The New York State Local Emergency Management Accreditation Program, the first of its kind in the United States, was developed in part with the New York State Emergency Management Association and included in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s fiscal year 2017-18 executive budget.
The purpose of the program is to ensure county emergency management offices in each county are following certain operational standards. The state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services will conduct the reviews of each emergency management services department interested in being accredited by the state. The accreditation is good for five years, and each accredited office will be subject to another review to renew the accreditation five more years.
Oneida County’s Department of Emergency Services served as the pilot for the program and is the first county department to receive the accreditation. Several factors were reviewed, including administration, training, citizen preparedness, use of the incident command system, emergency communications, NY Responds, damage assessment, debris management and incident recovery.
Dale A. Currier, Oswego County Emergency Management coordinator, said he had a hand in developing the accreditation with several other emergency services personnel from across the state over the past year and a half. With emergency services greatly expanding in the last 15 years, Mr. Currier said the program helps ensure county emergency management services are up to appropriate disaster preparedness standards.
“The public now expects that someone is out there looking at this, watching this from a professional perspective,” he said. “The accreditation helps create a benchmark for communities that says they have met a certain set of standards.”
St. Lawrence County Emergency Services Coordinator Michael L. LeCuyer said he will “more than likely” pursue the accreditation.
“I think it provides a level of professionalism to the office that comes expected by the community,” Mr. LeCuyer said.
Before he applies, however, Mr. LeCuyer said the county still needs to fill some gaps to ensure the county’s emergency services are up to par. In particular, he noted the need for a countywide continuity-of-operations plan in case of a disaster.
Emergency services seeking accreditation can fill out an application form on the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services website.
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©2017 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.)
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