Office of Emergency Management - Overview

Overview

Emergency management organizations often hold different names, such as "office of emergency preparedness" or "emergency management", but perform the same function. In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the agency responsible for emergency management on the national level. Examples of state and local agencies are listed below. Large federal and state agencies, such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as private companies often maintain OEMs as discrete departments responsible for handling organizational emergency preparations and response plans.

The principal reasons for the increased interest in and support for emergency management policies and programs are an increase in the numbers of major disasters in the recent years, the increased exposure of people and property to natural and technological hazards, and perhaps, most important, the critical nature of the function. Emergency management is the quintessential governmental role, because it is the role for which communities were formed and constituted in the first place – to provide support and assistances when the resources of individuals and families are overwhelmed. An entire series of documents known as the Civil Preparedness Guides (CPGs), were developed by FEMA and its predecessor the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency for the purpose of providing emergency management information and direction to state and local governments.

Emergency management is better described as the management of risk, so civilizations are able to live with environmental and technical hazards and deal with the disasters that they cause. Emergency management is not solely a governmental responsibility. Individuals are responsible for protecting their own lives and property, as well as the safety of family members and neighbors. When they do not have the means to protect themselves as individuals and families, they can rely on the resources and capabilities of the community. In some cases, the support of a few neighbors or a single community is sufficient; however, in more extreme cases, the support of a broad network of public, nonprofit, and private organizations is necessary to respond to and recover from major disasters.

The national emergency system is a complex network of public, private, nonprofit organizations, and individuals. It is composed of federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as special districts and quasi-governmental bodies. It can include nonprofit services and charitable organizations, as well as certain volunteer groups and individuals. It can also private sector firms that provide governmental services by contract; services and products not needed by enough victims, responders, or other participants to justify their provision by government agencies. However, because catastrophic disasters can overwhelm the largest communities and private organizations, the ultimate guarantor of aid is the government.

The governmental divisions in the national system include emergency management agencies, scientific agencies with expertise in areas such as meteorology and geology, public safety and emergency response agencies, public health agencies, and regulatory agencies. There are office of emergency management agencies with very specific responsibilities, for example FEMA and its state and local counterparts.