Local Emergency Management Agencies (LEMA) are the entities responsible for creating a framework that addresses crisis situations and constructs an adequate reaction to occurred disasters. LEMA is accountable for devising strategies to cope with catastrophes in the area and creating plans for the mitigation of damages. The vital role of Emergency Management tends to be undervalued by the public and therefore lacks coverage. There are four phases of emergency management that local agencies supervise. The mitigation phase includes all the actions aimed to prevent possible hazard. The preparedness stage implies all kinds of education and trainings for events impossible to mitigate. The response period happens as an immediate reaction to an occurred catastrophe and depends on the previous ones. The final round of emergency management is the recovery phase that appears in regular procedures and restoration actions.
Local Emergency Management Agencies (LEMA) have a relatively recent history of its fundamental constitution as elements responsible for crisis resilience and management. Rose et al. (2017) suggest the following definition associated with emergency management agencies as subjects “charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters” (p.127). The need for the adequately constructed framework behind LEMA in the United States is associated with the 9/11 events. The establishment of the National Incident Management System led to the control of LEMA units throughout the country, their development, and increased funding capacities (Rose et al., 2017). Hence, the implemented procedures ensure qualitative control over the actions performed by local emergency management agencies. Youngblood and Youngblood (2018) advocate for the importance of LEMA networks in emergency management and the way local emergency agencies in Florida counties are connected. LEMA networks are essential as they create planning and may exchange resources needed to protect citizens from hazards in neighboring counties or even states (Youngblood & Youngblood, 2018). Additionally, the cooperation with Red Cross and local churches only enforces and coordinates the actions of emergency management actors. The National Incident Management System creates a single set of procedures distributed to LEMA elements and controls all phases local agencies are responsible for establishing successful emergency management.
The responsibilities of Local Emergency Management Agencies are formed under the procedures and rules developed by The National Incident Management System of the US. Four phases encompass all the main duties assigned to Local Emergency Management Agencies (LEMA): mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. All of the stages are linked together and aimed to build an algorithm capable to complete emergency management reaction taking into account various scenarios that may occur.
Mitigation is the first stage in a set of duties performed by LEMAs and takes all the necessary actions to prevent possible hazard or reduce harm. LEMAs are essential centers for the provision of mitigation emergency management action. In this phase, all procedures and strategies are constituted and performed for hazard prevention. In every part of the US, there is a Local Emergency Management Agency either on the municipal or county level responsible for local citizens’ safety (Canton, 2019). Some of LEMA’s direct efforts on the mitigation stage are purchasing insurance policies, reinforcing fences to prevent animal escapes, and build construction for flood prevention. The mitigation is a primary stage in crisis management and occupies the dominating part of LEMA work.
The preparedness stage includes all actions taken to create a preparedness plan, develop educational and training programs for prompt responses. The Local Emergency Management Agencies develop concrete preparation tactics such as a database of emergency contacts or a list of items needed to combat the hazard (Rose et al., 2017). Moreover, LEMA assigns the training program to the staff responsible for a specific regulatory step in the lack of qualification. Rose et al. (2017) comment on the preparedness action that LEMAs performs in the emergency response of public health threats: collection and analysis of epidemiological and laboratory tests; exchange of information with partners; coordination of response action. The preparedness stage is a key one in LEMA’s operationalization process as it correlates with their direct duties performance.
The third stage of crisis management is response activity performed as an immediate action to an occurred catastrophe. LEMAs takes responsibility to activate incident management tactics constructed during previous stages. The performance of an agency in this phase is correlated with its work on meditation and preparedness plans. The final recovery stage depends on the ones performed before and constructed to develop restorative procedures. Local Emergency Management Agencies monitor all the control activities needed for population surveillance. The transition plan developed by an agency is activated at this stage of crisis management.
To conclude, it is important to mention the vitality of Local Emergency Management Agencies (LEMA) in the supervision of hazards and occurred catastrophes. LEMAs are elements that create a regulatory mechanism needed to handle the incident situations. There is also a rising role of LEMA networks needed to ensure the exchange of experience, data, and resources between all emergency management actors. There are four stages of emergency management that LEMAs actively control and supervise mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
References
Canton, L. G. (2019). Emergency management: Concepts and strategies for effective programs. John Wiley & Sons.
Rose, D. A., Murthy, S., Brooks, J., & Bryant, J. (2017). The evolution of public health emergency management as a field of practice. American Journal of Public Health, 107(S2), S126-S133.
Youngblood, S. A., & Youngblood, N. E. (2018). Usability, content, and connections: How county-level Alabama emergency management agencies communicate with their online public. Government Information Quarterly, 35(1), 50-60.