Emergency Management
Chapter 252, Florida Statutes, (State Emergency Management Act) mandates the development of the Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (The Plan) and the establishment of the Division of Emergency Management. The Plan establishes a framework through which the State of Florida prepares for, responds to, recovers from, and mitigates the impacts of a wide variety of disasters that could adversely affect the health, safety and/or general welfare of the residents of the State. The Plan provides guidance to State and local officials on procedures, organization, and responsibilities, as well as provides for an integrated and coordinated local, State and federal response. This is an operations-based plan that addresses evacuation; sheltering; post-disaster response and recovery; deployment of resources; communications, and; warning systems. The Plan also defines the responsibilities of State agencies and volunteer organizations.
To facilitate effective operations, the Plan adopts a functional approach that groups the types of assistance to be provided into 18 Emergency Support Functions. Each Emergency Support Function is headed by a lead or primary agency or organization, which has been selected based on its authorities, resources, and capabilities in that functional area. The primary agency appoints an Emergency Coordination Officer to manage that function in the State Emergency Operations Center. The Emergency Coordination Officers and staff of the Division of Emergency Management form the State Emergency Response Team. The State Emergency Response Team serves as the primary operational mechanism through which State assistance to local governments is managed. State assistance will be provided to impacted counties under the authority of the State Coordinating Officer, on behalf of the Governor, as head of the State Emergency Response Team.
The Division of Animal Industry is designated as the lead agency for Emergency Support Function 17 (ESF17), Animal and Agricultural Issues, in the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. ESF17 is responsible for coordinating the response of county, state, federal and volunteer agencies in assisting cities and counties in animal and agricultural issues impacted by an emergency or natural disaster.
In order to effectively coordinate the efforts of multiple, county, state, federal and volunteer organizations a State Agricultural Response Team (SART) has been formed. SART is an interagency program to coordinate planning and response to future emergencies and natural disasters in the state. SART involves experts at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Department of Community Affairs, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Florida, Extension Service, as well as multiple supporting agencies and organizations. In addition to helping establish response teams in each county, SART will identify county resources available for an emergency or disaster, promote cooperation between state and county agencies, and train personnel to respond to emergencies or disasters such as hurricanes.
For more information on SART visit their web site at http://www.flsart.org
For more information on the Division of Emergency Management visit their web site at http://www.floridadisaster.org
For more information on the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan visit the following website http://www.floridadisaster.org/documents/CEMP/floridaCEMP.htm
