Sessions on disaster preparedness for local businesses will be presented by the CWRU School of Medicine, City of Cleveland, American Red Cross, Building Owners and Managers Association and Employers Resource Council.

The conferences will be conducted at the Forum Conference Center in downtown Cleveland. The sessions, offered at no cost to participants, are intended for business owners and facility, safety and human resource managers.

Session one, called "New Downtown Evacuation Plan/Bioterrorism Issues in the Workplace," will be from 3-5 p.m. November 12. Leading this session are Assistant Chief Tim OâToole, from the Cleveland Division of Fire and Office of Emergency Management in the Department of Public Safety; Lt. Thomas Dillon, from the Cleveland Division of Police, Field Operations; and Thomas E. Collins, medical director for the Department of Public Safety, Division of EMS and Division of Fire, and a member of the Department of Emergency Medicine at MetroHealth Medical Center and CWRU.

Session two, called "Development and Implementation of Safety Plans/Business Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery," will be from 3-5 p.m. November 19. Leading this session will be Capt. Mark Scott, City of Cleveland Fire Marshal; Al McGinty, security advisor, IMAC Consulting Group and retired FBI disaster coordinator; Douglas P. Whipple, Esq., of Seely, Savidge & Ebert Co., LPA; and a member of the strategic advisory committee of the American Red Cross Business and Industry Council for Emergency Planning and Preparedness.

These programs are "train-the-trainer" sessions for those responsible for the operations and safety issues at their business and facility. Participants will be able to prepare trainers in their organizations to explain the new City of Cleveland downtown evacuation plan, identify sources of support and help if a bioterrorism event occurs, develop and implement organization or facility safety plans and do contingency planning and lead disaster recovery efforts.

To register online and for more information, visit the Web site http://www.cme.cwru.edu and click "On-line registration." To register by phone, call 368-2408 or 368-2975. The program is supported with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc.