Photo By Seaman Matthew Hobson | Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSAB) holds an Emergency Family Assistance Center...... read more read more
Naval Support Activity Bethesda’s (NSAB) Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) was transformed into a mock Emergency Family Assistance Center (EFAC) May 18 to assess NSAB’s response in helping base personnel affected by a severe weather event.
After a hypothetical hurricane struck the region, role players acting as assistance-seekers entered the first floor of Bldg. 11 seeking help, and FFSC employees took phone calls from those needing aid after the EFAC was set up at 8 a.m. The exercise was part of NSAB’s participation in Exercise Hurrex-Citadel Gale 2016, an annual event that takes place before hurricane season to prepare the installation for severe weather events.
“It’s important to have an Emergency Family Assistance Center for the military community and all people who have base access to make sure they have all their needs [taken care of],” said Abigayel Patel, FFSC individual deployment support emergency case management specialist. “When you’re having an emergency you don’t really think for yourself, you kind of just don’t know what you need. It’s good to have a separate party [like the EFAC] – they know of things you might not think about in that moment in an emergency.”
Patel organized the EFAC along with FFSC Director Oswald Elie and FFSC employees Fred Sherris, Carolyn Craig-Sprow and Cassandra Henry. Patel said the event went smoothly but as it was a learning exercise, they discovered some areas for improvement.
“You never plan for certain things to happen when an emergency is happening, but flexibility is key,” Patel said. “So we’re learning while we’re learning.”
FFSC employee Kim Agnew became the EFAC director after Elie went to the Emergency Operations Center located in Bldg. 27.
Agnew explained those who role played assistance-seekers had various scenarios assigned to them. So after going through registration, they’d go to a case manager who would tell them how to receive assistance, such as getting food, temporary lodging or clothes.
“One of [the FFSC] roles is to be able to respond to [needs for] emergency assistance,” Agnew said. “If an emergency situation was to occur, whether it was a natural disaster or a man-made disaster of any type, then we have to be able to respond to provide the services that family members may need to move beyond the emergency.”
| Date Taken: | 05.26.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.26.2016 09:36 |
| Story ID: | 199131 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 74 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, EFAC Drill Tests NSAB’s Severe Weather Response, by PO1 William Phillips, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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