Incident Management Assistant Team
Written by Darren Woods Thursday, 02 June 2011 13:08
Region 5 Incident Management Assistance Team
The Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency trains and manages an Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) that covers Aroostook County, part of Washington County, and part of Penobscot County.
Maine currently has 10 county based teams and 1 state level team that is made up from members of the Wardens Service, State Police, Department of Conservation and MEMA.
The Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) is a multidisciplinary group assembled for the purpose of augmenting the incident command system at the local, county or State response level. The team can also be used for large-scale events that require pre-planning. Members of the team are trained professionals that volunteer their time and are drawn from local response agencies, specialized teams, and State agencies or in some cases, even the private sector. This team is only deployed if requested by the local incident commander to the Aroostook EMA Director.
The purpose of creating an IMAT is to provide a valuable resource for state and local Incident Command /Unified Command staff at the scene of an emergency or disaster. IMAT would provide support to the Incident Commander/Unified Commander in the implementation of the incident command system and specifically in the formation and implementation of the Incident Action Plan (IAP). The purpose of IMAT is to support the incident commander, not assume or divide command authority.
In order to assist this team in its response, the Aroostook EMA has procured through the Homeland Security Grant process, specialized equipment. Some of this includes a mobile command trailer, a ¾ ton truck, a mobile communications tower, and many other items essential to the mission such as portable radios and laptops.
WMD Teams
Written by Darren Woods Thursday, 02 June 2011 12:46
Weapon of Mass Destruction Response Teams
Aroostook County has three specialized teams to deal with a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) event. As part of the Aroostook County EMA mission we coordinate their activities both within the Aroostook County area and with other teams throughout Maine. Each team is managed locally with the Aroostook County EMA providing a centralized administration and assistance in funding.
With the assistance of Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and Homeland Security funding, these teams have been provided with specialized response equipment and the specific training needed to mitigate this type of incident.
There are different types of teams as you can see by the attached photo; they are generally categorized as either a Regional Response Team (RRT) or a Decontamination Strike Team (DST). Their roles vary pretty much in line with hazardous material response categorizing, with the RRT’s being Technician level responders and the DST’s being Operations level responders.
Madawaska FD is the designated RRT for Aroostook County. Additionally the 2 DST’s are located in Presque Isle and Houlton and are staffed by those FD’s. All 3 teams will respond throughout Aroostook County to the threat of or an actual release of a WMD agent
These teams of men and women should be commended for their hard work and dedication as they have been in existence since 2002 and all the members volunteer their time to train both locally as well as taking specialized classes around the country so that our county can be protected. They continue to donate their time to this cause as they train regularly to keep up their skills and to maintain their equipment.
If you are interested in joining one of these teams, please reach out to the one closest to you by contacting the Fire Chief’s in Madawaska, Presque Isle or Houlton.
Training: Disaster Operations
Written by Jesse Belanger Tuesday, 24 May 2011 19:55
The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers a wealth of free information and classes online, available to both citizens as well as Emergency Management personnel. For this article, we've focused on compiling a list of courses focused on Disaster Operations and Recovery. Please read on for further information on this EMI Curriculum.
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