As Hurricane Dorian leaves a path of devastation across the Bahamas and heads towards the continental United States, the entire public safety community has mobilized and stands ready to aid the communities that will soon see hazardous conditions. This morning, members of the National Joint Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce Initiative (NJTI) held a conference call to evaluate the potential need for deployment of teams across the country. State coordinators in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana have officially placed their teams in “pre-alert” status and are preparing for deployment, if requested.
The Board has also reached out to the Caribbean chapter of APCO International and stands ready to assist our fellow emergency communication centers in the Bahamas. Additionally, the Executive Boards of both APCO International and NENA have been briefed on the preparedness efforts of NJTI.NJTI-TERT, LLC will continue to hold special briefings via conference call throughout the duration of Hurricane Dorian. The Board maintains contact with affected states to gather situational awareness and assist with any needs as they arise.
A Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce (TERT) is a communications stabilization resource that can be requested by a local jurisdiction through the agency response for emergency response and preparedness. That agency will then send the formal request through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) who will then work to quickly fulfill the request.