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2002 SESSION

028701776
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 492
Offered March 4, 2002
Commending Patrick Morrison.
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WHEREAS, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States, numerous Fairfax County firefighters were heavily engaged at the Pentagon attack site; and

WHEREAS, one Fairfax firefighter, Lieutenant Patrick Morrison, was asked by the International Association of Firefighters to coordinate a program to help the members of the Fire Department of New York, a department that had suffered the greatest one-day loss of personnel in firefighting history; and

WHEREAS, Patrick Morrison is a leader in the effort to ensure health, safety, and wellness among firefighters in Fairfax County, and his methods have been emulated and replicated across the nation; and

WHEREAS, Patrick Morrison responded to the call, arriving in New York on September 14 charged with the enormous task of coordinating a program that would address critical incident stress needs and counseling services for the Fire Department of New York, an organization with 16,000 members; and

WHEREAS, for the next several weeks, Patrick Morrison worked 20-hour days assembling counselors from across the country to work with the thousands of surviving, but shocked, New York firefighters and their families; and

WHEREAS, under the leadership of Patrick Morrison, family members of the more than 300 firefighters who perished on September 11 were provided with grief counseling and support; and

WHEREAS, this already arduous task was made more difficult by the fact that the people whom Patrick Morrison was working to help—New York's firefighters—still had to respond to everyday emergency calls for service while continuing the harrowing work at Ground Zero; and

WHEREAS, Patrick Morrison's extraordinary efforts are paying off and will continue to do so in the years ahead, as New York's firefighters will have access to grants to assist in developing a Counseling Services Unit that will be able to respond to the needs of firefighters and their families; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend Fairfax County Fire Lieutenant Patrick Morrison for his selfless and devoted service to the members of the Fire Department of New York; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Lieutenant Patrick Morrison as an expression of the admiration of the General Assembly for his exceptional dedication.