Chinese Emergency Management Leaders Visit Manassas

 Manassas City officials met with an emergency management team from China last week, according to a press release issued by the local fire department.

The purpose of the meeting was to exchange information on disaster preparedness and emergency management.

The group consisted of fourteen members from the Sichuan Province of China who met with Manassas City Fire and Rescue Chief Brett Bowman and Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Manassas Robert Halsall. Information on disaster response for our area was shared. A representative from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management was also present for the presentation.

The group from China is visiting several cities in the United States to meet with public safety personnel to exchange information on disaster preparedness and emergency management, the release stated.

China is one of the countries in the world that is most affected by natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and famine.

Most recently, in 2008, an earthquake struck Sichuan Province resulting in a death toll of nearly 70,000 people. Millions of others were left homeless.  Some of the members who came to Manassas were involved with managing the response to that disaster.

This is the third group of public safety leaders from China to visit Manassas.

In November 2011, the City hosted a group of fire and police chiefs from Hubei Province who were in the United States to research incident command procedures and in December 2011, a group of health care administrators from Beijing visited the City to discuss emergency medical services.

 Information from: City of Manassas Fire and Rescue Department