Safety & Disaster Management

Safety and disaster management is an important part of any community's infrastructure. Having an agency of professionals who have received specialized training is imperative to protecting the citizens and communities from disaster.

Federal Level

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency is the government level agency responsible for disaster recovery and relief efforts. The agency dispatches first responders---such as the National Guard---and supplies to areas that have been affected by a disaster and sometimes offers monetary compensation to victims of disasters to help with living expenses and other interim needs.

State Level

• Each state has its own emergency management agency in place. These agencies consist of regional planners, elected officials, first responders, medical personal and other professionals. The state officials work closely with those on the federal level for guidance and support.

Local Level

• The local emergency management agencies consist of fire departments, ambulance agencies and police departments. Local level agencies work in conjunction with state and federal level emergency management teams.

Types of Disasters

• Some examples of disasters that emergency management officials may be involved in are floods, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, explosions and terrorist attacks.

First Responders

• First responders to disasters are usually the National Guard, fire departments, police departments, medical personnel and environmental agencies. Each branch of first responders has its own training program in place, which varies with the type of duties they are assigned.