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Chairman's Message
Compelled by the attacks of September 11, 2001,
Howard County, Maryland established a Community
Emergency Response Network to increase overall
community preparedness. The group was formed by
a group of first responders, nonprofit leaders
and others, with a goal of increasing community
resilience to a variety of
threats.
Located in close proximity to Washington, DC and Baltimore, our community is familiar with the potential impacts of both man made and natural disasters. Our supposition is that a community that shares information, thinks out of the box, fosters joint planning and trains together will have a relative advantage before, during and after such an event. We have made significant advances in the areas of public information, organizational contingency planning, table top and field exercises and overall community readiness.
While CERN began as a Citizen's Corps under Howard County Government, it rapidly evolved into a corps of organizations and agencies spanning the public, nonprofit and corporate sectors. Leaders of the emergency management and first responder community work in tandem with their counterparts in the public and private schools, nonprofit agencies, the corporate sector, volunteer organizations and many others. The joint planning that has resulted has been notable in its breath and depth. We have worked hard to overcome turf issues and fragmentation for the good of the overall community.
On behalf of the men and women of CERN, I welcome you to our site. We stand ready to collaborate with others as we work to improve the readiness and resilience of our community.
Richard M. Krieg
Chairman
Located in close proximity to Washington, DC and Baltimore, our community is familiar with the potential impacts of both man made and natural disasters. Our supposition is that a community that shares information, thinks out of the box, fosters joint planning and trains together will have a relative advantage before, during and after such an event. We have made significant advances in the areas of public information, organizational contingency planning, table top and field exercises and overall community readiness.
While CERN began as a Citizen's Corps under Howard County Government, it rapidly evolved into a corps of organizations and agencies spanning the public, nonprofit and corporate sectors. Leaders of the emergency management and first responder community work in tandem with their counterparts in the public and private schools, nonprofit agencies, the corporate sector, volunteer organizations and many others. The joint planning that has resulted has been notable in its breath and depth. We have worked hard to overcome turf issues and fragmentation for the good of the overall community.
On behalf of the men and women of CERN, I welcome you to our site. We stand ready to collaborate with others as we work to improve the readiness and resilience of our community.
Richard M. Krieg
Chairman