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Committee stresses disaster preparedness relief
Grafton Pritchard
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: News
To help protect the city and county, the Oxford-Lafayette County Homeland Security and Emergency Oversight Committee works to prepare for potential disasters.
The committee is one of several like it in the state and is a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The committee is comprised of three Oxford residents and three Lafayette County residents who serve for three-year terms. A county supervisor, a firefighter and a county administrator are among its members. The University of Mississippi and Baptist Hospital also have two seats on the committee, but they are non-voting members.
According to committee director Jimmy Allgood most of the members have "a background in emergency preparedness."
"The main purpose for the committee is to ensure that the city and the county jointly work together to form plans of action in the event of any kind of disaster," Allgood said. "The committee is responsible for creating emergency plans for severe weather to biological pandemics; they also are responsible for mapping emergency evacuation routes if and when a disaster occurs."
Committee member and Oxford Alderman Janice Antonow said it is the committee's job to make sure that each part of the local government knows what its job is.
"With every kind of potential emergency, we specify what each entity in the city and county would do," Antonow said. "This includes the fire department, police force and other organizations in the city and county. I think a lot of what the committee does is to ensure that all of these components are working together and making sure the information is assimilated to the public."
A lot of the responsibility falls on the director, Antonow said.
Allgood, who has served as the director of the committee since its conception last year, is responsible for mapping out the evacuation routes, writing grants and educating the public.
"I had been a volunteer firefighter for 30 years and the opportunity presented itself, so I took it," Allgood said. "Instead of me fighting fire, I figure out what services need to be allocated for emergency preparedness."
There are four main purposes of the emergency preparedness committee: preparation and training in the instance of weather or a pandemic mitigation like West Nile, response to the actual emergency and recovery efforts.
"Our main purpose is to protect life and property of the citizens of the city and county," Allgood said.
Antonow agreed.
"Our main objective is response - plans of response to chemical spills, evacuation routes and public education on things like storm preparedness," she said.
The committee has several programs to educate the public in order to allow the community to respond accordingly. The Senior Emergency Response Team trains senior citizens in the areas of first aid and volunteer services. Allgood also trains people to work emergency radios in the case of bad weather and is responsible for ongoing projects in the city and county.
"Right now we are building storm shelters, getting more warning sirens for the county and working on flood control," Allgood said.
The reason for the committee's success lies in the determination of the volunteers and committee members, Allgood said.
"These are a group of people that plan for the worst in order to keep the community safe," Allgood said. "These people put in a lot of time and hard work and go above and beyond their normal job duties."
Members of the community are encouraged to take classes to protect themselves and others in the case of an emergency in the county. Allgood may be reached at City Hall.
Committee stresses disaster preparedness relief
Grafton Pritchard
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: News
To help protect the city and county, the Oxford-Lafayette County Homeland Security and Emergency Oversight Committee works to prepare for potential disasters.
The committee is one of several like it in the state and is a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The committee is comprised of three Oxford residents and three Lafayette County residents who serve for three-year terms. A county supervisor, a firefighter and a county administrator are among its members. The University of Mississippi and Baptist Hospital also have two seats on the committee, but they are non-voting members.
According to committee director Jimmy Allgood most of the members have "a background in emergency preparedness."
"The main purpose for the committee is to ensure that the city and the county jointly work together to form plans of action in the event of any kind of disaster," Allgood said. "The committee is responsible for creating emergency plans for severe weather to biological pandemics; they also are responsible for mapping emergency evacuation routes if and when a disaster occurs."
Committee member and Oxford Alderman Janice Antonow said it is the committee's job to make sure that each part of the local government knows what its job is.
"With every kind of potential emergency, we specify what each entity in the city and county would do," Antonow said. "This includes the fire department, police force and other organizations in the city and county. I think a lot of what the committee does is to ensure that all of these components are working together and making sure the information is assimilated to the public."
A lot of the responsibility falls on the director, Antonow said.
Allgood, who has served as the director of the committee since its conception last year, is responsible for mapping out the evacuation routes, writing grants and educating the public.
"I had been a volunteer firefighter for 30 years and the opportunity presented itself, so I took it," Allgood said. "Instead of me fighting fire, I figure out what services need to be allocated for emergency preparedness."
There are four main purposes of the emergency preparedness committee: preparation and training in the instance of weather or a pandemic mitigation like West Nile, response to the actual emergency and recovery efforts.
"Our main purpose is to protect life and property of the citizens of the city and county," Allgood said.
Antonow agreed.
"Our main objective is response - plans of response to chemical spills, evacuation routes and public education on things like storm preparedness," she said.
The committee has several programs to educate the public in order to allow the community to respond accordingly. The Senior Emergency Response Team trains senior citizens in the areas of first aid and volunteer services. Allgood also trains people to work emergency radios in the case of bad weather and is responsible for ongoing projects in the city and county.
"Right now we are building storm shelters, getting more warning sirens for the county and working on flood control," Allgood said.
The reason for the committee's success lies in the determination of the volunteers and committee members, Allgood said.
"These are a group of people that plan for the worst in order to keep the community safe," Allgood said. "These people put in a lot of time and hard work and go above and beyond their normal job duties."
Members of the community are encouraged to take classes to protect themselves and others in the case of an emergency in the county. Allgood may be reached at City Hall.