Team lead Nick DiCicco briefed the Ohio APCO and NENA boards this afternoon. At this point, the belief is the team will depart on Sunday morning. Florida DEM has transmitted the EMAC request and we have sent back our MRP. We anticipate confirmation of a mission package tomorrow morning. We have assembled a team of (10) personnel from across the state, who are preparing for a (14) day deployment. Further details as they become available.
The team has been placed on alert status for possible deployment with the anticipated landfall of Hurricane Helene. All team members are requested to check their email for important information and action items.
The team met in Columbus for training, dinner, and friendship. We went over the 2 previous deployments, discussed upcoming training opportunities for this year, and had dinner at a local restaurant to welcome new personnel to the team! A great evening! For team personnel, the document that Johnna referenced during the deployment training can be downloaded here.
Full Team Meeting Schedule, 2024 (Times TBA)
February 19
May 14
September 10ish (State Conference)
November 19
Committee Meeting Schedule, 2024 (All 10AM)
January 16
April 15
July 15
October 21
TERT OH-1 team members who were available met in Ashland on 4 November for a post-deployment briefing. The team and committee discussed how the deployment for the team who were in Lee County and for the committee members who were supporting from back home.
The team returned on Tuesday afternoon to Gahanna, and following a debriefing, headed home to their respective parts of the Buckeye State. On behalf of the entire TERT OH-1 team, and the Ohio TERT Committee, we express our THANKS to the agencies and organizations that made the deployment possible. All deployed personnel should have received information on the upcoming reimbursement webinar meeting. The in-person team AAR meeting is being planned now.
Representing for the Buckeye State
The team stopped last night in Ocala, Florida, for the night. Tonight, they are stopped in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a last dinner as TERT OH-1, and to assist local authorities in fishing a goalpost out of a river.
Tomorrow, the team will arrive back in Ohio, and head back to their respective friends, families, and centers. There will be meetings, debriefings, and after action reports, for sure. From the newest member of the Task Force all the way up to the Committee Chairs, this has been at once a learning experience for all of us, and a sight to behold. Likely, many articles will be written, and seminars held, to talk through how this EMAC activation went from a paper request from Florida to assembling a full Task Force in 4 days. But, for the entire Ohio TERT team, as we witnessed it, this was a great moment for our team, for our State, and for all the organizations that supported our work to carry out our chartered mandate.
God Bless Florida.
We done good.
Its True. It’s Damn True.
The team ended their last shift at midnight. Job done, the team is packing up this morning, and expects to leave for Georgia this afternoon. The team is tired, but looking forward to a hot shower, and being able to sleep in a bed, inside a structure. The quote that has been given many times during the deployment is, “…experience of a lifetime…” This team of telecommunicators, themselves the best of their home agencies, were tested in many ways. They worked without days off, in a center foreign to them, on a phone and CAD system foreign to them, and they not only filled the need, they THRIVED. This grit and determination is part of what makes the TERT program such a critical tool for public safety communications centers in the aftermath of disasters like Ian. 
The team ends their last shifts tonight at midnight. They received a sendoff from K-9 Koa from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Tomorrow, the team starts demobilizing Camp Ohio and will likely depart for Georgia to start their trip home.
The team is getting down to the last few shifts. Saturday is their last day covering positions at Lee County Sheriff’s Communications Bureau. The last shift will end at midnight. Sunday, the team will work on demobilizing ‘Camp Ohio’, and start on the way home. Everyone is tired, but in good spirits. Some of the goodbyes have started. We’re not crying, you’re crying.