreased, the need for the traditional role of Civil Defense also decreased. It was realized that this valuable department could serve the public in other ways. The name was changed from Civil Defense to Emergency Management and the mission was refocused to the planning, mitigation and recovery of disasters, both natural and man made. The Emergency Management Agency now is the coordinating agency for the resources of the Town in the face of hurricanes, tornados, floods, winter storms, dam failures, hazardous materials emergencies, power outages and a myriad of other emergencies that we could face on a daily basis.
We have just finished updating our Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) plan. This is done every four years. It contains personnel lists, equipment lists, phone numbers and chain of command for every department in Town, as well as emergency responses to pre-identified areas of potential problems.
Emergency Management is also the link for the Town to request State and/or Federal assistance should all of our resources become depleted. We operate our Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in the basement of the Fire Department Headquarters at 55 Thompson Road. In times of emergency, this center is staffed with a representative from each Town department as well as others from Red Cross, local radio stations, people from the hospital and other vital personnel that would be responsible for the delegation of resources. We also maintain our back up communications through the volunteer HAM radio operators and the ARES/RACES network.
Please take the time to view the following pages which were taken from our "What to do in an Emergency" booklet.
For more information please visit the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Web Site.
Thank you for visiting!!
Sincerely,
Chris W. Jolda, Director