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Local Officials Have Key Role in Emergency Management
Below is an article that IEMA/HSEMD partnered on to help educate local officials who are new to the disaster assistance process (and to provide a refresher to those who are not new). The guide itself is posted on the HSEMD and IEMA websites.
Local Officials Have Key Role in Emergency Management
As we all know, Iowa is susceptible to many types of disasters that can have devastating effects on communities and citizens. To ensure communities are prepared to respond, our state has a system in place to assist local officials in understanding their roles and responsibilities.
“One of the most important, yet often overlooked, responsibilities of a local elected official is their role in emergency management,” said Gary Brown, president of the Iowa Emergency Management Association (IEMA).
All disasters are local—they may eventually exceed local capabilities and require assistance from other levels of government, but the responsibility for the initial response lies in the hands of local officials and responders. The local emergency management agency coordinates the local response to an incident and serves as the critical linkage to integrate cities and counties with state and federal partners not only during disaster response, but throughout recovery and for mitigation and preparedness activities as well.
“The key here for local officials is to make sure they know their role in emergencies and disasters and that they work closely with their local emergency management coordinators,” said J. Derek Hill, administrator of the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HSEMD).
HSEMD has developed a publication to provide officials with information on their role in homeland security and emergency management. “Introduction to Homeland Security and Emergency Management for Local Officials,” is available at www.iowahomelandsecurity.org in the Resource Room/Publications and on the IEMA website at www.iowaema.com.
Contact your local emergency management coordinator for more information. A list of local emergency management coordinators is also available on the HSEMD and IEMA websites.
Lucinda Robertson
Public Information Officer
Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division
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