What is Emergency Management?

Hundreds of hours each year are spent training for and responding to emergency and disaster situations. We provide community education, aid businesses who have hazardous materials with emergency planning and reporting, as well as all-hazards planning and preparation. Almost all county employees are trained in an emergency response function.

Why Emergency Management?

Our emergency services (fire, law enforcement, EMS, etc.) and emergency support agencies (public works, public health, public information, etc.) know their specific jobs and do them well. On the surface, therefore, it might appear that the Emergency Management function is unnecessary. Many disasters (Hurricane Andrew, Northridge Earthquake, etc.) have repeatedly shown that the biggest problems stem not from the inability of individual response agencies, but from a lack of overall coordination and of an ongoing preparedness program. Emergency Management prepares for what we hope never happens and provides structure and coordination when it does. Emergency Management has pamphlets and brochures available on a wide variety of subjects ranging from weather awareness and safety, to preparedness for emergencies to recovery issues.

How Can I Get More Information?

For additional information, visit Kansas Department of Emergency Management at www.kansastag.gov/kdem, or FEMA at www.fema.gov or www.ksready.gov.