(Forsyth County, GA) The Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) hosted a county-wide strategic planning session to review its response to emergency situations and create a five-year strategic plan.
The training was held at the Forsyth County Emergency Operations Center (the county headquarters in an emergency situation) and included county departments such as the EMA, Fire Department, Sheriff’s Office, E-911, Roads & Bridges, Engineering, Public Facilities and others.
Several agencies and non-profits outside county departments also attended including Northside Hospital, Army Corps of Engineers, Sawnee EMC and Georgia Power.
“Having the agencies and partners that are involved in the planning, response and recovery from disasters come together often to ensure everyone is prepared in their roles is paramount to successfully navigating any emergency,” said EMA Director Tom Cisco. “Hopefully the events we prepare for never occur in our community, but if they do, we are continuously preparing to best respond.”
In a video posted on the Forsyth County government's Facebook page on Thursday, June 1, Cisco explained what some of his future goals for the department are, which include completing more accreditations and expanding public outreach.
“We want to get out in the communities more, we want to prepare you all as citizens to take care of yourselves,” Cisco said. “That makes our job a lot easier and you will be more prepared. ‘How-to’ videos, we want to do ‘how-to’ videos on how to sandbag your house, show you how to prepare your house for wildfires, any of that stuff.”
The EMA leads county-wide emergency and disaster response activities, managing emergency preparedness, response and recovery programs in order to mitigate the effects of disasters and save lives and property. It is also prepared to respond to a variety of public health emergencies.
Residents can learn more about disaster preparedness at the Hazards & Disaster Preparation webpage on forsythco.com.
If you have a news tip in Forsyth County, contact Justine Lookenott at justine.lookenott@newsbreak.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @justalookenott.
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