May 31, 2011
The
St. John’s Emergency Management Conference was held this morning on
the University’s Queens campus. Joseph Bruno, New York City
Commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), served as
guest speaker to open the conference with his talk titled, “NYC/OEM
Ten Years Later.”
“The Office of Emergency Management’s status in government has
grown dramatically since the attacks of 9-11,” said Commissioner
Bruno. “I’ve been Commissioner of OEM since April 2004, and now
manage close to 70-80 million dollars in federal funding. The
federal government has been very good to us (in New York City) and
has supported our efforts as we test new and innovative emergency
technology.”
The
conference was designed to share ideas and best practices with
Public Safety and Emergency Management professionals from Higher
Education and the public and private sector in the Greater New York
City area. More than 100 participants registered for the event
which also included local colleges, public safety offices and
businesses for the day-long conference agenda.
Expert emergency conference speakers following Commissioner
Bruno included:
- Gerard A. McEnerney, Assistant V.P./Executive Director of
Emergency Management, St. John’s University
- Lawrence Sommers, Federal Coordinating Officer/Acting Dir.
Recovery Div. FEMA Region V-Ops Chief – 9/11
- COL Robert Freehill, Defense Coordinating Officer, U.S. Army
North Region II
- MAJ Jody Lupo, Military Police, New York Army National Guard
Commander, 24th Civil Support Team, WMD
- LTC Joseph P. Sullivan, III, Infantry, Chief of Plans and
Military Support, New York Army National Guard
- CAPT Greg Hitchen, Deputy Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, Sector
New York
“Everybody has a plan, but often times we don’t have an
opportunity to exercise or practice these (emergency) plans enough.
That’s the greatest challenge we face today,” said Sommers. “But
FEMA is much more engaged 10 years later (after 9/11) and more
closely in line with cities and governments to understand there
needs, plus we have more robust capabilities today than we had on
9/11.”
St.
John’s University has been one of the leaders in NYC for emergency
preparedness and has hosted several forums in recent years. In a
new twist to the conference format this year, highly sophisticated
emergency response vehicles were featured by the NYS National Guard
Civil Support Team and the OEM Mobile Data Center. These vehicles
adorned the front entrance of the University’s D’Angelo Center in
Queens for a rare glimpse into the latest technologies and
emergency equipment used by these organizations.
The Conference also examined response capabilities for NYC on
9/11 and the enhanced capabilities today. Expert presentations and
participation from the New York State National Guard Civil Support
Team, the United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal
Coordinator Program and the Department of Defense Coordinating
Officer for NYC and FEMA Region highlighted the day’s activities,
which culminated with networking opportunities and an informative Q
& A session to end the conference.
“I am an active duty colonel. That’s what we’re here for is to
save Americans,” said Colonel Freehill. “And in doing so, the
dynamic of having the expertise of all elements of emergency
response at my disposal in NYC provides a collaborative system for
a very successful outcome.”
Presentations from the St. John’s Emergency Management
Conference for Higher Education, Public Safety and Emergency
Management personnel will be available on the St. John’s University
web site at www.stjohns.edu in
the near future. More information can be obtained by calling (718)
390-4588 or e-mail inquiries to kosinske@stjohns.edu.
Media interested in the conference can contact Dominic Scianna,
Assistant Vice President for Media Relations at St. John’s
University by calling (718) 990-6185 or e-mail inquiries to sciannad@stjohns,edu.
Photos from the event and of the emergency response vehicles
highlighted at the conference are available upon request.