Back To The Business Of Saving Lives

2023 EMS was a great success once again at Aria in Prospect

While the threat of COVID fades in the public eye, the lessons learned over the past three years remained a topic of conversation at the annual Connecticut Emergency Management Symposium (EMS) held once again at Aria in Prospect.

The free event is put on by CCM, the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS), the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), and the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH).

The event brought together local, state, and federal officials together to discuss not just the COVID response, but any and all things under emergency management.

The day began with opening remarks from Brenda Bergeron, the Deputy Commissioner of DESPP and Joe DeLong, Executive Director and CEO of CCM, and a keynote presentation by Jonathan Greene, the Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Assistance Secretary for Preparedness and Response/Operations and Resources.

A Connecticut native, Greene delivered remarks on what it means to work collaboratively in a post-COVID world. In a key takeaway, he argued that too often folks from different departments would act like competitors rather than teammates when first handling COVID. Folks from Homeland Security knew how to rapid response an emergency, but didn’t know the science behind the virus or the vaccine; Folks from Public Health knew the science and how to communicate, but couldn’t wrap their fingers around the logistics of the temporary testing or vaccine facilities.

It doesn’t take a large leap to figure out that once everyone started working together, we began to mobilize a response that made sense. And of course, Connecticut’s response to COVID is still one of the gold standards of the pandemic.

The day continued with more workshops on topics beyond COVID – grants, drug trafficking, cyber security and more were discussed to a full hall of EMS officials. The presentations are available for CCM members to download on CCM’s website (https://www.ccm-ct.org/Education-and-Events/Workshop-and-Event-Recordings).

In the hall, Exhibitors shared their newest wares and services. Special thanks goes out to our sponsors, AshBritt, Everbridge, Tetra Tech, and Eversource, as well as the event co-sponsors.