On Friday, October 27, over 100 community, college & university, and state emergency planning personnel were on campus participating in a program on "Family Reunification." The program was sponsored by the Western Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council (WRHSAC) and brought reunification planning professionals from the "I Love You Guys" foundation to western Massachusetts. Over 100 emergency managers, police and fire officials, University staff, community educators, and other college representatives attended this all-day training. Two other programs, held at Springfield College and Williams College, were hosted by the WRHSAC earlier in the week.
Family Reunification after an emergency is one of the challenges that school officials and emergency personnel are met with as the emergency itself winds down. The "I Love You Guys" foundation (www.iloveyouguys.org) have developed a nationally recognized planning format that assists emergency planners in preparing for the reunification of families at an incident.