At both sessions of myregion.org’s Public Safety Workshops, participants expressed their deep concern about the region’s capability to develop a comprehensive strategy that would protect our region and its ability to respond to the threats of natural hazards such as hurricanes, severe storms, flooding, wildfires or even technological hazards and terrorist attacks.

As a result of the tragic events of September 11, Governor Jeb Bush established the Regional Domestic Security Task Force to serve as an important vehicle for continuing and enhancing the regional cooperation necessary to protect the public’s safety. The Orlando Regional Office is Co-Chaired by Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary and Joyce Dawley, an FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) veteran with many years of experience. This task force is composed of members of law enforcement, fire rescue, EMS, hospitals and their local and federal counterparts. It covers Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, Brevard, Lake, St. Lucie, Indian River and Martin counties. Polk County is under the jurisdiction of the Tampa Regional Office, but their goals and projected outcomes are the same. All these agencies have been meeting twice a month to discuss issues and undergo specialized training—together.

Recently, the group successfully completed the “First Responders” training in basic needs to ensure that the region is trained, equipped and knowledgeable in the handling of any emergency, from the appropriate handling of hazardous materials to the management of weapons of mass destruction. The attached map (click map to enlarge) developed by myregion.org shows the trauma centers and their service areas throughout the state. Of the six facilities equipped to handle medical emergencies in Central Florida, three are in our region—in Orange, Volusia, and Brevard counties.

Lisa Akhavan, Public Information Officer for the Orlando Regional Operation Center, is proud of their accomplishments and assures us that “our regional agencies have become more united and are definitely prepared to handle any threat or any emergency, regardless of its nature, in a very rapid and efficient way.”

The office has also developed a statewide Domestic Security Information Intelligence System that collects, integrates and analyzes the data to be shared among the seven task forces throughout the state. This effort has improved information, intelligence and technology capability exchange at all levels of government.

“We have been deeply engaged in fostering a positive and functional relationship with other agencies in order to provide an emergency-management system that is better able to manage not just terrorism but all hazards, a medical system that is not just better able to cope with bioterrorism but with all diseases and all manner of mass-casualty incidents, and a border management system that is not just better able to stop terrorist penetration but more efficient for legitimate traffic. We have become a more united force, and we won’t stop until we empower ourselves and our citizens,” Akhavan concluded.

If you want to know more about the Regional Domestic Security Task Force, you may contact Lisa Akhavan at 1.800.226.8521 or via email at lisaakhavan@fdle.state.fl.us. To get the full impact of myregion.org and those who are involved in it, visit www.myregion.org.