About Us
Phases of Disasters
All disasters are local meaning that they begin or occur in a community and the response begins at the local level. Local, state and federal Emergency Managers are involved in all phases of disasters including:
- Protection / Prevention - Protection actions taken to avoid an incident and can include deterrence operations and surveillance and intelligence gathering. These phases refer most often to terrorism and biological hazards.
- Preparedness - Preparedness activities increase a community's ability to respond when a disaster occurs. Typical preparedness measures include writing and revising emergency plans, developing mutual aid agreements and memorandums of understanding, training for both response personnel and concerned citizens, conducting disaster exercises to reinforce training and test capabilities, and presenting all-hazards community education.
- Response - Actions carried out immediately before, during, and after an incident which are directed toward saving lives, reducing property damage, economic and environmental losses, and alleviating suffering.
Emergency Management response actions may include activating the Emergency Operations Center (EOC)*, evacuating threatened populations, opening shelters and providing mass care. Other primary emergency management responsibilities in the EOC are coordinating information and resources. - Recovery - Actions taken to return a community to normal or near-normal conditions, including the restoration of basic services and the repair of physical, social and economic damage. Typical recovery actions include debris cleanup, financial assistance to individuals and governments, rebuilding of roads and bridges and key facilities, and sustained mass care for displaced human and animal populations. Recovery comes in two phases, short term recovery largely described above and where the goal is to make a community functional again. Some short term recovery activity overlaps with response actions. The second recovery phase is long term recovery which endeavors to restore the community as fully as possible. This second phase can take 2-5 years or more.
- Mitigation - Mitigation refers to measures that prevent an emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies. Typical mitigation measures include establishing building codes and zoning requirements, installing storm shutters, and constructing barriers such as levees. Mitigation begins with a local hazard analysis and a hazard mitigation plan.
*The local Emergency Management office/department activates the local Emergency Operations Center (EOC), as appropriate, to coordinate and lead the disaster response and recovery efforts for the City. In Annapolis, representatives of City departments and other key partners report to the EOC to work together. The City also coordinates with the Anne Arundel County EOC in Glen Burnie and Annapolis Emergency Management has a designated seat in the County's EOC. This partnership assists the coordination of shared City-COunty shared services such as social services, the health department, animal control, etc.
Emergency Managers
Emergency Managers coordinate the support and resources that response and recovery operations require and respond to incidents, events, disasters, and crises. Local emergency management calls on assistance from neighboring communities, regional partners, the state and the federal government and private sector, and non-governmental organizations.
Emergency Managers act under the Incident Command System which is now the nationwide standard for response operations under the mandated National Incident Management System (NIMS). Emergency managers have to have a broad understanding of all of the factors and programs supporting disaster response and recovery in order to coordinate effective operations and utilize partners.