In light of the storms that wracked Alabama on April 27, 2011, law enforcement and emergency management personnel in Chilton County and across the state recognized a need to clarify how they should respond in such situations.

Thus, the Alabama Association of Emergency Managers created the Public Safety Summit.

The first summit was held Thursday at the Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center and hosted by the Clanton Police Department.

Clanton Police Chief Brian Stilwell said a lack of communication among law enforcement, fire personnel and emergency services spurred the formation of the summit.

“It’s just a way to get better educated on how to request resources and get those resources,” Stilwell said. “We hope to do it again next year.”

Those who received an invitation and who were considered the “target audience” included elected officials, mayors and commissioners, League of Municipalities representatives, law enforcement, fire personnel (paid and volunteer), rescue squads, 911, Emergency Medical Services, coroners, public works employees, county engineers and county and state Emergency Management personnel.

Stilwell said about 200 were registered to attend Thursday’s summit, and about 153 attended.

The program included an EOC Function and Response presentation from Jimmy Mills of Marion County and Anita McBurnett of Marshall County; a chain of command presentation on who to call when EMA is not available, from Wayne Hayes of Bibb County and Mike Evans of Mobile County; AMAS Teams overview from Darrand Cleckler of Alabama EMA; and an Alabama Fusion Center presentation from Joe Davis.

Additionally, a large part of the program was dedicated to how to request resources after a natural disaster.

Pam Cook of Alabama EMA presented an overview on EMITS.

Evans talked about how to handle requests when they are not going through EMITS, as well as multi-jurisdictional coordination.

Hackleburg Police Chief Kenny Hallmark shared information on Mutual Aid agreements.

Loyd Brasher and Brandon Etheredge presented deployment procedures.

Lastly, John Dennis of Alabama EMA spoke about documentation.

The summit closed with open discussion.