Whitfield County EMA Director Claude Craig received the award at the annual fall membership meeting of EMAG in Dillard on Nov. 7 and was recognized for the accomplishment by the county commissioners during Monday night’s special called meeting.
The award honors the state’s leading agency that has made a significant improvement or difference in their community to mitigate, respond to, or recover from a disaster.
In the nomination letter, Whitfield County’s EMA was praised as being "very proactive rather than reactive. On April 27, 2011, Whitfield County EMA displayed that they were the ultimate team player. They immediately deployed to Catoosa County to assist them in their disaster response as well as the recovery. Whitfield County EMA is an agency to be emulated throughout the state of Georgia. They are taking the necessary steps to becoming recognized as one of the elite agencies in the state."
Craig said that Whitfield County EMA is "proud to have received this award. It just shows that our mission to continually move the agency forward is working."
Among the accomplishments of the agency during 2011 were:
- Developed and implemented a Mass Care / Shelter Plan, a Point of Distribution Plan, Volunteer and Donated Goods Plan, Community Awareness Program.
- Implemented the use of social media to the Emergency Notifications System.
- Conducted several presentations on Emergency Preparedness throughout the year to various civic groups in the community.
- Implemented and assisted in the development of the first-ever Debris Management Plan for the county.
- Directed the local Citizens Corps Program.
- Directed Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
- Worked hand in hand with both local school systems to keep their Emergency Response plans up to date and moving forward.
- Provided mobile command and resource assistance to all public safety agencies in the county for investigations and special events.
- Coordinated several exercises involving all community partners.
- Currently coordinating the county’s effort to establish a Community Organizations Active During Disasters (COAD).
- Coordinates Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).
- Coordinated the efforts of applying for and receiving equipment for the haz-mat team.
- Currently developing the first-ever Hazardous Material Contingency Plan.
- Led a team and participated in GEMA’s Mobile Command Interoperability Exercise.
- Maintained the requirements for a Storm Ready Community.
- Coordinated two Storm Spotter classes, one for the community and one for the school system and responders.
- Activated the Emergency Operations Center to a Level Two activation on several occasions.
- Coordinated the Unified Mutual Aid efforts of all responding agencies within the county (Whitfield Sheriff, Whitfield Fire, Whitfield Public Works, Whitfield 911, Whitfield EMA, Whitfield Building Inspector’s Office, Hamilton EMS, Dalton Police, Dalton Fire, Dalton Public Works, Dalton Utilities, Varnell Police, Tunnel Hill Police) during the April 27 tornado outbreak and provided assistance to Catoosa, Walker, and Floyd counties.
- Coordinated through the National Weather Service to provide a plan of attack to all agencies during several weather-related agencies.
- Coordinated the response efforts of all agencies during the June 17 storms in Whitfield County.
- Provided mutual aid to Cherokee County during the Labor Day tornado and to Floyd County during a search event and during a special event.
Craig explained that EMA operates around a four-phase plan that includes mitigation through things such as weather radios and smoke alarms, planning ("plan for the worst and hope for the best"), response (the governor declared 24 states of emergency during 2011 due to weather), and recovery ("just like we see in Catoosa County now after the tornadoes in April.")
He admits that training and preparing can never get a county ready for an event as devastating as the Ringgold tornadic activity, "but our goal is for the community of Whitfield County to be as well-prepared as possible for such an event should it ever happen. You’ll never be totally prepared, but we’ve got to be as prepared as possible."
Three times during 2011, during the winter storm on Jan. 9, the tornadic activity on April 27, and the straight-line wind event on June 17, Whitfield County’s Emergency Operations Center opened. Basically, the center is located at the 911 office and includes representatives from all the agencies that have roles in disaster management, like law enforcement, utilities, EMS, hospital, fire, and others.
"When we open the EOC, we bring all the players to the table, all the decision-makers, where we can decide right then and there, this is what we’re going to do during an emergency instead of having to track people down," Craig said.
"We did that for the first time during the winter storm, and the response we had was absolutely tremendous. It went extremely well, and I think there again receiving this award shows our efforts to obtain proficiency, a high level of proficiency, in managing things during a time of disaster."
Craig says he has seen a high degree of cooperation between various agencies in the county, especially in the last year.
"During a disaster, it’s got to be a coordinated effort because if everybody’s acting on their own, you’re working against each other because you don’t know they’re doing," he said. "That’s one of the things I’ve seen that I’m proud of is the collaboration we’ve gained inside the county from not only the responders but also the citizens. I think we have really moved forward with the times as far as progressing into protecting the citizens and property of Whitfield County."
The Emergency Management Association of Georgia has three primary goals. The first is to assist members in their efforts to save lives and protect property from the effects of disasters. Second, it provides a forum for professionals to discuss current issues in the emergency management field. And finally, EMAG serves as a policy advisory board both to local emergency management agencies and to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
