[AUG. 18, 2005] The county emergency response agency that was
first called Civil Defense and later became Emergency Services and
Disaster Agency will be changing its name for the third time in its
54-year history. Director Dan Fulscher said, "We have Federal
Emergency Management Agency, FEMA; Illinois Emergency Management
Agency, IEMA; and now we will be Logan County Emergency Management
Agency, Logan County EMA." The name change is effective at the end
of August.
Each name change has been precipitated by a shift in focus on
community needs. When Civil Defense was formed in 1951, at the close
of World War II, the emphasis was on preparedness for nuclear
attack.
In 1975, with the Cold War era waning, the agency expanded its
duties and transitioned to natural disaster preparedness and
aftermath response.
Now, in keeping with the community's potential disaster needs,
the agency has once again diversified and shifted its emphasis. The
current name change is part of the National Incident Management
System, which is a federally driven action that evolved from
analysis of 9-11 events. The NIMS goal is to create nationwide
uniformity so that all emergency response agencies can communicate
and work easily together in times of crisis.
NIMS compliance will enable emergency responders from various
agencies to communicate with greater ease at larger incidents that
require multiple agencies or mutual aid assistance, by adopting the
same terminologies and like procedures.
As an additional motivator the federal government has set
deadlines on various NIMS requirements in order to continue
receiving state and federal grant funds. The city of Lincoln and
Logan County both adopted resolutions on NIMS compliance earlier
this year.
The local agency has already begun other compliance work in its
practices.
The Logan County Emergency Management Agency pulls together
everyone who would be involved in first response effort in case of a
natural or man-made disaster. Cohesive planning by all entities
takes place four times a year. Additional specialized agency or
group trainings and practices go on all year long. And there is a
practical practice that brings everyone together at least once a
year that places emphasis on either field operations or command
center or both combined.
The parties involved include all county, municipal, volunteer and
private first responder agencies. These include fire departments,
police departments, paramedics, the Logan County Paramedic
Association, Logan County Health Department, Abraham Lincoln
Memorial Hospital, Local Emergency Planning Committee, Disaster
Intelligence Team, Logan County Horse Search and Rescue team,
Lincoln Police Department, Logan County Sheriff's Department,
emergency response teams, Red Cross, Salvation Army, CIEDC, local
municipal and county leaders and legal counsel, city and county
streets and sewer managers, and many other volunteers.
Logan County was the first county in Illinois to meet NIMS
compliance in hosting a weapons-of-mass-destruction practice. The
real-time, 12-hour event required multijurisdictional mutual aid and
involved hundreds of workers. The Emergency Operations Center in the
Blue Room of the Logan County Safety Complex was opened, and
operations in various field sites took place throughout the day. The
May 8, 2004, event was declared a success by state evaluators who
supervised all the activities.
The Logan County office is staffed by assistant director Terry
Storer, Dianne Ruff and Patti Storer.
Public health and safety remains the primary focus of all
Emergency Management Agency activities.
