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The Carriage House, Eastern States Exposition

8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Have you ever considered the steps you’ll need to take to safely & efficiently re-unite children & families who may be separated by an emergency incident at your large planned event or venue?

What about the group of teenagers strolling down the midway? How will you manage their parents who rush to your venue after receiving a text from their child about being in a potentially dangerous incident at your location?

This training will prepare participants to reunite children and their caregivers following emergency incidents at large special events or venues.

This training is appropriate for Emergency Managers, Safety Directors, Law Enforcement, Municipal Officials and others involved in planning and hosting large events such as fairs, parades or festivals, or large venue managers and owners, such as colleges, universities, concert venues, casinos, theaters, etc.

Pre-registration is required (complete the form below).

The training will be held at The Carriage House at Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA. The training will begin promptly at 8:30 am, with on-site sign-in beginning at 8:00 am.

The I Love U Guys Foundation will facilitate the training, adapting their Standard Response Protocol developed for family reunifications following an emergency incident in schools to the large event/venue setting. The WRHSAC Family Reunification Plan Template will be incorporated into the training. Copies will be provided to participants.

The training is free and a continental breakfast and buffet lunch will be provided.

Thank you to all who attended this training.

Any questions can be directed to Raine Brown, Homeland Security Program Manager, raine@frcog.org, 413.774.3167 x138

 

Multiple Locations

8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Registration for these trainings is closed. Thank you for your interest. 

The Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council in partnership with UMass Amherst, Springfield College and Williams College offer
Family Reunification Training. 

After Action Reports from real-world incidents and from regional exercises have identified the reunification of children and their family/care-givers as a gap of concern for emergency preparedness and response. WRHSAC has been working to address this gap in western Massachusetts through its Children in Disasters: Keeping Kids Safe initiative. Over the last year WRHSAC has develop a Family Reunification Plan Template, a complete toolkit which agencies, schools, or municipalities may adopt to create their own Family Reunification Plan. (The link to this template will be available soon).

The training will be facilitated by I Love You Guys Foundation. I Love You Guys have developed the Standard Response Protocol and Standard Reunification Method, which are being utilized across the country as best practice for reunification. These documents were key to the development of WRHSAC’s Family Reunification Template.  

This training will prepare participants to reunify children with their families following an emergency incident. WRHSAC’s Family Reunification Plan Template will be provided to participants to develop their own reunification plans. Appropriate for schools, colleges, municipalities, emergency management directors, first responders and any agency providing services to children in western Massachusetts.

Three separate sessions of this training will be held:

  • Wednesday, October 25, 2017—Springfield College, Springfield, MA
  • Thursday, October 26, 2017—Williams College, Williamstown, MA
  • Friday, October 27, 2017—UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA – This session is full and waitlisted
  • 8:00am to 5:00pm each session

The training is free and food will be provided.

Comfort dogs and their handlers from HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response will also be present. 

To register please complete the form below and indicate which session you wish to attend. All registrants will be placed on a wait list. You will be notified of acceptance.

Any inquires can be addressed to Raine Brown, Homeland Security Program Manager, 413-774-3167 x138

Registration for these trainings is closed. Thank you for your interest.