Importance of Emergency Preparedness
As in recent years, past events have once again demonstrated the need for preparedness for event of all types of emergencies. Nature has put many regions of America to the test; record storms have ravaged areas of our country this year. In Massachusetts, record floods have demonstrated the need for emergency preparedness.
The Effect of Major Events
Continued military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan along with heightened security in the Metro Boston Area have reinforced the need to protect our citizens from both foreign and domestic terrorism. At the beginning of this decade, few of us would have thought we would see the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington D.C., in flames from a terrorist attack. Few of us would have thought it possible that the forces of nature could leave a major American city destroyed and abandoned with its survivors suffering and dying for days for lack of any assistance.
Importance of Leadership & Preparation
In the wake of the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, we now know that failures in leadership and preparedness can have a tremendous cost in both human lives and the destruction of property before, during, and after a disaster. The Brookline Emergency Management Team (EMT) strives to prepare both municipal government and our residents for all possible emergencies.
The mission of the Brookline Emergency Management Team (EMT) is to coordinate local, state, federal, voluntary, and private resources during emergencies and disasters effecting the Town of Brookline. The Brookline EMT provides leadership to accomplish the following:
- Develop plans for effective response to all hazards, disasters, or threats
- Train emergency personnel to protect the public
- Provide information to the citizenry
- Assist individuals, families, and businesses to mitigate against, prepare for, and respond to and recover from emergencies, both natural and man made
Emergency Management Team
Police Chief Daniel O'Leary is the Chair of the Brookline EMT and also serves as the town's Emergency Management Director. Working with a team approach, the EMT integrates Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Public Health, Public Works, Buildings, Schools, Recreation and the Human Relations departments into unified command to respond to emergency situations within the town.
- Daniel C. O'Leary, Police Chief / Emergency Management Director
- Robert J. Ward, Fire Chief
- Andy Pappastergion, Commissioner Public Works
- Dr. Swannie Jett, Director Public Health
- Cheryl Anne Snyder, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Health Department