County officials attend First Responders Summit in Washington, DC
Provided photo: County Legislators Skip Draper, Lynne Johnson and John Fitzak are shown outside the U.S. Capitol building last week.
Press Release, Orleans County Legislature
Scott Buffin, deputy emergency management director for Orleans County
ALBION – A local delegation from Orleans County joined U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for the First Responders Summit on Thursday, July 24th in Washington, DC.
The summit provided in-depth information about supporting the wellbeing of first responders and their families, fostering community engagement, and grant writing.
“This summit was a great opportunity to discuss a broad array of issues on how we can support our first responders and provide critical services to our residents,” said Orleans County Legislature Chairman Lynne Johnson. “Plus, there are unique challenges for rural communities like ours when it comes to first responders so being able to share information between similar counties is very helpful.”
Johnson was joined at the summit by County Legislators Skip Draper and John Fitzak as well as Scott Buffin, deputy director of the Emergency Management Office.
Over the course of the summit, representatives from law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency management departments across New York shared their expertise and best practices. The summit featured speakers from the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, amongst others.
County representatives plan to use the information shared at the summit to provide the best law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency management services for our county residents.
“The discussions on first responders and family well-being brought some new ideas to incorporate into what we are already doing for our first responders in Orleans County,” Buffin said. “The opportunity to network with other first responders at the summit was invaluable.”
To conclude the summit, county representatives spoke with Sen. Gillibrand and her staff where they shared ideas about the areas for growth and support of Orleans County.
“I thank the representatives from Orleans County for making the trip to share their expertise and enhance the quality of our larger discussion,” Sen. Gillibrand said. “I hope that the First Responders Summit provided information to enhance the quality of life of the constituents of Orleans County.”
