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Delaware County considers volunteer emergency response team

Mar 04, 2016 12:02 am
Robert Cairns reports in The Watershed Post that Delaware County may form a Community Emergency Response Team, a volunteer group to help the emergency services provided by fire departments and emergency medical personnel in disasters. “Delaware County leads the state in natural disasters,” Gary Ramsey, a law enforcement instructor at DCMO BOCES in Masonville, said at a Feb. 24 Delaware County Board of Supervisors meeting. “It's not something to be proud of, but we're aware of it. We have excellent emergency response services, but these services can become overwhelmed.” Ramsey said that several county emergency organizations have endorsed the plan, including the county's fire and emergency medical services advisory boards, the supervisors who sit on the board's emergency services committee, the sheriff's office, and state forest rangers. Volunteers would receive basic training, complete online training provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and would be subject to a background check. Read the full story in The Watershed Post.