The emergency management team in the Township are all volunteers! The cost to the Township is for the equipment and supplies that are required to operate in the event of an emergency. We hope and pray that we are not needed for a major disaster, but do our best to be prepared should such an event occur.
The purpose of emergency plan is to prescribe those activities to be taken by municipal government and other community officials to protect the lives and property of the citizens in the event of a natural, technological or terrorism emergency or disaster and to satisfy the requirements of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Services Code 35.
The Township currently has three such plans: one for the Exelon Nuclear Power Plant, one for Susquehannock Power Plant (Muddy Run Pump Storage Dam) and one for the State, which was most recently updated to include terrorism and is in alignment with all municipal plans in the state or will be when all are completed and approved by the state.
The Drumore Township staff consists of personnel for coordinator, radiologist, communications, public works, transportation, fire, EMS, security and of course, the Supervisors, who are in charge of all executions of the staff. All the positions have deputies as backup as we must be able to maintain 24 hour coverage. Beside myself and the Supervisors, your volunteers are: Michael Blackburn, Lester Davis, James Ploumis, Lester Porter, and Larry Sinclair. Next time you meet them, thank them for their willingness to serve. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me.
We have a drill every two years for Exelon as mandated for nuclear power plants. At these drills we are evaluated by the State and sometimes by Federal Officials. Our most recent drill was in April of 2008. In addition, we have an annual drill by Susquehannock Electric, which is usually a phone drill. Recently they installed a digital siren system along the river to warn citizens if there is a possible dam failure.
We meet as a group once a year to go over changes or just to refresh ourselves. As with everything else, there is always some unexpected problems that needs to be taken care of for the next time.
One area where you can be of help is to fill out and return a folded postcard type (if it applies to you) information card that Exelon sends out to every household once a year. It is to identify citizens who are in need of assistance in the event of evacuation of the township. If you do not receive a card or misplaced it, please send a card to the township in care of David Jackson, Emergency Management Coordinator, listing what the problem is, name of person, phone number, address, and the name of a contact person and their phone number. This list is kept confidential except to the people on my staff who need it, i.e., transportation, fire or ambulance.
In the event of an emergency, depending on the type, the volunteer fire companies and ambulance services would be working with us. All of us would be assisting the residents of the Township. The dedication of all volunteers is very time consuming and for most, is of cost to them. This is particularly true for the fire and ambulance services and therefore I would hope that you would be grateful enough to support them in any way you can whether it be direct financially, indirectly by volunteering for them, if not as firemen (women) or attendants, then by supporting their fundraising and attending their fundraising events.
We are always looking for volunteers.
