Congratulations are in order for Wayne County, New York, as Governor Cuomo announced on November 4, 2019, that its Emergency Management Office (EMO) has now achieved accreditation through the State’s Local Emergency Management Accreditation Program.
The voluntary program (the first of its type in the nation) provides local emergency management offices across the state a mechanism to evaluate and enhance their overall proficiency. Accreditation, which is valid for five years, is a formal recognition that an office’s policies and practices meet or exceed standards in all primary aspects of emergency management. These, of course, encompass preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation.
The Wayne County Emergency Management Office (EMO) coordinates each of these key areas, and partners with others from both the public and private sectors to uphold the safety of the County’s 90,000+/- residents in challenging situations, e.g., natural disasters. Its efforts, as expressed in the Governor’s recent announcement, are guided by the County’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP).
The CEMP establishes a single, comprehensive framework for emergency management, and establishes the overall roles and responsibilities for emergency operations. It also addresses Continuity of Operations (COOP), which is today supported by Tennessee-based BOLDplanning and its cloud-based planning platform.
“At BOLDplanning, we consider it an honor and a privilege to support the preparedness efforts of Wayne County,” said company CEO, Rick Wimberly. “Congratulations on this outstanding achievement within the State of New York’s highly progressive emergency management community.”
Earning accreditation through the Local Emergency Accreditation Program is no easy task. In fact, Wayne County is only the ninth in the State of New York to do so. Others include the emergency management offices of Albany, Broome, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida and Saratoga counties, as well as New York City.
