Approximately 68 disasters strike somewhere in this country each day. Some of these are man made. Hazardous materials accidents on our highways and railroads are a good example of such man-made disasters. So, too, are accidents which may occur in nuclear power plants or in other industrial facilities. These man-made disasters pose great dangers to the citizens of Schuylkill County.

Natural disasters also pose considerable danger for the citizens of Schuylkill County. Such disasters include flash floods, droughts, tornadoes and severe winter storms. Within the past several years, this county has experienced each of these disasters. There is one agency responsible for mitigating, preparing, responding and recovering from these disasters when it crosses multiple jurisdictions, or exceeds the capabilities of the local municipality...

This is the definition found in the original legislation that created Emergency Management in Pennsylvania as we know it today. Pamphlet Law 1332, of 1978 created the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and an emergency management program at every level of government.

This includes a system that is used at the municipal level, where each of the 67 communities in Schuylkill County have a local coordinator, emergency operations plan and operating center. It also mandated a County agency responsible to plan for and respond to multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency incidents or when the emergency exceeds the capabilities of the local response groups.

This legislation, now known as Title 35, which responded to the need for a single agency to coordinate the response to all types of disasters, also discusses the four phases of emergency management.

Mitigation - Includes any activities that prevent a disaster, or reduce the chance of a disaster happening, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable disasters

Preparedness - Includes plans or preparations made to save lives or property and help the response and rescue service operations

Response - Includes actions taken to save lives and prevent property damage and to preserve the environment during emergencies or disasters. the response phase is implementing your action plans

Recovery - Includes actions that assist a community to return to a sense of normalcy after a disaster

These four phases are just the beginning of the emergency management picture. There are many other aspects of the agency and its duties. Through this website we will try to introduce you to some of the a spects of the all-risk, all hazard planning that takes place.

In addition, the EMA office offers a number of training experiences for local emergency responders that would be difficult to come across in our area.

Please contact our department, via this website, email, or by calling or writing to Schuylkill County Emergency Management for more information regarding your participation in emergency services as a volunteer or other aspects of emergency planning that could help you or your family during times of crisis.