<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charse

National Capital Region Conference:
Inclusive Emergency Preparedness & Response

The Cafritz Conference Center
George Washington University
Washington, DC

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 9:00am to 4:00pm
Sign-in starts at 8:15am

This free, one-day conference is a practice-oriented planning conference intended to improve networking and practical planning between the emergency and the disability communities in the National Capital Region and its local jurisdictions. It is designed to present the regional context for emergency preparedness planning, and provide break-out sessions in which participants work together to begin expanding inclusive planning in their jurisdictions.

This orientation seems particularly appropriate in light of the nation’s experience with Katrina. The conference agenda has been modified to include discussions of how people with disabilities and their support groups prepared for and responded to Katrina and the storm’s consequences.

Conference highlights include:

Practical planning in breakout sessions for major NCR jurisdictions (DC, Fairfax County, Montgomery County, Alexandria, etcetera), using common planning frameworks to identify key issues involved with advancing inclusive preparedness and response in each jurisdiction.

A panel on recent progress in preparedness planning in Maryland, the District, and Virginia.

Tom Lockwood, Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of National Capital Region Coordination, will present an overview of regional emergency preparedness efforts and how they pertain to individuals with special needs

At lunch, topic tables will offer opportunities for participants to eat together and discuss topics like evacuation, sheltering in place, staffing, and others.

The afternoon breakout sessions will consider practical next steps for each jurisdiction and work to establish inclusive planning groups able to continue working together in a jurisdiction after the conference is over.

The conference will close with a presentation by Dan Sutherland, Director of the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities, on the response activities of the disability community and the federal agencies in supporting the role of the states in emergency response and recovery in the Gulf region disaster.

Participants in this conference should leave better informed about emergency preparedness and response in the NCR, and able to take practical steps in their local jurisdiction, organization, and home to be more ready for major emergency events in our region.