Allegany County Chapter

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Allegany County Red Cross Chapter Conducts

Disaster Readiness Exercise

 

Wellsville, New York, May 8, 2007 – On Saturday, May 5, 2007 the Allegany County Chapter of the American Red Cross collaborated with officials from the Northeast Service Area to conduct a Chapter Disaster Readiness Exercise and Evaluation (CDREE).  The purpose was to assist the chapter in measuring their readiness to respond to disasters and to develop specific strategies to enhance their readiness. 

Disaster readiness means that each chapter has the right resources in the right place at the right time to respond to any disaster event which may impact its jurisdiction.  This includes establishing human resources, material resources, and critical relationships necessary to initiate, sustain, and manage a disaster response.  The CDREE allowed the Allegany County Chapter the opportunity to identify any shortfalls in these resources and relationships and to begin to design short and long-term plans to overcome these shortfalls. 

This was a table-top exercise, meaning that all the action happened in the local Red Cross office in Wellsville.  The chapter was required to “respond” to major flooding of the Genesee River from the Pennsylvania border to Scio.  Two shelters were “opened.”  The first shelter was at the Christian Temple Church in Wellsville, but as time passed and it became obvious more families would be affected, a second shelter was “opened” at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Wellsville. 

John Tucker, Allegany County Office of Emergency Services Director was a guest participant who said, “The Red Cross Chapter in Allegany County is a vital resource to emergency and disaster relief.  We rely on them heavily for assistance to our residents.”

Facilitators for the CDREE were Jim Strause, Chapter Solutions Manager from Rochester and Linda de Quintal, Disaster Specialist from New Jersey.   Mr. Strause said, “We already knew that the local Red Cross chapter has a group of highly dedicated volunteers.  We also learned that the local community is very supportive of the Red Cross.  In this exercise local partners such as the Allegany County Office of Emergency Services, the Andover School System, the New York State Police of the Amity Station, the Allegany County Sheriffs Department, the Village of Wellsville and their Police Department, and Ham Radio Operators from across Western New York were ready, willing and able to help the Red Cross meet the emergency needs of people in the local community.  All-in-all, the exercise was very successful. We learned a lot about the strengths of the local Red Cross, and I think the local Red Cross learned a lot about themselves.”

Also assisting in the exercise was Mike D’Antonio who represented the Amateur Ham Radio Communications Systems.   He had amateur radio operators from across Western New York on standby for most of the day.  When the day was over he remarked, "I wish the public could see first hand all of the dedication and hard work that goes into the training that makes the Red Cross as ready as possible to do the seemingly impossible."

The exercise was led by Robert Shook of Cuba, the Chapter Disaster Readiness Officer.  He was assisted by Alison Dickinson of Belmont as Disaster Co-Chair; Beth Shook of Cuba as Staffing Lead; Barb Brown of Wellsville as Training & Support Lead; Judy Kosciewicz of Wellsville and Art Couchman of Scio as Government Liaisons; Jerry Dickinson of Belmont as Logistics Lead; Nick Abraham of Cuba as Community Liaison; Dale Baker of Bolivar as Shelter Manager, Bonnie Strait of Wellsville as Feeding Lead; Dick Wilhelm of Friendship as Disaster Assessment Lead; and Madeleine Gasdik, Chapter Executive Director.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people.  You can help by making a financial gift to the Allegany County Chapter of the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster.  Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

 

112 N Main Street, Wellsville, NY  14895

Ph: (585) 593-1531  Fax: (585) 593-6451

Email: executive.director-acc@adelphia.net