City of Saco Office of Emergency Management

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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	August, 2005	Return to newsletter index

Mission Statement - Enhancing community safety and survival through mitigation, prepared-ness, response, and recovery.

The City of Saco Office of Emergency Management is a functional department within the city structure; the office is the local representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The office is responsible for the development and upkeep of the city's emergency response and hazard plans.

The office is also responsible for the coordination and management of resources during natural and manmade disasters, as well as enemy attack and large scale emergencies. These resources consist of city departments, county, state, and federal agencies as well as volunteer and private organizations.

The evolution of Emergency Management began in the early 1900's and was then known as Civil Defense. In those days the services performed were limited too, but very important to Homeland Security. During war times, citizens would volunteer to serve as air raid wardens, going door to door advising neighbors to turn out lights and draw their window shades keeping them out of harms way of the enemy. In later years additional responsibilities were added and they assisted at large forest fires, civil rights unrest, and disaster aid.

In the early 1970's the Federal Office of Emergency Management (FEMA) was established by an act of congress. FEMA's responsibility was disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. The primary objective was to educate the public and reduce the loss of life and limb during natural disasters. Each community was directed by statue to establish a local office hence the City of Saco Office of Emergency Management. Today the Saco office is managed by the city Emergency Management Director Steven Boucouvalas.

The events of September 11th 2001 forever changed the face of Emergency Management, with the advent of the Office of Homeland Security.

This offices duties and responsibilities have now evolved from handling disaster planning and preparedness to domestic preparedness. Homeland security funding and planning is also co-coordinated thru this office. We are also working very closely with County, State and Federal officials to develop and implement a mitigation strategy for the coastal community that is subjected to ongoing erosion problems.

Community Warning and Notification
In the event of an emergency the City of Saco has developed the following notification procedures.

Primary notification will be via the Emergency Alert System (EAS) which is broadcast on local radio and television stations.

Secondary notification will be by the following means when applicable.

Reverse 911 - This system allows the Saco emergency communication center to send out city wide or limited area notifications during certain types of emergencies and disasters by calling several homes and businesses at the same time.
Warning Siren - This siren is located on top of the central fire station, and when activated can be heard for several miles. In the event that this siren is activated, residents are urged to monitor their local radio television or public television access channel for important emergency information.
Door to Door and Drive by Notification - In certain circumstances emergency responders may go door to door and drive thru neighborhoods utilizing public address systems and sirens to warn of eminent danger.

Evacuation and Sheltering
In the event that an evacuation is needed the city has several shelter locations. These locations provide feeding and sleeping facilities when staying in your own home may become dangerous. In the event that sheltering is recommended, you will be directed as to the location of the shelter nearest you.

Preparedness
The most important survival tool is self preparedness. Make sure you have enough non perishable foods and essentials to be self sufficient for the first 24-72 hours of a disaster. Sometimes emergency services become taxed beyond our capabilities and assistance is on a priority basis. It is recommended that home disaster kits are a standard part of your self preparedness plan. For more information, contact your local American Red Cross for disaster preparedness literature.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
The citizens of Saco are fortunate to have a team of volunteers who make up the community emergency response team. These dedicated folks assist the Police, Fire and Emergency Management during disasters and large scale emergencies performing such duties as traffic and crowd control, and emergency shelter operations. They have assisted several other communities and several were activated by the federal government and deployed to different parts of the country to assist at natural disasters. CERT volunteers also volunteer their services at such community events as the Pumpkin Fest, Christmas parade and bike race.

If you or someone you know would like to learn more about how you can volunteer or become better prepared to survive a disaster, please visit the Emergency Management page located on this website.