LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Disasters like flash flooding, gas leaks, and tornadoes have impacted northeastern and central Pennsylvania, and it's important that those in charge know what to do when it's needed most.
"People are going over 100 percent of their capabilities. It's more of a life safety factor during emergencies—making sure our responders are safe and the members of our communities are safe is the most important thing," said Ralph Schwartz, Wyoming County EMA director.
This is why the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) gathered nearly 50 EMA officials from 24 different counties. The goal is to work together to keep residents safe.
"I think emergency management has really changed significantly over the past number of years, and we have become the complex problem solvers. Really, we work across all levels of government. We work across agencies. We work across departments at the county level," said PEMA Director Randy Padfield.
Schwartz says communication is key during high-stress situations.
"We have a system called Code Red, where people can sign up with their cell phones, and if anything urgent was to come out where we needed to do an evacuation, we can get that information out, as well as getting out to the public."
The collaboration is intended to keep communities informed when they may need it most.
"The public needs to have some reasonable assurance that their county emergency managers and municipal emergency managers are there to be able to protect them in times of emergency, but also provide them with what the best practices may be," Padfield said.
This was the start of two days of training for these agencies in Plains Township.