Emergency management highlights National Preparedness Month, outreach numbers and state legislative items

The Richardson Office of Emergency Management briefed City Council on National Preparedness Month and ongoing preparedness work, showing outreach metrics and describing legislative items the department is monitoring.

Director of Emergency Management Alicia Gimbel highlighted local outreach efforts: more than 3,000 “preparedness passports” have been distributed through the Richardson Library, and staff have handed out about 2,700 preparedness bags this year. Gimbel said the city’s mass‑notification system registers more than 190,000 contact points through multiple channels and that the city uses a platform feature called Resident Connect to reach additional cell‑phone numbers; she said roughly 10,000 residents had signed up directly through the address‑based alert portal.

Gimbel emphasized partner volunteer networks (RACES and local VOADs), siren activations (two in the last 12 months) and the importance of exercises and continuous improvement. She described youth outreach (a pillowcase kit program at summer safety camp) and volunteer contributions to assembling outreach kits and conducting storm ground truth.

Emergency Management Coordinator Scott Greeson reviewed deployments and state legislative items being tracked this special session. He said Richardson meets or exceeds licensing and credentialing proposals for emergency managers under the bills that have been discussed and that lines‑of‑succession and continuity plans have been exercised for more than a decade. Greeson said the department is tracking proposals for volunteer registration and background checks, mass‑fatality coordination provisions, and limited authority for state agencies to neutralize non‑government drones in disaster areas — all items that could affect statewide response but that Richardson staff said they are prepared to integrate into local plans if enacted.

Council members asked about how the alert system differs from reverse‑911 and whether the city can pre‑screen volunteers in advance of an emergency. Gimbel and Greeson said the city’s mass‑notification portal allows address‑based selections for neighborhoods and that the city already integrates volunteer background checks into its internal volunteer coordination process; state proposals would add a state registration layer that duplicates some local checks.

Ending — Staff asked council to serve as public ambassadors for preparedness month messaging; no council action was required.