Program Areas

• Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment & Capability Assessment
• Accomplish a comprehensive, risk based, all hazards approach to identify hazards, assess risks, and determine capabilities to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate hazards in Polk County.
• Resource Management
• Efficiently and effectively identify, build, implement, and maintain resource capacity for use in disaster and non-disaster times. Services, equipment, supplies, and facilities will be utilized to their optimum capacity to include reciprocal sharing agreements with our neighbors.
• Planning
• Develop, maintain, and employ response, mitigation, recovery, critical asset protection, and strategic plans that outline agreed upon courses of action among parties with shared responsibilities. Planning helps prevent misunderstandings, fulfill community expectations, satisfy legal requirements, reduce liability, identify capability shortfalls, and provide a basis for training and designing exercises.
• Direction, Control & Coordination
• Provide and implement a consistent, yet flexible, approach for governments and organizations to work effectively together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from incidents, regardless of cause, size or complexity.
• Damage Assessment
• Develop, train, and maintain a capacity consistent with state and federal requirements to assess damage inflicted upon persons and property within Polk County in order to facilitate the restoration of the community, its economy, and the quality of life in the most effective way possible.
• Communication & Warnings
• Develop, support, and promote communication and warning systems to enhance the exchange of emergency and non-emergency information among citizens and partners so that appropriate actins can be taken to mitigate potential or imminent impacts of the threat, begin a suitable response, or carry out recovery responsibilities.
• Operations & Procedures
• To support implementation of the plans, those partners having defined responsibilities in those plans will develop standard operating procedures, policies, and directives to facilitate coordinate mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery activities.
• Training
• Continuously analyze internal and external training requirements due to performance or growth gaps during program development, program revision, and program improvement. The growth and development of careers, leadership, as well as personal and family wellness, will be paramount.
• Exercises
• Develop and follow a progressive exercise program that is consistent with state and federal requirements; meets the needs of the jurisdiction; and most importantly, supports the growth of personal and organizational capabilities.
• Public Education & Information
• Continually work to increase awareness of the role of programs of emergency management and partner organizations and to accurately and promptly provide information to the citizens and jurisdictions in Polk County before, during, and after incidents regardless of cause, size or complexity.
• Homeland Security
• Act proactively as Polk County’s Homeland Security Liaison between the State of Iowa and the Federal Department of Homeland Security and its agencies regarding advising on preparation for and response to any terrorist acts or natural disasters.
• Administration & Finance
• Effectively lead the Polk County Emergency Management Agency while building a culture of teamwork, fairness, open communication, coordination, and collaboration in order to optimize the use of financial, human, and physical resources.