0n September 13th, Vanessa Palange from NH Homeland Security and Emergency Management addressed the Rotary Club of Nashua regarding NH Homeland Security and Emergency Management Mission: Prevent/mitigate/prepare for and respond to any hazards that impact NH.
Field Services: handles issues ‘on the ground’ and is in contact with officials and emergency management directors.
Operations: does training and exercises, works with police in the state for major events; they also have a 24/7 on-call officer; handles the State of Emergency Operation Center
Preparedness, Mitigation and Recovery Section: Grants management, plan development and maintenance, weather, and NH alerts
School Safety and Preparedness Program: Physical security assessments; technical assistance of school emergency operation plans
Governor’s School Safety Task Force: Action item working group, composed of people working in school, state employees, EMS, fire and police, that created 59 recommendations to make NH schools safer
Community Outreach Office: Handles social media; Readynh.gov (Resource for emergency preparedness, Tips on how to be prepared for weather emergency, power outages, etc.); Programs for children about safety
Homeland Security at the state level is to reduce risk of threats and monitor activities and to keep the governor informed: Interact with state and federal agencies; Monitor NH special events/activities for threats
If an event has an impact of a certain level, it activates the state emergency operations center, which coordinates the state response and facilitates federal response and situational awareness. They report SEOC activation levels:
Steady state (lowest)
Enhanced monitoring
Partial
Full (highest)
Ready.gov/business can help small business prepare for potential emergency situations
“The first 72 are on you” policy was reviewed for safety preparedness kits; you should have enough in your kit to manage the first 72 hours.