Written by Rachel Kirkpatrick, Editor
Sunday, 09 January 2011 07:35
In the event of a disaster affecting the region, individual municipalities are responsible for providing shelter if needed. For New Canaan and 13 other communities in Connecticut, the ability to do so became much easier as they became recipients of new mass care trailers purchased with Federal Department of Homeland Security funds.
Delivered before the holiday, each trailer is stocked with 200 blankets, 110 standard cots, 12 supportive cots and shelter management kits. The total cost for each federally-funded trailer was $9,000.
The new trailer has features making it more usable, including exterior and interior lighting, according to Jim Cole, deputy director of Emergency Management for the town.
“The nice thing is they’re portable and can be pulled by an SUV,” Cole said. “If they’re needed in Bridgeport and Stamford, they can easily be towed down there.”
While individual towns have disaster response plans, each is part of a regional disaster management program. In the event of an area-wide disaster, towns can pool resources and refer to regional disaster plans.
CERT volunteers (Community Emergency Response Team) in New Canaan are cross trained to be Red Cross shelter operators, according to Cole. Recently, the trailers were used in a regional emergency exercise with CERT volunteers from three other communities in lower Fairfield County.
“We actually set up a shelter at Lapham, pulled the trailer up, unloaded it, set it up and had people do role playing,” Cole said. “We think we’re in pretty good shape if it were needed.”
The purchase was coordinated through the state Department of Emergency Management/Homeland Security (DEMHS) Region 1, Emergency Planning Team.
The Regional Emergency Planning Team (REPT) includes representatives from Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield, Bridgeport, Stratford, New Canaan, Wilton, Weston, Easton, Monroe and Trumbull. Disciplines represented include emergency management, fire and police departments, animal control, health departments, hospitals, public works, private industry/public utility, emergency medical services and volunteer groups/ partner agencies.
The shelter trailers were purchased through a bid process coordinated by Bridgeport and can be used by municipalities and/or the American Red Cross to support local sheltering activities as well as used to support larger sheltering operations.
“We are pleased to have been able to fund this project for disaster equipment,” said DEMHS Commissioner Peter Boynton. “This is a great example of local communities working together to enhance our preparedness efforts across the region. These trailers and equipment will enable a quicker, more efficient response during a disaster, especially when multiple communities are affected.”