Emergency Management

The Emergency Management Unit operates around the clock throughout the year to help ensure the safety and well-being for the citizens of Daytona Beach. Personnel from the Emergency Management Unit staff manage the City Emergency Operations Center, located at the Police Department Headquarters building, during special events, city emergencies and other critical situations.

Each member of the Emergency Management Team is specially trained to deal with the various types of situations that our city may encounter, such as the 2004 Hurricane Season. Emergency Management personnel work closely with local, county, state and federal agencies such as FEMA and The Department of Homeland Security, continuously training and working together to improve their skills and knowledge.

Emergency Management doesn't stop when the disaster is over. Emergency Management Technicians are constantly reviewing department and city policies and procedures for improvement, and continuing to provide support to other city departments during the on-going process of the emergency management cycle.

The emergency management cycle consists of 4 distinct phases: Planning, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. We are currently planning on how to prepare for new emergencies, making preparations for future emergencies, training personnel how to respond to emergencies, and mitigating situations to prevent, rapidly recover from, and reduce the chance of an emergency in the future.

The Emergency Operations Center is where coordination takes place between an Incident Commander in the field, City departments, Volusia County Emergency Management, and all other agencies involved during an incident. This coordination is pre-planned, following the procedures and policies set forth in the City of Daytona Beach Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. This plan also mirrors the Volusia County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan and the State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.

By developing and following this plan, the City of Daytona Beach is in compliance with FEMA and the National Incident Management System. NIMS allows our city to call upon resources and ask for assistance at the federal level for a declared emergency.

To learn more about FEMA and NIMS, contact FEMA at www.fema.gov. from their regular duties as Emergency Management Technicians, the EM Techs also manage the volunteer programs for the Daytona Beach Fire Department. These programs include the Citizen Volunteer Program (CVP) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program.

Aside

During times of emergencies, although the Emergency Management staff will be hard at work, it will be difficult to contact them directly for information. It is recommended for the public to monitor local television and radio for important information and announcements. The latest information is promptly delivered to the media and broadcast to the public as soon as possible.

For information regarding home safety, hurricane preparedness or other emergency management questions, please feel free to contact Karen Baum at 386-671-5422 or Julie Maddux at 386-671-5424 at the Emergency Management Office during normal business hours.