Commissioners move to update Emergency Management Plan

Star Beacon

July 01, 2009 07:32 pm

— JEFFERSON — Ashtabula County commissioners approved a resolution June 23 to meet state requirements by updating the county’s Emergency Operations Plan.
“The State of Ohio requires every local Emergency Management Agency (EMA) that requests grant funding from the Ohio EMA to review and revise as necessary its Emergency Operations Plan on a regular basis,” said George Sabo, county EMA director.
Sabo presented commissioners with a list of suggested plan revisions, which ensure that the plan stays current and meets the needs of Ashtabula County residents.
“The updates to the operations plan have been reviewed and approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency,” said Peggy Carlo, board president. “We know how important it is to be prepared for any kind of emergency or disaster.”
The county plan, which was first adopted by commissioners in 1989, was developed in accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5 and Ohio Revised Code Section 5502. It requires annual updates and is a statement of policy regarding emergency management, which assigns tasks and responsibilities to county officials and department heads, specifying their roles during an emergency or disaster.
“Given the range of issues we may be confronted with, it is critical that we be both current and pro-active,” said Commissioner Joe Moroski.
“The new revisions were mainly to begin the process of bringing the Ashtabula County EOP into compliance with FEMA’s National Incident Management System (NIMS) standards,” Sabo said.
NIMS is a comprehensive, national approach to emergency response, which is intended to improve coordination and cooperation between public and private entities in a variety of incident management activities. It provides a common standard for overall incident management.
A basic premise of NIMS is that all incidents begin and end locally. NIMS does not take command away from state and local authorities. It provides the framework to enhance the ability of responders, including the private sector and nongovernmental organizations, to work together more effectively. The federal government’s intention in these situations is not to command the response, but to support the affected local and/or state governments.