About

About Stanton County EMA

Mission Statement:

The Stanton County Emergency Management Agency is committed to public safety and public trust, by assisting residents, stakeholders, and local officials in the preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, prevention, and protection from natural or manmade disasters.

Stanton County Emergency Management is responsible for 4 phases of Emergency Management. Those phases are Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and Mitigation. After the terrorist attack on 9/11, and the creation of The Department of Homeland Security, the EM professional field was expanded to include Prevention, Protection, and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The roles and responsibilities of local Emergency Managers have changed since September 11, 2001. Greater emphasis is being placed on terrorism prevention, grant management, exercise & training program development & maintenance, and other Homeland Security related activities. The trend for change and growing responsibilities will continue. The mission of the Emergency Manager is to create a community organization to reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. This is done by coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from, threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other human caused disasters. The Emergency Manager (EM), as designated by law, local ordinances, resolutions or by job description, is responsible for the components of the emergency management program in the jurisdiction. The EM is the jurisdiction’s primary point of contact and liaison with State and Federal Emergency Management Personnel. The Emergency Manager is an appointed position and is under the direction of the Stanton County Board of Commissioners. The EM provides the Principal Executive Officer (PEO) to ensure that proper emergency actions (planning, response, recovery, and mitigation) are taken to provide the care and support for those citizens affected. The EM is responsible for the jurisdiction’s Emergency Operations Center or EOC and to ensure that it is staffed properly after a disaster and to ensure that the Local Emergency Operations Plan or LEOP is providing a functional guidance to operations in addition to lists of officials, resources, volunteer coordination procedures, etc.

Preparedness: Preparedness is pre-planning for an emergency or disaster to occur and working to increase resources and the ability to respond effectively. Planning, forming emergency organizations, training and exercising are all forms of preparedness activities. As an EM, you will assist state and local government agencies and private sector organizations to develop preparedness plans. Disaster preparedness exercises, involving responder organizations, elected officials, local social, civic, volunteer, for-profit, business organizations, other counties should be conducted to assure that proposed plans and coordination activities will work. Additional preparedness activities ensure that effective communication systems, operating facilities, and specialized equipment are in place to support emergency response and recovery operations.

Response: Response actions cover the period of time shortly before, during and after a disaster, during which activities are conducted to save lives and minimize damage. Activation of the local and State Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) search and rescue, and reception and care of disaster victims are examples of the response actions. During this period, emergency coordination functions are generally carried out in the local and State EOCs. This facility houses representatives of each department and organization involved in response activities in order to ensure cohesive response to the situation and to ensure the public is given concise, meaningful, and timely information regarding the disaster.

Recovery: Recovery is that period when the immediate threat to life and property has passed. Activities such as cleanup, repair, and restoration become a priority. This stage will continue until all life support systems and critical facilities are returned to normal or near-normal operations. Local, State and Federal damage assessment teams, as the situation dictates, may survey damaged areas. The local emergency manager is generally expected to work closely with the teams to ensure swift completion of the assessment process. On-site Disaster Centers may be established within affected communities.

Mitigation: Mitigation is any action “determined to be cost-effective which substantially reduces the risk of future damage, hardship, loss, or suffering in any area affected by a major disaster” (Stafford Act, P.L. 93-288, as amended, Sec 404). Mitigation is the foundation of an all hazards, risk-based emergency management program. It saves lives, reduces property damage, and helps to preserve the economy in the disaster area. Proactive mitigation (to reduce the likelihood or lessen the potential effects of disasters) programs include flood plain management, fire prevention, building codes and development of structural standards, safe rooms, land-use regulations and advocacy with urban planning and zoning commissions to factor emergency management considerations into community design. Reactive mitigation (to reduce effects based on past experience) programs include flood insurance, disaster preparedness improvement grants, and development of predictive models of damage based on past experience.

Prevention: These are specific actions taken to avoid an incident or to intervene to stop an incident (focus is on terrorism) from occurring. This primarily involves other agencies, generally law enforcement, in a cooperative effort and uses intelligence and data, inspections, surveillance and security operations, threat analysis, public health and agricultural monitoring, in efforts to deter, disrupt or thwart terrorism.

Protection: These actions are to reduce vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure or key resources (CI/KR) in order to deter, mitigate or neutralize terrorism, major disasters, and other emergencies. This requires coordinated action from Federal, State, and local governments and agencies, the private sector and concerned citizens.

NIMS: NIMS was developed to improve the nation’s capability to respond to major emergencies and disasters. NIMS includes: 1. Integration of “all hazards” into disaster planning and management activities. 2. Activities related to disaster management, planning, and responses are integrated into the daily work activities of all departments, agencies, and organizations that respond to or support disaster activities. 3. All appropriate personnel from the participating public, private, and volunteer agencies/organizations are included in the disaster planning and management process. 4. The four phases of emergency management are integrated into disaster planning and management activities. 5. NIMS recognizes that no single agency can, by itself, respond effectively to a disaster. Organizing, planning, responding to, and recovering from a disaster will require teamwork (public, private, volunteer).

The Stanton County Emergency Management Agency is also a part of the Northeast Planning, Exercise, and Training Region (PET REGION) and working with the Homeland Security’s Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP). This HSEEP program is a method used to measure the success of all local, state, and national emergency/disaster training sessions and programs; to include standards, record keeping, and is the basis for the LEOP and local SOP improvement processes. Stanton County works with 11 other counties in this region and with local fire and rescue departments, as well as communities and stakeholders with their procedures and response plans. Stanton County is also part of the Local Emergency Planning Committee which provides information to local residents about the hazardous materials that are within their county. This includes evacuation procedures and plans as well as ensuring that all appropriate documents are up to date. As part of the Northeast Region, Stanton County Emergency Management also has deployable assets that can be called in to assist other counties or the State of Nebraska with disasters or incidents.

State Statute for Emergency Management

Each local government shall be within the jurisdiction of and served by the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency and shall participate in a city, village, county, or interjurisdictional emergency management organization. Each county may maintain a county emergency management organization, which shall be the primary organization for emergency management for the county. Any city, village, or interjurisdictional emergency management organization may assist in emergency management functions for that county if approved by the county emergency management organization. Each city, village, or interjurisdictional emergency management organization, if formed, is required to have either a full-time director or a full-time deputy director and such additional personnel as may be needed, appointed in accordance with the agreement establishing the organization. Such director shall have direct responsibility for the organization, administration, and operation of such emergency management organization subject to the direction and control of the principal executive officer for the local government or in accordance with such agreement. A person may serve as a director for more than one emergency management organization serving an area.
Section 8 1-829.46 (1996 – LB43).