Emergency Management's Mission:
Help the whole community
before, during, and after disasters.
Emergency Operations Center
904-548-0900 or toll-free 844-330-9163
EOC Watch Office 904-548-0939
The Emergency Management Program
Emergency Management (EM) is a dedicated division of the Sheriff's Office. EM team members are well-trained professionals, experienced in EM best practices, their individual EM Program specialties, the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the Incident Command System (ICS) roles they fill on the Incident Management Team (IMT) during local disasters.
EM team members take community preparedness and resilience seriously, offering free training in a variety of topics to give residents the knowledge and skills they need to protect their families and property and to "be the help until professional help arrives." The team works daily to to maintain comprehensive situational awareness and share information with stakeholders and the public, all while coordinating the planning, equipping, training, and practice events required to ensure everyone is prepared to respond together effectively, to all types of emergencies.
Community Lifelines are the integrated network of assets, services, and capabilities that are used day-to-day to support the ongoing needs of society. Multiple components and subcomponents make up each lifeline.
During a disaster response, First Responders conduct their life-safety operations; Emergency Management focuses on monitoring and stabilizing Community Lifelines.
During a local emergency, the EM team assumes their EOC Incident Management Team (IMT) roles: managing the Joint Information System (assuring accurate situational awareness, unified messaging, clear crisis communication among stakeholders, and timely alerts/warnings for the public), monitoring Community Lifelines, and facilitating the Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) that will stabilize impacted Lifelines.
Very few operations are run out of the EOC; unless Fire Rescue, Law Enforcement, Public Works, Animal Control, and other ESF agencies ask for help, they continue to prioritize their own emergency operations with their own resources. The EOC IMT & ESF Coordinators in the EOC provide planning support, gather and document information, identify unmet needs, and coordinate needed resources. The EOC IMT can manage the emergency operations that others don't, like Mass Care (ESF-6), emergency Water and Food Distribution (ESF-11), and Damage Assessments/Reports. The EOC IMT communicates directly with the State EOC to exercise the Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement and obtain the assistance needed locally.
Once the damage has been assessed and basic Lifelines are stabilized, the Incident Response transitions into Community Recovery, and the local government can implement its long-term plans to restore infrastructure and systems, taking action to mitigate future damage from similar incidents.
