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Emergency Management
Emergency Management
Deschutes County strives to have a Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) Program. The "comprehensive" aspect of CEM includes all four phases of disaster or emergency activity: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. It also applies to all risks: natural disaster, man-caused, technological, terrorism, energy and material shortages.
A comprehensive emergency management program identifies agencies and individuals who have useful resources that can be utilized in all aspects of emergencies. The CEM also promotes coordinating activities not only during emergencies or when a situation is threatening, but during everyday activities as well. The coordination function should not be confused with the "directing" function of a response.
The Four Phases of Emergency Management
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Mitigation: These are the activities that identify and eliminate hazards ahead of time (to the extent possible), reduce the probability of their occurrence, or reduce the disastrous effects of unavoidable hazards. An example would be raising a house above the flood plain before a flood.
- Preparedness: This is the heart of Emergency Management. The County Emergency Services Program Manager is responsible for pre-planning, developing and updating the County Emergency Operations Plan. This Plan addresses how the County will coordinate and respond with other agencies to an emergency and identify support needs to an incident. This coordination and support may be provided at the incident or in the County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) which is located at the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. An Emergency Operations Plan also outlines the responsibilities for County officials, ,who will be coordinating shelters, feeding, security and evacuation, etc.
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Response: This is when agencies actually respond to an emergency. The Emergency Operations Plan-provides a framework as to what steps will be taken, such as how and when to declare a disaster, and it  includes all the paperwork that must be filled out to document actions taken in support of the incident.
• Recovery: This is the final part of Emergency Management. This is the time when damage is assessed, Citizen's long-term needs are evaluated, costs are tallied and services (water, sewer, roads) are repaired. Also, during this phase, problems that arose during the response phases are critiqued so that plans and response procedures can be modified or improved and training deficiencies can be noted.
For additional information, call the Deschutes County Emergency Servies at at (541) 617-3303
Deschutes County Emergency Operating Plan (PDF, 9Mb)
Deschutes County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (PDF, 3.8MB)
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