Eastern Students Tackle Emergency Scenario

Eastern Center for Arts and Technology's protective services students took time to prepare for the worst recently.

With help from Gary Bissig, Horsham Township’s deputy coordinator for the emergency management department, students received hands-on training. Bissig led students in a true-to-life scenario with the fictional "town of Eastern" which provided students with the town’s vital statistics and a map.

Emergency management is the function of municipal government specifically responsible for coordinating the community’s response to major emergencies. 

Bissig, a vice president at LabRepCo, volunteers his time in the emergency management role, as well as with the Horsham Chiefs Advisory Teams, a community policing, disaster planning, town watch arm of the township's emergency management.

“For the many students in Eastern’s protective services program who will one day be entering the police, fire, security and emergency medical fields, it is great to get an early understanding of the coordination and connection that all of these organizations have to one another,” Bissig said in a press release provided by Eastern. 

The mission of Horsham Township's office of emergency management is to serve township residents through effective planning for natural and man-made disasters. Its goal is to save lives and protect property through the coordination of an integrated emergency management system with all emergency response organizations, support services and volunteers.

Eastern’s protective services program prepares students to enter a career related to law enforcement, fire science, industrial safety and security and emergency radio dispatch.