Kansas Adjutant General's Department / MEDIA HOME NATIONAL GUARD KDEM KSHLS TRAINING FACILITIES NEWS / MEDIA HUMAN RESOURCES 1/4/2006 Contact: Sharon Watson Director, Public Affairs Work: (785) 274-1192 Cell: (785) 806-4063 http://www.kansastag.gov County Officials Urged To Consider Burn Bans Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the director of Kansas Emergency Management and Kansas Homeland Security and the adjutant general, and State Fire Marshal Jack Alexander are urging officials in Kansas counties to consider issuing burning bans. "In light of the grass fires in Oklahoma and Texas and dry conditions in Kansas, I am recommending that officials in Kansas counties issue burning bans for citizens in their jurisdictions," said Bunting. "This is a precautionary recommendation. It’s better to head off a disaster than to endanger lives responding to one." "It is important that we prevent fires from occurring and for our citizens to heighten their awareness," said Alexander. "Respect burning bans and do not discard smoking materials or start open fires." Bunting said that Kansas has not received any requests for assistance under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a multi-state, mutual aid agreement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it had approved requests from Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico for assistance from the nation's Disaster Relief Fund to aid in firefighting efforts. News reports indicate that more than 600,000 acres have burned in drought-stricken areas of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico in the past week-and-a-half. Five people have died and at least 470 homes have been destroyed. -30- Copyright © 2014, KANSAS ADJUTANT GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT Questions/suggestions to: Public Affairs Director http://www.kansastag.gov/press_release_detail.asp?PRid=73[5/30/2014 2:04:31 PM] Kansas Adjutant General's Department / MEDIA HOME NATIONAL GUARD KDEM KSHLS TRAINING FACILITIES NEWS / MEDIA HUMAN RESOURCES 1/5/2006 Contact: Sharon Watson Director, Public Affairs Work: (785) 274-1192 Cell: (785) 806-4063 http://www.kansastag.gov After-Action Review of Kansas' Assistance Effort For Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Over 200 personnel who deployed and/or supported the deployment as part of the state of Kansas’ assistance and relief effort for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provided through the multi-state Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), made recommendations for future response missions during an after-action review in Topeka on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The top recommendations coming out of the review were: Create a statewide database of emergency management assets—personnel, materiel, fuel, information and communication resources. Include capabilities/strengths and numbers available. Increase the use of advance parties or reconnaissance teams to identify needs and focus resources to be deployed. Have a better understanding of and following the National Incident Management Systems (NIMS). Do a better job of preplanning and preparedness (an example was concern over animal control). It is important to recognize the difference between planning and preparedness (practicing the plan in advance). The best of plans are not likely to work if they are not tried in advance. Mental health counseling for those who deployed needs to be integrated into the demobilization process. Streamline the accounting process for things such as contracts, payroll, and requisitions. Preparedness training needs to be continuous. What is done today should continue tomorrow. Communication improvement is important. There were issues during the notification and deployment process, during the trip to Louisiana and Mississippi, and in the field in these states (e.g., cell phones didn’t work, and some police radios could not communicate with other police radios). Build in redundancy—have a fallback plan. Kansas Emergency Management sponsored the event. The Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy at Kansas State University acted as meeting facilitators. The participants in the review included officials and volunteers from emergency management, law enforcement, fire, emergency medical service (EMS), public works, public health, building inspection, hospitals, and the American Red Cross. At the opening remarks, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius stressed the importance of applying lessons learned from the deployment to future disasters or emergencies. "Our response to the devastation wrought by the hurricanes showed our ability to react to a disaster. It also showed us where we can make changes and improve our ability to respond to future emergencies," said Sebelius. Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, director of emergency management and homeland security and Adjutant General of Kansas, promised to listen for ideas or resources for future assistance missions. He assured those attending that the agency will aggressively make improvements, implement new ideas and constantly seek additional resources for assistance "and put them to work for Kansas." -30- http://www.kansastag.gov/press_release_detail.asp?PRid=74[5/30/2014 2:03:59 PM] Kansas Adjutant General's Department / MEDIA Copyright © 2014, KANSAS ADJUTANT GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT Questions/suggestions to: Public Affairs Director http://www.kansastag.gov/press_release_detail.asp?PRid=74[5/30/2014 2:03:59 PM] Kansas Adjutant General's Department / MEDIA HOME NATIONAL GUARD KDEM KSHLS TRAINING FACILITIES NEWS / MEDIA HUMAN RESOURCES 1/6/2006 Contact: Sharon Watson Director, Public Affairs Work: (785) 274-1192 Cell: (785) 806-4063 http://www.kansastag.gov Official Request For Assistance Required Before Help Can Be Dispatched Recent wildfires in Oklahoma and Texas have prompted inquiries about Kansas sending firefighting assistance. Kansas could send aid in the form of personnel and equipment under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a multi- state, mutual-aid agreement. However, before Kansas can send that help, some requirements must be met. The primary requirement is that the state in need must request help through EMAC by contacting Kansas Emergency Management, a division of The Adjutant General’s Department, which processes all such requests. Without an official request, Kansas officials find their hands tied. "We can offer aid," said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general and director of Kansas Homeland Security and Kansas Emergency Management, "but unless they accept the offer, we can’t go in. If they say ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ then we are not allowed to send even a single fire truck, helicopter or firefighter. The offer stays on the table, but they have to pick it up." Bunting explained that this acceptance requirement is in place for the protection of personnel who may deploy to a disaster situation. If a disaster worker is in another state unofficially, he has no legal status to receive pay. If he is injured, there is also no legal recourse for workers compensation or other redress. The EMAC agreement also addresses issues such as state-to- state reimbursement for other costs associated with response and recovery measures. In addition, by going through official channels, said Bunting, emergency management officials can specify what sort and how much assistance is needed. "It’s nice that people want to help," said Bunting, "but not every kind of help is needed in all situations. Plus, you can’t send in too many workers at any one time because they may place an additional burden on an already overburdened community. You can send in fire trucks and firefighters, but those trucks have to be fueled, those firefighters have to be fed and have a place to rest." Bunting cited Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, where there was massive damage to infrastructure and support systems, noting that rescue workers often had to take in their own food, water and other supplies because there was nothing else available. Bunting also noted that, currently, response to the situations in Oklahoma and Texas is being coordinated by the Federal Forest Service. States are divided into Response Regions; Oklahoma and Texas are both in the Southern Region, along with 11 other states. Firefighting responders from three of those states are currently engaged in assisting with the fires. Kansas is in the Rocky Mountain region of states. In addition, he explained that individual counties may have mutual aid agreements with their counterparts in other states which allow them to send assistance on a county-to-county basis. Such agreements are strictly between the counties involved and do not commit State resources. Bunting emphasized that the moment an official EMAC request is received from Oklahoma or Texas, assistance will be dispatched as quickly as possible. "We’re standing by," said Bunting. "We’ve got our feelers out so we know what sort of help is available from state, county and local resources. It’s just a matter of getting the official request in hand so we can go to work." -30- http://www.kansastag.gov/press_release_detail.asp?PRid=75[5/30/2014 2:03:27 PM] Kansas Adjutant General's Department / MEDIA Copyright © 2014, KANSAS ADJUTANT GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT Questions/suggestions to: Public Affairs Director http://www.kansastag.gov/press_release_detail.asp?PRid=75[5/30/2014 2:03:27 PM] Kansas Adjutant General's Department / MEDIA HOME NATIONAL GUARD KDEM KSHLS TRAINING FACILITIES NEWS / MEDIA HUMAN RESOURCES 1/10/2006 Contact: Sharon Watson Director, Public Affairs Work: (785) 274-1192 Cell: (785) 806-4063 http://www.kansastag.gov Lewis And Clark Essay Contest Open To Juniors and Seniors The Lewis and Clark Expedition opened the way West for settlers in the early 19th century and an essay about that expedition will open the way for 10 Kansas students to take part in the 2006 Lewis and Clark Rendezvous, Aug. 13-18, 2006, sponsored by the National Guard Bureau. The Youth Rendezvous is an event for students who will be high school juniors or seniors during the 2006-2007 school year. Centered around the 200th anniversary of the Corps of Discovery and the exploration of the west, the Youth Rendezvous will take place along the Lewis and Clark Trail in North Dakota.