The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) announced the development of Go Teams, a group of chief officers who are available to assist local, state and federal authorities during a disaster. Bill Bullock — IAFC program manager for the national mutual-aid project — said the teams are available to assist with all emergency services, such as command and general staff, resource management, incident action plans, and documentation.

"The chiefs chosen have experience, background and training in a multitude of positions and can respond to assist the local authorities during a disaster," he said. "They don't manage the incident; they go to assist in any capacity the requester needs."

Bullock said teams are comprised of two active-duty or retired chief officers who are assigned to each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) regions. To be considered, each candidate had to have a minimum of five years as a chief officer and complete NIMS training programs. In addition, many have experience in emergency management and training through the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Md.

The program is administered by the Emergency Management Committee and received financial assistance from the National Integration Center, a department within FEMA. To request assistance from the Go Team, call 888-840-6884. For additional information, contact Bullock at 703-537-4849 or bbullock@iafc.org.

The members of the team are:

FEMA Region I: Mike O'Neal of Burlington, Vt., and Paul Buckley of Needham, Mass.
FEMA Region II: Robert Warren of Cranston, R.I. and Robert Edwards of Bloomberg, Pa.
FEMA Region III Scott Liebold of Newport News, Va., and Greg Bunch of Fairfax, Va.
FEMA Region IV Dennis Wolf of Germantown, Tenn., and Frank Brocato of Hoover, Ala.
FEMA Region V: Bruce Harrison of Dekalb, Ill., and Terry Lapinski of Bridgeview, Ill.
FEMA Region VI: Earl Valois of New Orleans and Marty Delaune of New Iberia, La.
FEMA Region VII: Mike Mario of West Overland, Mo., and Randy Saunders of O'Fallon, Mo.
FEMA Region VIII: Dan Qualman of Denver and Don Taylor of Salida, Colo.
FEMA Region IX: Brian Sturdivant of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Jon Torchia of San Diego County.
FEMA Region X: Kirk Hale of Tualatin Valley, Ore., and Mike Chapman of Haley, Idaho.