About Us
NEMCo's EMERGENCY MANAGER
Kevin Lowery began his career in public service in 2002, volunteering as a fire fighter while an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He next served in local law enforcement and later joined the United States Coast Guard. He most recently served as the Assistant Operations Officer on the Coast Guard’s only oceanographic research vessel.
Kevin holds a Master of Administrative Science as well as a Master of Emergency Management.
In his hometown, Mr. Lowery volunteered with the Cranbury Township Fire Department, Board of Recreation, and as the Chairman of
the township’s Municipal Alliance Committee on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism.
He spends his free time exploring public lands, reading, and with his family, including his two children, Skye and Orion, and his dog, Patches.
The Northshore Emergency Management
NEMCo is a partnership among the cities of Kenmore and Lake Forest Park, the Northshore Fire Department (NSFD), and the Northshore Utility District (NUD) to maximize each of the participating agencies emergency preparedness efforts and resources to serve our community.
NEMCo’s focus is to engage the “whole community” to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from all types of emergencies and disasters through education and volunteer coordination. NEMCo provides a number of emergency preparedness training opportunities throughout the year for those interested in volunteering or for those who just want to be better prepared at home.
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES)
RACES members are those who have an FCC license to operate as an amateur radio operator. RACES consists of amateur radio (ham) operators who may be activated in emergency situations to provide radio communications. They are governed by the rules and regulations (Part 97) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). NEMCo RACES meetings discuss community events, technical issues, recent developments, training, deployments, and other items of interest to the group.
People interested in exploring amateur radio, even without a license, may attend the monthly meetings, but, like the general volunteers, have some restrictions as to whether they can formally volunteer in any events.
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
CERT volunteers are those who have completed the typically six-week CERT course to earn their CERT certification. CERT training is designed to educate and prepare community members about disaster preparedness and train them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light urban search and rescue, team organization, disaster medical operations, and other related safety areas. NEMCo provides at least two CERT Academy courses each year and will be announced on our Home page. Members are not authorized to respond on behalf of any agency but may be called upon to supplement and assist existing emergency responders during and after natural or man-made disasters. Typical activities include damage assessment, minor fire suppression, sandbag operations, urban search and rescue, disaster first aid, supply distribution, and being a resource to your neighbors.
Many people take the course in order to learn new preparedness skills to better help their family, friends, and neighbors and may choose not to take the further steps needed to become a credentialed volunteer worker. These are also advanced courses available to CERT volunteers as well if they wish to further volunteer with their local government emergency management organization. NEMCo periodically has exercises and activities that will help with skill maintenance and development, to become better acquainted with emergency response roles, and to network with other CERT volunteers. Volunteers are welcome to participate in all these activities
Community Volunteers
Community volunteers make up the remaining NEMCo membership. They may attend our general volunteer meetings and, if interested, may also occasionally volunteer to assist at community activities. The sponsoring cities for these events and workshops will probably require that these volunteers sign a temporary emergency worker and liability form for the duration of the event, typically just a page with basic information.
They often assist in public service events such as fun runs, participate in safety workshops, and contribute to discussions about emergency preparedness. These volunteers may also serve as role players in simulated emergencies, acting out a variety of physical injuries to provide a sense of realism for first responder training. All NEMCo members and the public are welcome to attend and participate in the monthly volunteer meetings.
