The Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department has become a signatory to the Florida Division of Emergency Management’s Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement for the first time in the department’s 56-year history.
As a signatory to this agreement, the department is provided with a mechanism to aid and support during large scale and disaster type incidents anywhere in the State of Florida.
It also allows the department to request and receive aid and support from other departments during these times should there be a need for such aid and support.
The agreement is a required, mandated document for the department to both receive and provide aid in a state of emergency.“The chances of our department being deployed to a large disaster outside of Gadsden County is relatively small, but it is not zero and by participating and signing the agreement it gives us a chance to assist if we can,” said Lieutenant Jim Roberts. “The Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement provides all participants with a standardized way to make requests for aid, accept requests for aid, and seek reimbursement for providing aid and this process is the same for every participating agency.”
The Florida Division of Emergency Management has responsibilities for the oversight, coordination, and implementation of mutual aid activities within the state to include the Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement.
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