Garrett County in need of additional ambulances: Public Safety and Emergency Management took hit in Homeland Security funding

OAKLAND, Nov 22, 2009 (Cumberland Times News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Garrett County needs more ambulances, according to Brad Frantz who heads up public safety and emergency management there.

"It has been a crazy morning," Frantz told the county's commissioners Tuesday at their public meeting. "We have six ambulances and there were seven medical calls so far." Frantz said Garrett County was being helped out by ambulance squads from communities in neighboring Preston County, W.Va.

Frantz's comments came during a report to the commissioners about the state of emergency services.

Homeland security funding to Garrett County is down 10 percent, he said. However, the county recently secured a competitive grant of $5,000 to be used for dealing with hazardous materials incidents. The county has also applied for a hazardous materials grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"We are also in the early stages of investigating a possible grant from FEMA to fund an emergency operations center," Frantz said.

In response to a question by Commissioner Ernie Gregg about problems on the horizon, Frantz said the county needs to upgrade Internet and telephone capabilities.

Recently, county emergency personnel trained 55 members of the Maryland Department of Social Services in the techniques of operating a mass-care shelter.

"We had a shelter exercise at the (Garrett) college in which half of the people were staff and half acted as victims," Frantz said. "It went very well," he added, speaking of the distribution of cots, blankets and personal care kits.

Frantz said the county has a memorandum of understanding with the board of education that would allow for school buses to be used to transport people to a shelter should such an action be needed because of a natural disaster or even a surge of influenza.

Garrett Transit buses would also be available, according to Frantz.

Contact Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.

To see more of the Cumberland Times News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.times-news.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Cumberland Times News, Md.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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