Saratoga County Firematic Officer's, Inc

General idea of what the Director of Emergency Services does:

 

Local governments, whether cities, towns, boroughs, villages, counties, or a parish, are central organizations in emergency management since local government has the primary responsibility for public safety, including emergency response following a disaster.

 

The local elected government official is usually the person in charge, unless another official has been designated through ordinance or legislation.

 

Elected and appointed officials at the local level include mayors, county executives, city and county councilors and commissioners. They shoulder the obligation of political responsiveness in disaster and emergency events. Appointed officials have important political and managerial duties in the disaster management realm as well. These officials are responsible for hazards and emergency management policy formulation and oversight.

 

Responsibilities of Local Government and Elected Officials

 

To be fully effective a local emergency management program requires several components. These components begin with the legal authority for a program and disaster related activities. The nature of local emergency management laws is frequently guided by State law. State law may be either permissive or mandatory—that is, it may allow localities either to organize and conduct emergency management systems as they see fit (permissive), or the State may specify particular requirements that communities must meet (mandatory). Without a solid basis in law, the program cannot flourish.

 

In general terms, local laws define, with widely varying specificity and scope, who will do what in preparing for, mitigating, responding to or recovering from emergencies or disasters. The objective here is to establish a legal authority for the development and maintenance of an emergency management program and organization and to define the emergency powers, authorities, and responsibilities of the chief executive official and the emergency manager. As noted above it is also of importance that local legislation be in conformance with State legislation.