Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM).
is the department of the
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
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
Reisterstown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,968.
Founded by German immigrant John Reister in 1758, Reisterstown is located ...
, Maryland.
MDEM's authority derives from Title 14 of the Public Safety Article of the
Annotated Code of Maryland
The Annotated Code of Maryland, published by The Michie Company, is the official codification of the statutory laws of Maryland. It is organized into 36 named articles. The previous code, organized into numbered articles, has been repealed. Amend ...
. This Article creates MDEM, establishes MDEM as a unit of State government within with the primary purpose to ensure that Maryland will be adequately prepared to deal with emergencies that are beyond the capabilities of local authorities, and authorizes the political subdivisions of the state to create emergency management offices of their own. Currently, there are 26 local emergency management offices in Maryland – all 23 counties, along with Annapolis, Baltimore and Ocean City. Article 14 also gives the governor emergency powers—such as temporarily waiving state laws that may interfere with emergency response operations.
MDEM has three directorates which are underneath the Office of the Secretary: Disaster Risk Reduction, Consequence Management, and Mission Support. The structure enables MDEM to efficiently support local jurisdictions, work with state agencies, run our internal operations, and provide preparedness information to the public. The maintenance and operation of the State
Emergency Operations Center
An emergency operations center (EOC) is a central command and control facility responsible for carrying out the principles of emergency preparedness and emergency management, or disaster management functions at a strategic level during an emer ...
is also function of MDEM.
MDEM operates the Maryland Joint Operations Center (MJOC), the agency's twenty-four-hour warning point and communications / operations center. This center is responsible for the coordination of all state of Maryland emergency response resources and operates 24-hours per day.
MDEM also operates a State Liaison Officer Program. This branch employs regional Liaison Officers that work in the field directly with local emergency managers and emergency responders in six regions: Western Maryland, National Capital Region, Central Maryland, Southern Maryland, Upper Eastern Shore and Lower Eastern Shore.
See also
*
Federal Emergency Management Agency
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 Exec ...
References
External links
Official site
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Emergency Management
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
Emergency services in Maryland
Maryland Military Department