Emergency Management
The mission of emergency
management is to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from
technological and natural disasters. Emergency management is located at
all levels of government, starting with city moving up to county, then state,
and the federal level. Some areas have a city/county emergency management
office, while others keep them separate.
City and county offices are
considered local and respond first to an event. If the event exceeds their
resources, they may request state aid. This is usually done by the Chief
Elected Officer (Mayor or designee). If the event exceeds the state
resources, then a request may be initiated for federal aid. This request
is usually completed by the governor or his/her designee.
The federal system is currently
maintained by the
Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
This Agency has been merged with the
Department of Homeland Security. FEMA coordinates with @23 agencies to perform emergency
management duties. An emergency disaster declaration or major disaster
declaration may be issued if an event warrants. The latter is usually
signed by the President. Both free up federal resources to respond and
recover from an event.
There are two types of aid in a
major disaster declaration, they are public assistance (PA) and individual
assistance (IA). Public assistance is for cities, counties, and states,
for repairing infrastructure. Individual assistance is for citizens.
Declarations are issued at the county level and a particular county may get PA
or IA or both. FEMA is governed by Title 44 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR).
Mitigation - Reduce or
eliminate the affects of a hazard.
Preparedness - Train personnel and perform exercises to test personnel.
Response - Respond to event, may include local officials (police, fire,
emergency management) up to the federal level.
Recovery (short term) - Immediate assistance to get the community functioning
and self sustaining.
Recovery (long term) - Return the community to pre-disaster condition.
A variety of assistance is
offered after a disaster occurs. You are encouraged to register with FEMA
if you are affected by an event and a disaster declaration is issued.
There is plenty of information
on the Internet about emergency management. The FEMA link above is a good
starting point.
