DHSEM Field Operations Staff provide direct assistance to local agencies during emergencies and disasters.
Direct Assistance
The field managers help local governments to achieve their emergency management goals by providing technical assistance with respect to strategic planning, emergency plan development, community preparedness, disaster recovery, hazard mitigation and training and exercise support. Regional Field Managers are assigned to each of the nine regions in the state.
The principal responsibility of our field managers is to support local emergency managers with the development of comprehensive, sustainable emergency management programs. Emphasis is given to customer service and to providing local officials with information regarding best practices in the emergency management field. They can assist local governments in the following ways:
- Response Assistance: Provides assistance in resource management to include ordering, providing situational awareness and liaison functions.
- Planning Assistance: Analysis of local hazards, preparation of emergency operations plans, the formation of incident management groups and development of hazard education campaigns.
- Training Assistance: Development of new training curricula, providing briefings to local elected officials and support of local training activities.
- Exercise Assistance: Assistance with the design and implementation of local emergency training exercises and maintenance of an exercise reference library.
- Grant Administration: Assistance with administration of federal pass-through funds, Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and the Search and Rescue Grant program and assistance to local governments in identifying other grant sources for planning and hazard mitigation activities.
The establishment of planning regions and the move to out-station regional field managers has strengthened local-state partnerships and yielded a number of other benefits including:
- A greater familiarity, on the part of state staff, with people, places and hazards in local communities and a better appreciation of local challenges and issues.
- A stronger liaison role and a direct link between local and state officials before, during and after the occurrence of a disaster.
- Improved regional cooperation and inter-jurisdictional coordination on emergency management issues.
- Better information sharing, including the transfer of success stories and lessons learned from one jurisdiction to another.
- Improved efficiency by offering better customer service and serving as a single resource for information about resources and assistance available from other sources.
Resources
- Colorado Emergency Management Program Guide
- Elected Official's Guide
- DHSEM Field Services Trifold Brochure