Agenda - 04-17-2012 - 8a - Laserfiche WebLink

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, Officials Guide to Disasters • Introduction: Responding effectively to disasters requires a coordinated, community-wide effort. As an elected or appointed official, you play an important role in the county's response to disasters and continuity of government within Orange County. Your actions influence community members, as well as employees, and directly impact the local government's ability to protect lives and property. This guide has been developed to provide you with information relating to your role before, during, and after disasters in order to help you make better-informed decisions when disaster strikes. The County's various local government agencies, individually and collectively, work to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. This integrated emergency management system is based on an "all-hazards approach" to deal with disasters, which allows the County to provide an effective response for any type of disaster that we are likely to face. The following guide describes the key elements of disaster response and the role of elected officials, beginning with an overview of your responsibilities in an emergency situation. There is also a summary of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Mandated by presidential directive, NIMS provides a comprehensive methodology for dealing with emergency situations. • It also includes information about the Emergency Management Cycle, and its four points of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery; followed by an overview of how resources are requested, and the process for declaring a State of Emergency. Finally, this guide concludes with a list of important reference points for elected officials, directions for dealing with the media, and appendices containing important contact information, further disaster resources, and official emergency ordinances. • Your Role Page 1.1 Version Date-April 9,2012