Overview

Overview of Emergency Management and Planning

Emergency Management in the local area is accomplished through an Interjurisdictional group composed of Brazos County, City of Bryan, City of College Station, City of Kurten, City of Wixon Valley, and Texas A&M University. This agency is established through actions of the City Councils and by order of the Commissioners' Court. Texas A&M participates through the directives of the office of the President. State statutes designate the County Judge and the respective Mayors as responsible for the Emergency Management Program for their jurisdictions. In this role, they are designated the Emergency Management Director. They, in turn, appoint Emergency Management Coordinators to carry out the daily duties associated with emergency management. This includes planning and conducting exercises, which will prepare the emergency response agencies adequately to deal with the emergencies most likely to occur. The local emergency management program meets the main requirements of the applicable legislation by having appointed officials and an Interjurisdictional emergency management plan that complies with published state and federal standards. The local program is also integrated with the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) that is required under the provision of the Superfund and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) Title III.

The planning process is interactive and complex. Extensive thought must be put into developing the best action document possible. Any jurisdiction involved in this process will admit that "it takes a lot of work" to provide a useable, workable emergency plan. When the final draft is ready for submission, it is a Team Plan.

OUR PLAN: The essential parts that are included in the Interjurisdictional Emergency Management Plan are:

  • The BASIC Plan - Defines and describes the overall plan for each planning jurisdiction.
  • ANNEXES - Define specific actions and responsible persons for specific emergency issues.
  • APPENDICES - Action matrices, organizational charts, etc. for each emergency issue.
  • STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOP) - Define the who, what, when and how specific emergency issues will be carried out. Defining each responsibility in detail.
  • PHASES of Emergency Management - Written actions for each defined issue.
    • Planning
    • Mitigation
    • Response
    • Recovery