Release Number: HQ-10-188
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Today marks the final day of the first ever National "Getting Real" Conference. The three day forum, hosted by FEMA in Baltimore, brought together leaders from the emergency management and disability communities to discuss strategies to integrate the entire community into planning for emergencies. Attendees included leaders from the federal government, state government, advocacy groups and non-profit organizations. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate addressed the conference yesterday.
"Throughout FEMA, and throughout the entire emergency management community, we need to stop planning for easy - and start planning for real," said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. "All too often we put together plans that only address the needs of part of a community, not the entire community. We put on this conference to bring together leaders from all walks of life, to meet, shareeas and strategies, and move the bar forward in our efforts to change the way people think about emergency management."
In addition to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, speakers and presenters included other members of FEMA leadership, leadership from the Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Communications Commission, state and local governments, as well as the American Red Cross.
Read a recent op-ed by Administration Fugate on these efforts.
Review the full agenda for the conference.
The "Getting Real" Conference is only the latest way that FEMA is helping change the way the emergency management community addresses the needs of the disability community. Shortly after Administrator Fugate came on board, the agency created the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination (ODIC), to provide guidance, tools, methods and strategies to integrate and coordinate emergency management efforts to meet the needs of all citizens, including children and adults with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.
FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.