8:30 am to 3 pm

Join representatives from public safety, public health, public works, Selectboards, Public Information and other municipal officials from across Hampshire County to learn how to plan for and manage an ethanol spill.

This Tabletop Exercise will focus on: on-site incident command, multi-agency coordination, hazardous materials management, and the usability of a new Ethanol Field Guide. The MEMA EOC & Communication Trailers and WRHSAC Foam Trailer will be on-site.

Backfill and overtime reimbursement is available. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

This flyer contains additional information on the training and registration.

8 am to 4 pm

Northern Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee is conducting a functional exercise which will simulate a mass casualty incident involving a bus with multiple passengers and a dump truck carrying potentially hazardous materials. This exercise will test the City of North Adams Community Emergency Management Plan, North Adams Regional Hospital External Disaster Plan, and the Regional Communication Plan.

This exercise is geared toward First Responders from the Northern Berkshires as well as North Adams City Officials and DPW, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Medical Reserve Corps, area Boards of Health and others.

Backfill and overtime reimbursement is available. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Complete information is available here. To register, please contact:

8 am to 4pm

The MCLA Department of Public Safety is conducting a tabletop exercise which will simulate a mass casualty incident involving a train derailment adjacent the college. The derailment results in the release of gas from a chemical transport car, with multiple students and others complaining of headaches and nausea. The Farewell Tabletop Exercise will help public safety entities, first responders, and institutions of education better prepare for a Mass Casualty Incident. This exercise will also serve to further strengthen the critical relationships between and among first responders, public health, civic institutions, volunteer corps, and others.

This exercise is geared toward MCLA staff assigned to ICS positions, City of North Adams First Responders, DPW, and Board of Health as well as other Northern Berkshire County BOHs, First Responders, Public and Private School Officials, the Regional Hazmat Team, and others.

Backfill and overtime reimbursement is available. Lunch will be provided.

For more information or to register for the exercise, please contact:

9:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and the State Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC) are holding these Introduction to Interoperability Workshops. These workshops, postponed from October due to Hurricane Sandy, are targeted for chiefs, command level personnel and directors of local and state agencies in Fire Services, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, and Emergency Medical Services. This non-technical training focuses on utilizing public safety interoperable communications in Massachusetts and is structured as follows:

• January 22nd – General workshop for a statewide audience
• January 23rd – General workshop, plus a special focus on Metro Boston-UASI Interoperable systems

More information is available here. Please RSVP via email with the subject line “Intro Interop RSVP” along with your contact information and preferred attendance date, if any, to: jeffrey.brownell@state.ma.us

Note: WRHSAC has allocated funds for backfill and overtime for Western Region attendees. Backfill and overtime forms can be found here. It is the responsibility of the attendee to submit their form in order to be reimbursed.

11 am

As part of the WRHSAC Social Media Project, a free teleconference training will be offered on Virtual Operations Support Team. Consultants Jeff Phillips and Kim Stephens will be available to address any questions you might have about either the technology or the processes that you have put in place around social media.

More “info” calls will occur during the month of December including:

• What is a Virtual Operations Support Team? (Dec 13 at 1100 EST and December 14 at 1:00 EST)
• Twitter Round-About–Including the why’s and what’s of Twitter as well as a simultaneous Twitter “chat” to get users used to the technology (Dec 17th at 1100EST and December 18th at 1:00 EST)
• What tools are available to monitor Social Media? (December 20 1100 EST)

The dial in for each of the trainings is (409) 777-9000 using the pin 4021675#

For more information, please contact Susan L. Brown, Homeland Security Program Manager, Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council at 413.774.3167 x138 or sbrown@frcog.org.

11 am

As part of the WRHSAC Social Media Project, a free teleconference training will be offered on Virtual Operations Support Team. Consultants Jeff Phillips and Kim Stephens will be available to address any questions you might have about either the technology or the processes that you have put in place around social media.

More “info” calls will occur during the month of December including:

• What is a Virtual Operations Support Team? (Dec 13 at 1100 EST and December 14 at 1:00 EST)
• Twitter Round-About–Including the why’s and what’s of Twitter as well as a simultaneous Twitter “chat” to get users used to the technology (Dec 17th at 1100EST and December 18th at 1:00 EST)
• What tools are available to monitor Social Media? (December 20 1100 EST)

The dial in for each of the trainings is (409) 777-9000 using the pin 4021675#

For more information, please contact Susan L. Brown, Homeland Security Program Manager, Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council at 413.774.3167 x138 or sbrown@frcog.org.

1 pm

As part of the WRHSAC Social Media Project, a free teleconference training will be offered on Virtual Operations Support Team. Consultants Jeff Phillips and Kim Stephens will be available to address any questions you might have about either the technology or the processes that you have put in place around social media.

More “info” calls will occur during the month of December including:

• What is a Virtual Operations Support Team? (Dec 13 at 1100 EST and December 14 at 1:00 EST)
• Twitter Round-About–Including the why’s and what’s of Twitter as well as a simultaneous Twitter “chat” to get users used to the technology (Dec 17th at 1100EST and December 18th at 1:00 EST)
• What tools are available to monitor Social Media? (December 20 1100 EST)

The dial in for each of the trainings is (409) 777-9000 using the pin 4021675#

For more information, please contact Susan L. Brown, Homeland Security Program Manager, Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council at 413.774.3167 x138 or sbrown@frcog.org.

11 am

As part of the WRHSAC Social Media Project, a free teleconference training will be offered on Virtual Operations Support Team. Consultants Jeff Phillips and Kim Stephens will be available to address any questions you might have about either the technology or the processes that you have put in place around social media.

More “info” calls will occur during the month of December including:

• What is a Virtual Operations Support Team? (Dec 13 at 1100 EST and December 14 at 1:00 EST)
• Twitter Round-About–Including the why’s and what’s of Twitter as well as a simultaneous Twitter “chat” to get users used to the technology (Dec 17th at 1100EST and December 18th at 1:00 EST)
• What tools are available to monitor Social Media? (December 20 1100 EST)

The dial in for each of the trainings is (409) 777-9000 using the pin 4021675#

For more information, please contact Susan L. Brown, Homeland Security Program Manager, Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council at 413.774.3167 x138 or sbrown@frcog.org.

1 pm

As part of the WRHSAC Social Media Project, a free teleconference training will be offered on Virtual Operations Support Team. Consultants Jeff Phillips and Kim Stephens will be available to address any questions you might have about either the technology or the processes that you have put in place around social media.

More “info” calls will occur during the month of December including:

• What is a Virtual Operations Support Team? (Dec 13 at 1100 EST and December 14 at 1:00 EST)
• Twitter Round-About–Including the why’s and what’s of Twitter as well as a simultaneous Twitter “chat” to get users used to the technology (Dec 17th at 1100EST and December 18th at 1:00 EST)
• What tools are available to monitor Social Media? (December 20 1100 EST)

The dial in for each of the trainings is (409) 777-9000 using the pin 4021675#

For more information, please contact Susan L. Brown, Homeland Security Program Manager, Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council at 413.774.3167 x138 or sbrown@frcog.org.

9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency present Infectious Diseases & Emergencies Training for Public Safety, a course developed by the MA DPH and the MA State Police Department.

This training is intended for sheriffs departments, state and local police departments, public health (directors, agents and nurses), town counsel and city solicitors. Other audiences that may benefit from the training are town managers, elected or appointed officials, EMS, police and fire.

More information can be found here. If you have questions, please contact Gail Bienvenue-Mailhott at Gail.Bienvenue-Mailhott@state.ma.us.