Fairfax County Police Are Looking For You!

The Fairfax County Police Department is looking for applicants to the Auxiliary Police Officer (APO) program.

The Fairfax County Times recently featured an article with additional information about the expanding program.

To learn more about this opportunity and other volunteer opportunities with the Fairfax County Police Department Volunteer Webpage

If you apply for any of the volunteer positions, mention you saw it on the Citizen Corps Council blog.

Fairfax County Police volunteer programs are part of the Fairfax County Citizen Corps.

Time For Your New Years Resolution from Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

This year, make it one of your resolutions (one that you will keep) to prepare for emergencies before they happen.

For more information, visit Ready.gov

Thanks for all that have made it a very successful year for Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council

Are Your Ready For Next Year? Virginia Is!

FEMA Community Preparedness Newsletter - Multiple Fairfax County References

FEMA Community Preparedness Newsletter - December 2007

Highlights from Around the Country

"Fairfax County, VA, Boy Scouts Participate in Emergency Preparedness Camporee"

Also referenced was the Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council blog and

the Fairfax County CERT blog.

The newsletter can be found here: http://www.citizencorps.gov/pdf/newsletter/cc-newsletter-december2007.pdf

Winter Preparedness Week - Emergency Management Website Not To Be Missed from NOAA's NWS

Thank you to Fairfax County, Virginia, and the American Red Cross for these useful resources.

Fairfax County Winter Weather Preparedness Tips

Ready Virginia Winter Weather 2007

American Red Cross Winter Preparedness

And now that we are prepared, perfect timing for our first snow of the season.

The NWS Baltimore/Washington Emergency Manager's Page is a public website that is worth checking out.


The website includes current hazards, hazard outlooks, storm predictions, forecasts, warnings, advisories, and several different map views. Basically, this webpage puts many different weather resources on a single webpage.

If you are not in the National Capital Region, then contact your local NWS Offices and Centers to see if they also have an "Emergency Managers" webpage.

Winter Preparedness Week – A Primer on Wind Chill and Dressing Warmly

REPRINTED FROM Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs Newslink - December 4, 2007

Wind chill indicates how cold people feel while outside. According to the National Weather Service, wind chill is not the actual temperature but rather how the wind and cold feels on exposed skin based on the rate of heat loss. If you are going to be outside in cold weather, the American Red Cross encourages you to:

- Dress appropriately. Air temperature does not have to be below freezing for someone to experience cold emergencies such as hypothermia and frostbite.

- Dress in layers to adjust to changing conditions. Avoid overdressing or overexertion, which can lead to heat illness.

- Wear a hat, preferably one covering your ears, because most body heat is lost through your head.

- Wear mittens as they provide more warmth to your hands than gloves.

- Wear waterproof, insulated boots to help avoid hypothermia or frostbite by keeping your feet warm and dry, and to help maintain your footing in ice and snow.

- After coming inside, immediately get out of wet clothes and warm the core body temperature with a blanket or warm fluids such as hot cider or soup. Avoid caffeine or alcohol in cases of hypothermia or frostbite.

For more information, contact Ellen.Kamilakis@fairfaxcounty.gov or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency.

Additional information from the American Red Cross can be found on their Winter Storm webpage.

Winter Preparedness Week – Brrr! Don’t Forget Your Kit!

REPRINTED FROM Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs Newslink - December 3, 2007

This week has been declared Winter Preparedness Week by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. With the beginning of winter and colder weather, Fairfax County encourages residents to take precautions to stay safe. The first step is to assemble an emergency supply kit for home, work and vehicle. Recommended items include:

- At least a three-day supply of food that won’t spoil.
- One gallon of water per person, per day.
- A battery-powered radio (people with hearing impairments should consider signing up for the Community Emergency Alert Network – CEAN – at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cean and obtaining a cell phone with text messaging capacity to receive CEAN messages).
- A flashlight with extra batteries.
- A first-aid kit.
- An extra supply of prescription or over-the-counter medicines.
- A plan for those with special needs who may need to stay in your home because they lost utilities from a storm. Those with special needs could include the elderly, people with disabilities and the medically frail.

For more information, contact Ellen.Kamilakis@fairfaxcounty.gov or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency