NCJ Number
202906
Date Published
October 2003
Length
60 pages
Annotation
This guide describes California's emergency management system and outlines the roles of the public and private entities that contribute to the State's ongoing preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation efforts.
Abstract
The chapters address the four phases of emergency management: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. Each chapter describes in detail the programs and services the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) administers or coordinates in performing emergency management responsibilities. The topics of the first chapter are the role of OES in emergency management, an overview of the four phases of emergency management, emergency management in California, the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), mutual aid system, disaster recovery, and hazard mitigation. The second chapter describes specific emergency preparedness activities, as well as the emergency plans at various governmental levels. The discussion of emergency planning at all governmental levels focuses on hazardous materials program, radiological emergency preparedness program, dam inundation mapping and emergency procedures program, law enforcement mutual aid planning, and fire and rescue services mutual aid planning. Other sections of the chapter address public information, legislative coordination, and training. The third chapter focuses on the response phase of emergency services. It considers the role of OES in a response, alert and warning, fire and rescue services and law enforcement mutual aid systems, search and rescue, statewide communications, and the implementation of the SEMS. The recovery phase is addressed in the fourth chapter. It details the operations involved in coordinating local, State, and Federal disaster assistance recovery operations, with attention to the activities of the OES. The chapter on mitigation defines it as "any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards." The chapter focuses on the hazard mitigation activities coordinated by OES. Each chapter contains a checklist pertinent to the activities described in the chapter.