Featured Article -- September 2007

Collaborative Effort Consolidates Platte County’s Emergency Management.

--Submitted by the Platte County Sheriff's Department

In February 1998, Platte County Emergency Management and the Platte County Sheriff's Office Communications Center were combined to form the Platte County Sheriff's Office Emergency Services Division, which is responsible for the emergency management mission within Platte County. On February 20, 2003 county commission order #18-03 was issued establishing the Platte County Emergency Management Organization. The result was a merger of a centralized communication system – the core support center for E.M. incidents – with the established response/support mechanisms required to address such issues.

Platte County’s Emergency Operations Center is prepared to respond to such critical incidents as hazardous materials spills, pipeline breaks and natural disasters, as well as terrorist threats. Specific plans are in place to provide an organized response to situations involving aircraft disaster, mass fatalities, and the need for large-scale medical response. In the past five years, the EOC has been activated five times in response to presidential declarations of local disaster areas. In addition, Platte County is the first first-class county in western Missouri to be declared “Storm Ready” by the National Weather Service.

Platte County also utilizes WebEOC, which is a stand-alone system that provides command center functionality between multiple agencies. A redundant communications plan is in place to ensure that key officials and emergency responders are able to stay in contact with one another should primary communications be compromised. The Northland Amateur Radio Emergency Services, which is co-sponsored by Platte and Clay Counties, is comprised of 200+ members who would be called upon in such an event. Another program, started in 2003, is the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) which educates citizens about how to prepare for and sustain themselves during an event.

The Emergency Management Cycle consists of four phases: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. Although a community might be experiencing one or more of these phases at a given time, there are specific planning, response, education and funding mechanisms associated with each phase.  ince the development of the Emergency Services Division, there has been an ongoing analysis of the function and responsibilities of Platte County Emergency Management. The educational aspect of emergency management remains intrinsic to the effectiveness, preparedness and quality of the Platte County program. The Platte County Sheriff's Office remains committed to provide the citizens of our county a professional, effective and successful program that is capable of meeting the emergency management needs of our community.

 

 

 

The threat level in the airline sector is HIGH or Orange. See www.dhs.gov for details.

An online Suspicious Activity Report Form (SAR) will be available soon.