ALBANY – Several City officials, along with hundreds of other emergency personnel from across the state, were invited to the Governor’s Conference on Emergency Preparedness on Monday as new state training initiatives were unveiled.

Mayor Joseph Maiurano, Police Chief Joseph Angelino, Fire Chief Tracy Chawgo and Emergency Management Director A. Wesley Jones were in attendance at the day-long program, which was hosted by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

At the conference, the Governor presented a statewide Emergency Management Certification and Training Program that will establish uniform disaster response protocols for first responders and local officials. In addition, the governor announced federal approval for New York’s request to use the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system when the state needs to send location-specific information to New Yorkers before, during or after an emergency.