Thirteen Programs Awarded Emergency Management Accreditation

April 28, 2015 - PRLog -- Denver, Colo. – Congratulations to the following Programs that have earned accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP): The British Virgin Islands; Commonwealth of Kentucky; Dixie County, Fla.; State of Connecticut; Montgomery County, Md.; Saint Charles Parish, La.; Idaho State University; the USACE Kansas City District; and the USACE Seattle District. In addition, the States of Arkansas, Arizona, Nebraska, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have achieved reaccreditation.

In a time where the emergency management community is strengthening in professional preparedness and the EMAP recognition is broadening to an international scale; accreditation represents a significant achievement. Through the vast array of international, federal, state, local and institutions of higher education programs – EMAP Accreditation is the common link between vastly different professional emergency management programs.

“The emergency management community is becoming redefined as more government entities and businesses see the necessity to ensure they are prepared for and may respond to any identified hazard that will affect them,” Barb Graff, Director of the Seattle Office of Emergency Management and Chair of the EMAP Commission, “By achieving accreditation these Programs demonstrate, through proving compliance to standards of excellence, the commitment to their communities’ safety.”

To achieve accreditation, emergency management programs document compliance with a set of industry recognized standards, Emergency Management Standard, used in the accreditation process and undergo a peer-review assessment by EMAP trained assessors. The emergency management program uses the accreditation to prove the capabilities of their disaster preparedness and response systems. Accreditation is valid for five years and the program must maintain compliance with EMAP standards and is reassessed to maintain accredited status.

For the States of Arkansas, Arizona, Nebraska, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, reaccreditation proves just as significant. By maintaining their accredited status throughout the years, these Programs prove that they adhere to the industry-recognized standards, Emergency Management Standard, and successfully maintain accreditation status to achieve reaccreditation this year.

“Maintaining accreditation is equally as important as the first time achieving it. These Programs passed the test in continuing to prove their sustainability within their emergency management structure; reassuring that disaster preparedness and response is their number one priority,” Ms. Graff stated.

EMAP revolutionizes emergency management programs that coordinate preparedness and response activities for disasters based on industry standards. EMAP recognizes the ability of emergency management programs to bring together personnel, resources and communications from a variety of agencies and organizations in preparation for and in response to an emergency, in addition to obtaining the ability to measure those capabilities. The Emergency Management Standard is flexible in design so that programs of differing sizes, populations, risks and resources can use it as a blueprint for improvement and can attain compliance with the standard. The EMAP process evaluates emergency management programs on compliance with requirements in sixteen areas, including: planning; resource management; training; exercises, evaluations, and corrective actions; and communications and warning. This forms the foundation of the nation’s emergency preparedness system. EMAP is the only accreditation process for emergency management programs.