Safety Management Systems Enters Public-Private Partnership with UL Lafayette

Safety Management Systems (SMS), a division of Acadian, has entered a public-private partnership with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies (NIMSAT), to provide training and services for all-hazards emergency preparedness.

The partnership includes a certification program for public and private sector executives and site supervisors. This program features Incident Command Structure (ICS) training courses, which are required by public sector officials, and also courses taken by the oil & gas, fertilizer, and other corporate industries. In addition, SMS will be providing site-specific disaster response consulting.

The private-public partnership officially launched Monday, at an informational symposium held at SMS’ Lafayette, La., campus. The event included break-out sessions concerning disaster management training needs of public and private sector stakeholders, brainstorming over a working lunch, oil spill response demonstrations, and a presentation of the partnership’s emergency management training initiative.

The symposium enabled attendees to network with emergency management leaders from government and industry, while learning various ways to improve effectiveness, manage costs, and facilitate crisis communication before, during, and after an emergency through necessary partnerships.

Special guests United States Senator Mary Landrieu, Acadian Companies Chairman & CEO Richard E. Zuschlag, and UL Lafayette President Dr. E. Joseph Savoie all spoke at the event.

Zuschlag, who founded Acadian in 1971 and has overseen the response efforts of dozens of natural and man-made disasters, said, “With each coordinated response with the Office of Emergency Preparedness and local law enforcement agencies, we have learned to be better prepared and have improved our efforts. We have also learned how important it is to all speak the same language, to have the same goals, and to know exactly with whom we are working.”

Sen. Landrieu praised Acadian’s response efforts, and said, “No group of people, no industry, no employer, responded more with heart and soul and professionalism in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita than Acadian. This company was on the front line.”

She continued, “It’s natural for this partnership to occur.”

The UL Lafayette Marine Survival Training Center launched their public-private partnership with American Pollution Control and The Response Group at this event as well. Their partnership is being established to provide world-class training in oil spill response.   

SMS is one of the largest providers of health, safety, medical, training, and security services for the energy industry. For more information about Safety Management Systems, please visit safetyms.com or call 1.800.252.5522.

Since 1971, Acadian has been committed to providing the highest level of emergency medical care and transportation possible. In the past decade, the company has expanded to include a diverse suite of services in health, safety, and transportation. Acadian’s six divisions are Acadian Ambulance Service, Acadian Monitoring Services, Air Med, Executive Aircraft Charter Service, National EMS Academy and Safety Management Systems.
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