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The ARRL is pleased to welcome Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD to the Headquarters staff in Newington. Dura's major responsibilities include addressing the development and implementation of an organizational disaster response plan as well as a continuity operations plan, complete with supporting procedures and training. Integral to these plans are the recommendations of the National Emergency Response Planning Committee (NERPC) report. "By instituting these base components for the organization, the emergency communications resources of Amateur Radio and the League will become truly disaster resilient on all fronts," Dura said. "Emergency communications cannot stand alone. As an organization, we must have disaster plans in place and know what we must do to continue operations when they are impacted. Without this, our support to the field will be lacking."
Dura also will play an integral part in the management of ARES, and in future negotiations with served agencies with whom ARRL shares or creates Memoranda of Understanding.
Dura comes to the ARRL with more than 26 years of experience in the emergency management field. He started as a volunteer coordinator in his home township's emergency management program and turned this experience and training into a consulting career, working on off-site emergency plans for nuclear power plants and the jurisdictions where they are sited around the country. At the same time, he joined the American Red Cross as a volunteer Disaster Consultant in New Jersey, leading to paid positions as Manager of Disaster Services in St Louis, Director of Disaster Preparedness in Chicago and a Disaster Preparedness Specialist in New Jersey.
After some years working in the non-governmental organization side of the field, he joined the New Jersey State Police, Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM). Dura progressed through the ranks in NJOEM and served in numerous positions such as Operations Officer and Hurricane Preparedness Officer. As a Principal Planner, he was part of the group to develop the first Terrorism Plan for New Jersey prior to 9/11, specializing in human services issues, especially Mass Care. As part of New Jersey's response to the 9/11 attack, he served on a specialized inter-governmental team to establish the Family Assistance Center at Liberty State Park.
He left NJOEM in 2003 to become the Deputy State Emergency Coordinator for the New Jersey Department of Human Services (NJDHS), the position he held prior joining the League. Dura's focus in NJDHS was spread across several areas such as Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Mass Care and Business/Continuity of Operations.
During his time at the NJOEM, Dura was the Assistant State RACES Officer. He was also the liaison to the National Weather Service (NWS) for NJOEM and became involved in the SKYWARN program. Through a successful grant submission, he was able to secure two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) All-Hazards Radio transmitters for unserved areas of New Jersey. His work on this project resulted in the Mark Trail Award in 2002. The Chairman of the Mt Holly NWS Forecast Office SKYWARN Advisory Committee for many years, Dennis has also been a member of his county ARES program.
Dura said he is excited to be working at ARRL Headquarters. "It is a tremendous opportunity to take my many years of emergency management experience and apply all of it to the ARRL. It wasn't a hard move [to the ARRL] at all -- take the disaster experiences and meld them with a tremendous hobby…that ends up serving the nation and the world."
Dura holds a BS in criminal justice from The College of New Jersey and is currently completing graduate level work in homeland security and emergency management. He is a Certified Business Resilience Manager and is a member of numerous professional emergency management organizations.
Dura can be reached via e-mail.
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