Madison County, Florida proves emergency management accreditation is achievable for all sizes

Dec. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- Madison, Fla. – In celebration of the smallest size (by population) jurisdiction to ever be accredited by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program, Bryan W. Koon, Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management joins Madison County on behalf of the EMAP Commission in the recognition of this great achievement.

“EMAP offers a common preparedness standard for a community to protect its residents and visitors,” said Director Koon. “Madison County is by far the smallest in the country to earn EMAP accreditation. Their success in meeting the accreditation standards shows that communities of all sizes have the opportunity to participate and gain tremendous benefit from this program.”

In a time where our Nation’s emergency management is strengthening in professional preparedness from the local level to a national scale, accreditation represents a significant achievement. “Accreditation recognizes the ability of programs to bring together personnel, resources, and communications from a variety of agencies and organizations in preparation for and in response to a disaster of any type. Madison County proves that even at the smallest of populations, a jurisdiction can still prove through accreditation its dedication to the safety and security of the residents it represents,” Barb Graff, Director of Seattle Office of Emergency Management and Chair of the EMAP Commission.

To achieve accreditation, emergency management programs document compliance with a set of industry recognized standards, Emergency Management Standard, used in the accreditation process and undergo a peer-review assessment pulled from a nationally represented cadre of EMAP trained assessors. The emergency management program uses the accreditation to prove the capabilities of their disaster preparedness and response systems.

“I am very proud of this accomplishment and also my partners in Madison County who without them we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this honor. This accreditation has made Madison County stronger and more committed to the citizens of our county to provide for their safety, before, during and after a disaster,” said Tom Cisco, Director of Madison County Emergency Management.

Accreditation is valid for five years and the program must maintain compliance with EMAP standards and is reassessed to maintain accredited status.

EMAP revolutionizes emergency management programs that coordinate preparedness and response activities for disasters based on industry standards. EMAP provides the ability to measure an emergency management program’s capability in preparation for and in response to an emergency. The Emergency Management Standard is flexible in design so that programs of differing sizes, populations, risks and resources can use it as a blueprint for improvement and can attain compliance with the standard. The EMAP process evaluates emergency management programs on compliance with requirements in sixteen areas, including: planning; resource management; training; exercises, evaluations, and corrective actions; and communications and warning. This forms the foundation of the nation’s emergency preparedness system. EMAP is the only accreditation process for emergency management programs.