CREPC

Overview

The Capitol Region Emergency Planning Council (CREPC) officially adopted by-laws on November 19, 2001 when it became a council of the Public Safety Council.  Forty-one communities are located in DEMHS Region 3 and respond via the Region’s Regional Emergency Support Plan (RESP) (formerly known as the RED Plan). Twenty-eight municipalities use CREPC as their Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). For more information, please see the State’s Local Emergency Planning Committee webpage.

Capitol Region Medical Reserve Corps

Following September 11, 2001, health professionals asked “What can I do to help? “ In Connecticut and across the country, the Medical Reserve Corps provided an opportunity for volunteer service to their local communities.

MRC units are comprised of local, citizen volunteers who are trained to respond to health and medical situations in support of established, local public health and emergency medical response systems. Volunteers from a variety of health professions such as doctors, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists, mental health practitioners, dentists, physicians assistants, health technicians, support personnel and more are members of the Corps.  They may be retired, part-time or full-time workers. Volunteer responsibilities include emergency medical care and triage, logistic or backup support for trauma units and hospitals in the event of a disaster, immunization campaigns, and public health awareness efforts.  The Capitol Region MRC consists of practicing and retired health care professionals and other volunteers trained to assist with health emergencies.

If you have medical skills and training, and are interested in learning more about the Capitol Region and its volunteer response, click on the links to your left.

To join, follow this link to the application form, and we will contact you about orientation and training. You can also contact the CR-MRC Director, Katherine McCormack at 860-214-2178 or kmccor4040@aol.com, or the CR-MRC Medical Director, Dr. Ron Buckman at 860-646-0649.

Related Sites

  • National Medical Reserve Corps

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • National Citizen Corps

  • Capitol Region Citizen Corps

The Capitol Region Metropolitan Medical Response System (CR-MMRS)

The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) Program began in 1996 and currently is funded by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Defense Preparedness (ODP). The primary focus of the MMRS program is to enhance existing local and regional emergency preparedness systems to respond effectively to a public health or medical crisis, including a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) event. Through a process of planning for and implementing specially designed contract deliverables, local law enforcement, fire services, Hazmat teams, EMS, hospitals, public health agencies, and other “first responder” personnel can respond more effectively during the first hours of a public health or medical crisis.

The Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 directed the Secretary of Defense to enhance capability and to support improvements of local response agencies. The Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1997 authorized funding for “Metropolitan Medical Strike Teams” (MMST) that subsequently evolved into the MMRS Program. Ongoing Congressional appropriations have provided grants to 124 MMRS jurisdictions nationally.

The MMRS program is a federal resource made available at the community level in order to ensure a comprehensive and workable public health and medical response mechanism in the event of major disasters. In the Capitol Region MMRS jurisdiction, volunteers from all emergency response professions have come together to plan their joint response to the disasters none of us ever hope to experience. By supplying training and education to the responder community including local health and hospital personnel, MMRS raises the level of awareness at the local level while enhancing the response capabilities of the region.

MMRS is not designed to supplant traditional and long-standing local response plans that have worked so well. Rather, MMRS expands the conversation locally by bringing together both new and traditional planning partners to ensure that local and regional plans reflect the latest science, and so that latest technologies are made available.

Beyond the MMRS role as a facilitator of comprehensive planning that includes a public health and medical component, MMRS uniquely provides protective services specifically targeted at the first responders. The Capitol Region MMRS pharmaceutical program provides nerve agent antidotes in the event of the release of a chemical toxin, and antidotes in the event of the introduction of a biological agent into our communities, including an episode of pandemic flu.

Surely the most important contribution that the Capitol Region MMRS program makes to the local emergency planning process is to bring together planners from all areas of emergency response so that, in the event of a disaster, skills and leadership are shared with confidence. The effectiveness of the MMRS program ultimately can be measured not by the amount of equipment purchased, but rather by the improved level of coordination and cooperation among the first response agencies of the Capitol Region.

Recognizing the wisdom in the axiom “All emergencies begin and end locally”, the Capitol Region MMRS program enhances local planning efforts to produce a comprehensive public health and medical response system that includes preparation for a bioterrorism incident. MMRS expands and enhances local planning efforts in four important ways:

  • The MMRS contract deliverables ensure that traditional emergency planning by the local fire, police and EMS leadership is expanded to include representation from both the local and state public health agencies and the region’s hospitals, thereby ensuring a public health component in emergency planning
  • The MMRS program encourages, and financially supports, the expansion of emergency planning at the sub-state regional level, thereby maximizing the use of resources normally not available to local communities
  • The Capitol Region MMRS pharmaceutical stockpile, an integral part of all MMRS programs, provides a level of protection specifically for the first responder community in the event of an inadvertent or an intentional release of a chemical or biological agent
  • The MMRS program ensures that all local and regional public health and medical response planning is compatible with and supports state and federal emergency planning, including the National Response Framework and the National Incident Management System

Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)

For FY 2008, the Hartford-Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is one of two MSAs in Connecticut which has been deemed eligible for Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funding under the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP).   The HSGP requires regional approaches through these programs and initiatives; to that end the Capitol Region / CT-DEMHS Region 3 (Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security) has been designated as the Region 3 UASI.  The Bridgeport-Stamford MSA is the other CT-MSA deemed UASI eligible and CT-DEMHS Region 1 has been designated as the Region 1-UASI.

Since its inception in FY 2003, the intent of the UASI program has been to enhance regional preparedness in major metropolitan areas. The UASI program directly supports the national priority on expanding regional collaboration in the National Preparedness Guidelines and is intended to assist participating jurisdictions in developing integrated regional systems for prevention, protection, response, and recovery.

For each UASI region an Urban Area Working Group (UAWG) is established to develop an Urban Area Homeland Security and Investment Planning Strategy for the three year grant period.  For the FY 2008 HSGP the three highest priority objectives are:

  • Measuring progress in achieving the National Preparedness Guidelines
  • Strengthening improvised explosive device (IED) deterrence, prevention, and protection capabilities
  • Strengthening preparedness planning

The UAWG for Region 3 has been established through the Region 3 – Regional Emergency Planning Team (REPT) Steering Committee consisting of representation from each of the CREPC-Regional Emergency Support Functions (RESF), the Citizen Corp Program (CCP), and the Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS).

Documents

  • CRCOG Regional Capability Assessment, Summary Report – 7/11/2011

  • Region 3 Urban Area Working Grant (UAWG) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) - revised 1/28/10

  • UAWG SOP Figure 1

  • Target Capabilities List

CAPITOL REGION – LEPC

The use, storage, and transportation of hazardous materials in and through the Capitol Region and the recognition of that hazard potential necessitate emergency preparedness and response planning.  The issues of increased protection of life and property are paramount for our communities, region, and state.  The Capitol Region Emergency Planning Committee (CREPC) serves as the Local Emergency Planning Committee for specific named municipalities in accordance with CT General Statute (CGS): Section 22a-601(b).

The Capitol Region Emergency Planning Committee has produced a Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Plan (CR-HMERP) as the LEPC in accordance with the following:
       CGS Section 22a-603 – State Emergency Planning Activities
       40 CFR Part 370 – Tier II Reporting
Comments on the draft Plan should be directed to Cheryl Assis at 860-724-4271 or cassis@crcog.org.

The following communities are members of the CREPC-LEPC:
Andover, Avon, Bloomfield, Bolton, Bristol,  Canton,  Coventry,  East Haddam,  East Hampton,  East Hartford,  East Windsor,  Enfield,  Farmington,   Granby,  Hartford,  Manchester, Marlborough, Middletown, Plainville, Portland, Rocky Hill, Somers, South Windsor, Stafford, Suffield, Tolland, West Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor Locks.

CREPC-LEPC SPILL OR RELEASE NOTIFICATION –  Chairperson of CREPC in care of the Capitol Region Council of Governments – Ms. Cheryl Assis, Director of Public Safety and Homeland Security – 860-724-4271.

Citizen Corps

The Capitol Region Emergency Planning Committee initiated the creation of the Capitol Region Citizen Corps Council.  Citizen Corps, coordinated nationally by the Department of Homeland Security, was created to help coordinate volunteer activities that will make our communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to any emergency situation.

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) are a Citizen Corp Council program.  A CERT is a group that is organized and receives special training that enhances their ability to prepare for, respond to, recover from and mitigate against a major emergency or disaster situation.

To date, the following towns/entities within the region have active CERT teams:  Andover, Bolton, Bristol, Burlington, Canton, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Hartford, Ellington, Enfield, Farmington, Granby, Hartford, Hebron, Manchester, Marlborough, Middletown, New Britain, Newington, Portland, Somers, Southington, South Windsor, Stafford, Tolland, Vernon, Wesleyan University, West Hartford, Windsor Locks, and a Fire Corps in Avon.  If your community is interested in establishing a CERT team, CRCOG can provide trainers to teach the introductory 20-hour CERT course.  Also, the region strongly supports the participation and completion of ICS 100 and 700 courses.  Please visit www.ct.train.org to view regional training opportunities.

To learn more about Citizen Corps programs, please visit https://www.ready.gov/citizen-corps