Event Details

September is Disaster Preparedness Month nationwide.  Dana Smith from Dutchess County will be presenting on Disaster Preparedness - Are You Ready?

Disaster preparedness is an essential part of managing risk for one’s business.  Businesses can do much more to prepare for the impact of the many hazards they face in today’s world, including both natural and manmade hazards.  There are five key steps in developing a business preparedness program, which include: Program Management, Planning, Implementation, Testing and Exercise, and Program Improvement.  Participants will be provided with the resources and guidance that they need to develop their own preparedness plan.    The program will help participants learn how to develop/ select, implement, and evaluate plans and policies to minimize the organization’s loss and liability in the event of a disaster.

Dana Smith is the Emergency Response Coordinator for the Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response, where he coordinates activities for the Emergency Management Division, the county Emergency Operations Center, the 911 Communications Center, Fire, EMS Coordinators, County Fire, and EMS training center.  His departments are responsible for all emergency planning for county government and also assist local governments and the community in their preparedness and response efforts.  Mr. Smith is a certified Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Paramedic.  He has taught as a National Disaster Life Support Advanced Instructor and has served as a volunteer firefighter for the Marlboro Hose Company in positions that include Lieutenant and Captain.  He has also served as the volunteer Chairman for the Horizons Critical Incident Management team.  In his prior position as the Assistant Coordinator for EMS, he developed and instituted an EMS Leadership program where participants who were seeking career or volunteer leadership roles in EMS could learn about topics such as strategic planning, outcome modeling, leadership development and other pertinent EMS topics.  In his prior role as the County’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Coordinator, Mr. Smith was responsible for the recruitment and training of MRC volunteers and developed the volunteers into a response-capable unit.  Dutchess County’s MRC is now a model program, recognized across the state and nation for its best practices.

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MHHRA has applied for HRCI Credits for this program.