Providence is the only municipality in the country to achieve national accreditation
PROVIDENCE - Mayor David N. Cicilline announced that the Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) has met the nation's highest standards in emergency preparedness. Providence has become the first municipality in America to receive national accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP).
Mayor Cicilline will visit PEMA headquarters at 591 Charles Street on Thursday, October 28th at 2:30pm to congratulate the team.
"The staff of the Providence Emergency Management Agency under Pete Gaynor's leadership has done an extraordinary job strengthening PEMA by striving to meet the highest professional standards in emergency management," said Mayor Cicilline. "PEMA's focus on excellence has helped to improve public safety and ensure the safety and well being of our entire region."
"I'm thrilled that PEMA has achieved national accreditation," said Peter T. Gaynor, Director, PEMA. "I couldn't be prouder of my staff for their hard work and laser-sharp focus on excellence over the past two years to ensure that PEMA met all 63 nationally recognized standards."
"With the approval of the Commission, these states and localities have completed the final step for accreditation," said Karen Windon, chairperson of the EMAP Commission. "The work that this program has done in building an accredited program should provide the residents of Providence with an understanding that this team is at the forefront of emergency management and have developed a comprehensive system to deal with disasters. Providence will serve as a model for many jurisdictions across the country in their achievement of this accreditation."
EMAP is an independent public nonprofit organization that fosters excellence and accountability in emergency management and homeland security programs by establishing credible standards applied in a peer review accreditation process. Accreditation requires the successful completion of a lengthy, rigorous review which includes an on-site evaluation by an independent, trained team of assessors and the ability to demonstrate documented compliance with 63 EMAP standards.
Over the past five years PEMA has conducted more than 42 emergency response drills, eight full-scale exercises, trained more than 200 volunteers and enhanced the region's emergency response efforts with the installation of new sirens, chemical detectors and surveillance cameras in the Port of Providence. Gaynor, who recently received top certification last year from the International Association of Emergency Managers, has also made it a priority to establish strong partnerships with local, state and federal agencies.
Gaynor joined Providence City government in 2008, after a distinguished career of high-intensity leadership positions in the U.S. Marine Corps. As a highly decorated Marine, Gaynor was once responsible for managing the operations for Marine headquarters following the September 11th terrorist attacks. He also directed and coordinated daily combat operations in the Al Anbar Province, Iraq, and was once responsible for the security of the President of the United States at Camp David.