08/08/08 Family Service of RI Partners with City and State to Ensure Readiness    Family Service of Rhode Island will join the Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team to offer Providence residents valuable information at the Dominican Festival at Roger Williams Park this Sunday (August 10, 2008). The coordinated effort is part of Ready Providence, a PEMA initiative designed to educate residents and raise the level of readiness in the event of a large-scale emergency, including natural disasters and terrorist attacks.  Family Service of Rhode Island is a first responder in the event of a disaster, with a nationally certified Critical Incident Stress Management Team (CISM).   The agency began its CISM team in the aftermath of 9/11 as a public service, and has responded to the Station Nightclub fire, workplace and school violence, house fires, a plane crash, a mercury spill, a lost senior citizen and violent accidents.  The agency also responded to the Hurricane Katrina victims airlifted to Middletown, Rhode Island. RI-DMAT, an emergency response agency that provides triage, medical and surgical stabilization at the site of emergencies, will conduct a Medical Free Clinic at the festival.  Other attendees include the Rhode Island Red Cross, Providence Fire Department, and the Greater Providence MMRS Medical Strike Team. Emergency response personnel will demonstrate in-state disaster medical response capabilities using the RI-DMAT team and Medical Reserve Corps members.  Festival-goers will receive hurricane and general disaster preparedness information.   Officials will also encourage residents to become emergency shelter volunteers. The Providence Fire Department will be collecting names and addresses of persons who wish to have FREE Smoke Alarms installed in their homes. Other services offered at the festival include social service information and referral, health screenings, injury prevention information and more. #