Catawba County News
Catawba County 101: Emergency Management
Published: November 04, 2024
MAKING. LIVING. BETTER: Emergency Services, Emergency Management
What is its mission/purpose?
Catawba County Emergency Management (CatCoEM) protects the community by coordinating all the activities necessary to build, sustain and improve the capability of the community to prepare, respond, and recover from all types of hazards - both natural and man-made such as tornadoes, flooding, ice storms, hazardous materials spills, industrial and transportation incidents, and acts of terrorism.
How do you achieve your mission – what services are offered?
The Emergency Management division is responsible for:
- Development of the County’s plans for large-scale emergencies and disasters.
- Educating individuals, families, businesses and community groups on emergency preparedness.
- Conducting training and exercises to evaluate the effectiveness of plans and policies.
- Collecting, analyzing, and disseminating incident information.
- Coordinate and support responses to and recovery from emergencies.
- Obtaining funding in support of preparedness and mitigation for the county.
Who does this department/service area/program serve?
Emergency Management serves the entire community in many different ways. EM often responds to Hazardous Materials calls. Every day, hazardous materials are used within industry in Catawba County and many are transported through Catawba County on Interstate 40, Highway 321 and railway. When a hazardous material is spilled or not housed correctly, it takes a team of specialty trained responders and a coordinated response to ensure that it is mitigated safely. EM staff respond initially to scenes and often can get the correct resources there and/or work with the local fire department to fix the issue. EM can call the Catawba County HazMat team if needed. The lead agency for the Hazmat team is Catawba County Emergency Management and the team is made up of responders from various disciplines and departments. Emergency Management is responsible for coordinating training for these responders and maintaining equipment and vehicles to ensure safety for the responders and the community.
How and where are services delivered?
Emergency Management often goes to the site of an issue however with large scale natural or man-made disasters, EM often functions inside the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The EOC is located at the Justice Center in the Emergency Services building. In disasters, the EOC functions as a place for coordination for county agencies and outside agencies. This helps to effectively coordinate response and recovery.
How does our community and/or organization benefit from these services?
EM helps to plan and prepare for disasters which benefits the entire community. It also benefits those outside the community. For example, Catawba County EM is one of many that train and prepare for emergencies at the McQuire Nuclear site. We train and practice to assist with evacuations for affected areas, provide shelters, reception centers, and decontamination.
Is there anything you would like to add?
In Fiscal Year 24, Catawba County EM responded to 73 calls. The most common calls involve traffic incidences and fluid spills.
Emergency preparedness and injury prevention is a community effort. Catawba County Emergency Services does our part in many ways. One of those is offering educational programs within the community. Our programs are interactive, hands-on (when applicable), and free!
Check out the presentations we offer and contact us for more information.
- General Emergency Preparedness/Pet Preparedness- Do you know how to prepare for emergencies or what you need to have? You will leave the presentation knowing what you need to have on hand and best practices in the case of an emergency.
- Severe Weather- What you need to know to stay safe when severe weather hits.
- Winter Weather Preparedness- When winter weather hits is not the time to head to the store! Learn what you can do ahead of time to better prepare.
- Emergency Preparedness Badge for Scout Groups
- Tornado/Earthquake/Heat Preparedness- Kids learn what to do at school for these emergencies but do you know what to do?
If your church, school, scout group, etc. are interested in any of the programs above contact Frank Ballentine fballentine@catawbacountync.gov.