The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is the agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that coordinates federal, state, local, and private resources throughout the Commonwealth during times of disasters and emergencies.
It is headquartered in Framingham on Route 9 [1] in between the cities of Boston and Worcester. There are also three other regional offices, in Franklin, Tewksbury, and Agawam.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is the state agency responsible for coordinating federal, state, local, voluntary, and private resources during emergencies and disasters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MEMA provides leadership to: develop plans for effective response to all hazards, disasters or threats; train emergency personnel to protect the public; provide information to the citizenry; and assist individuals, families, businesses, and communities to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to and recover from emergencies, both natural and man made.
The Operations Division of MEMA maintains and operates the state Emergency Operations Center (EOC), monitoring emergencies statewide through the Communications Division 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The state EOC serves as the command and control center for the Commonwealth during an emergency.
The Operations Division manages and coordinates emergency response efforts for the Commonwealth. Through MEMA regional offices, it coordinates the response to requests for aid from local authorities upon depletion of their local resources.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Team (MEMT) is prepared and trained by the Operations Division. MEMT's members are the many state, federal, local, volunteer, public, and private agencies and organizations which are represented at the State EOC during activation for an emergency for better coordination of the Commonwealth's assets. Operations Division is also responsible for updating and publishing the Governor's Emergency Notification Roster, preparing and maintaining MEMA's master calendar, and assuring that MEMA maintains a high degree of preparedness and readiness.
The Planning Department works with municipal, state, federal, and volunteer organizations on a variety of emergency management planning issues. The Planning Department assists communities in the development and maintenance of their Comprehensive Emergency Plans (CEMP), addressing mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery from natural and technological emergencies.
The Planning Department also maintains the State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. The State CEMP is utilized by MEMA to manage multi-agency state response to large-scale emergencies. The State CEMP provides linkage to the Federal Response Plan for requesting federal disaster assistance.
Management of the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) activities; planning, training, grant management, and SERC sub-committees is the responsibility of the MEMA Hazardous Materials Coordinator within the Planning Department.
Finally, the Planning Department supports planning for hazard-specific events such as major aircraft accidents, debris management, terrorism, donations management, and other topics.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster. The only exception to the state's gubernatorial declaration requirement occurs when an emergency or disaster takes place on federal property or to a federal asset—for example, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or the Space Shuttle Columbia in the 2003 return-flight disaster.
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective.
An office of emergency management (OEM) is a local, municipal, tribal, state, federal/national, or international organization responsible for: planning for, responding to, and dealing with recovery efforts related to natural, manmade, technological, or otherwise hazardous disasters by planning and implementing large scale emergency response plans/procedures, coordinating emergency assets during a disaster, and providing logistical, administrative and financial support to a disaster response effort.
Emergency management is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actually focus on the management of emergencies; emergency management or disaster management can be understood as minor events with limited impacts and are managed through the day-to-day functions of a community. Instead, emergency management focuses on the management of disasters, which are events that produce more impacts than a community can handle on its own. The management of disasters tends to require some combination of activity from individuals and households, organizations, local, and/or higher levels of government. Although many different terminologies exist globally, the activities of emergency management can be generally categorized into preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery, although other terms such as disaster risk reduction and prevention are also common. The outcome of emergency management is to prevent disasters and where this is not possible, to reduce their harmful impacts.
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 is a United States federal law passed by the 99th United States Congress located at Title 42, Chapter 116 of the U.S. Code, concerned with emergency response preparedness.
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act is a 1988 United States federal law designed to bring an orderly and systematic means of federal natural disaster assistance for state and local governments in carrying out their responsibilities to aid citizens. Congress's intention was to encourage states and localities to develop comprehensive disaster preparedness plans, prepare for better intergovernmental coordination in the face of a disaster, encourage the use of insurance coverage, and provide federal assistance programs for losses due to a disaster.
Saint Lucia's National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) is responsible for disaster preparedness and disaster response co-ordination.
The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) is a federally coordinated disaster medical system and partnership of the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Homeland Security (DHS), Defense (DOD), and Veterans Affairs (VA). The purpose of the NDMS is to support State, local, Tribal and Territorial authorities following disasters and emergencies by supplementing health and medical systems and response capabilities. NDMS would also support the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs health care systems in caring for combat casualties, should requirements exceed their capacity. The NDMS was established in 1984.
The Maine Department of Defense, Veterans, and Emergency Management (DVEM) is a government agency in Maine. It comprises the two components of the Maine National Guard, the Maine Army National Guard and the Maine Air National Guard, the Bureau of Veterans' Affairs, the Maine Emergency Management Agency, and when it is active, the Maine State Guard. The Adjutant General of Maine, Brigadier General Diane L. Dunn, commands the Maine National Guard and serves as the State's Commissioner of Defense, Veterans, and Emergency Management (DVEM). The Maine Army and Air National Guard has responded to every call of the State and Nation since before the Revolutionary War. Their soldiers and airmen are trained to high standards and are ready to respond to combat missions, domestic emergencies, counterdrug efforts, reconstruction missions and more.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) is charged with maintaining a comprehensive statewide program of emergency management. The division ensures that Florida is prepared to respond to emergencies, recover from them, and mitigate their impacts. DEM is responsible for the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) which is composed of various intergovernmental entities, volunteers, and the private sector. The division coordinates the efforts of the Federal Government with other departments and agencies of state government, with county and municipal governments and school boards, and with private agencies that have a role in emergency management. The Director is appointed by the Governor of Florida, and serves as an agency head. Kevin Guthrie currently serves as the Director. He was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in May 2021.
Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) is an agency of the state of Illinois responsible for preparing for and coordinating responses to emergencies. It replaced the Illinois Civil Defense Agency in 1975 under House Bill 1109.
Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM). is the department of the Maryland state government with primary responsibility and authority for emergency preparedness policy, and for coordinating hazard mitigation, incident response, and disaster recovery. It is headquartered in Reisterstown, Maryland.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) is a department of the government of Oklahoma responsible for coordinating the response to a natural disaster that has occurred in the State and that has overwhelmed the abilities of local authorities. This is achieved primarily through the development and maintenance of a comprehensive statewide emergency management plan. OEM is responsible for coordinating the efforts of the federal government with other state departments and agencies, county and municipal governments and school boards, and with private agencies that have a role in emergency management.
The Oklahoma Emergency Management Act of 2003 is an Oklahoma state law that replaced the Oklahoma Civil Defense and Emergency Resources Management Act of 1967 as the primary state law detailing emergency management in Oklahoma. The Emergency Management Act and the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act together form the primary state laws regarding emergency and disastrous situations that may occur in the state.
The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is an operating agency of the U.S. Public Health Service within the Department of Health and Human Services that focuses on preventing, preparing for, and responding to the adverse health effects of public health emergencies and disasters. Its functions include preparedness planning and response; building federal emergency medical operational capabilities; countermeasures research, advance development, and procurement; and grants to strengthen the capabilities of hospitals and health care systems in public health emergencies and medical disasters. The office provides federal support, including medical professionals through ASPR’s National Disaster Medical System, to augment state and local capabilities during an emergency or disaster.
The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services is a California cabinet-level office responsible for overseeing and coordinating emergency preparedness, response, recovery and homeland security activities within the state. The agency was created by AB 38 (2008), superseding both the Office of Emergency Services (OES) and Office of Homeland Security (OHS).
Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-8, National Preparedness, describes the way United States Federal agencies will prepare for an incident. It requires Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with other Federal agencies and with State, local, and Tribal governments to develop a National Preparedness Goal with Emergency management. Congressional laws enacted, following the wake of 9/11, which resulted in new developments in the way security was assessed and addressed in the United States, to prevent and respond to threatened or actual domestic terrorist attacks, disasters, and other emergencies by requiring a national domestic all-hazards preparedness goal. HSPD 5, HSPD-7, HSPD-8, and HSPD-8 Annex 1 are directives that deal with the preparedness goals.
The Stephenson Disaster Management Institute at Louisiana State University is located in the Stephenson National Center for Security Research and Training at LSU.
The U.S. state of Washington has several emergency operations centers (EOCs).
The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) is a state agency that coordinates Texas's emergency management program.