Office of Emergency Services

Thanks to a $450,000 grant from the Federal Department of Homeland Security, the County purchased a state-of-the-art mobile command trailer to be used in emergencies. Unfortunately, the Department has only one truck available in the County capable of moving this trailer. Within the trailer there are a number of highly sophisticated communication units which require considerable time and effort by Department personnel to learn. There is a volunteer group who is also learning how to use this equipment.

There are 3,100 people employed by the County, all of whom agreed, as a condition of employment, to be the “First Responders” in an emergency event. Fewer than 10% of the employees have participated in any training the County has offered. Summary:The OES is responsible for training, advance communication, public education and grant administration through Homeland Security. This is an enormous task to have been placed under the Sheriffs Department without providing the funding for the education of personnel needed to coordinate this service. There are a number of frequent emergencies (small fires, floods, vehicle accidents) that the county is prepared to handle; however, this is not the case for any sort of widespread, large scale event such as an avian flu outbreak, or catastrophic earthquake. Even in such catastrophic events, the Federal Government has stated that local agencies will need to be able to handle their own emergency services. There will be no State or Federal aid that can be relied upon.