The Goals and Objectives of the Office of Emergency Management

Preparing the County for Emergencies

• County wide Incident Management System: All emergencies within the county are managed in accordance with NIMS/ICS principles.
• Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP): OEM supports the County Health Department with managing the County COOP program, which ensures essential public services are available during/following emergencies.
• Emergency Operations Planning: OEM develops, maintains, and coordinates a comprehensive emergency management plan for the County and coordinates with Town of Quartzsite, Town of Parker and Colorado River Indian Tribes.
• Training and Exercises: OEM conducts responder, staff training and exercises to test plans and response capabilities to identify areas of improvement.
• Incident Monitoring: OEM monitors local, regional, national incidents for their impact on the county in order to provide decision makers with vital information and warning.

Coordinating Emergency Response and Recovery

• Emergency Operations Center (EOC): During major events the EOC is the focal point for information coordination, resource requests, and decision making.
• Public Warning: OEM coordinates with elected/appointed decision makers, Public Information Officers, and surrounding entities to provide vital warning and information to the public
• Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT): OEM trains citizen volunteers in basic response skills including fire safety, light search and rescue, disaster medical operations, incident scene rehab, and incident management.
• Volunteer Operations: OEM partners with American Red Cross and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) to establish and operate a volunteer management capability supporting large scale incidents where many volunteers are needed to provide mass care, including shelter activations.
• Recovery and Relief: Following an emergency, OEM works with government agencies, businesses, and non-profit organizations providing assistance and relief to citizens in the County.

Educating and Informing the Public

• OEM partners in with several agencies to educate and encourage citizens to prepare for and respond to all hazards events.
• Personal Preparedness Education: OEM provides personal preparedness training classes to citizens, employees and responders.
• Citizen Corps Council: OEM participates in the Arizona Department of Homeland Security Citizen Corps Council to bring together local leaders from community organization, government, volunteers, and the private sector to promote grassroots emergency preparedness and volunteerism.
• Social Media: OEM coordinates the release of information through social media with the Public Information Officer.

Functions and Activities

• Respond to emergencies/disasters within the County, The West Region and the State.
• Develop, maintain, and coordinate Emergency Management plans.
• Conduct/attend all-hazards training and exercises.
• Monitor emergency/disaster incidents and manage the Emergency Operations Center.
• On-scene command, control, and communication for large incidents /emergencies/disasters.
• Coordinate public information and the dissemination of warnings.
• Strengthen community education and preparedness through Volunteer management and coordination with ARC, Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) and others.
• Coordinate relief and recovery operations.

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