EMAT Working For You

The Emergency Management Association of Texas strives to serve its members of the emergency management community. Below are examples of opportunities where EMAT members took an active role to better the emergency management community as a whole. We are always looking for ways that members may become more involved in EMAT activities. If you would like to be involved in future emergency management efforts, please contact a board member.

 

The EMAT Website Committee has been working diligently to develop a new and improved web presence for EMAT. The website committee, working with direction from the EMAT Board, developed the new layout and content pages. Committee members strived to capture the most important and timely information regarding emergency management issues of interest in Texas. Their hard work and dedication to getting the new website should certainly be commended. A listing of all committee members may be found on the committee member webpage.

 

The Annual EMAT Symposium

 

EMAT Board Member Jeff Braun, Emergency Management Coordinator – Fort Bend County is following emergency management bills of interest on behalf of EMAT. A listing of the current legislation affecting emergency managers may be found on the legislative update page.

 

The Texas Forest Service (TFS) has developed several regional incident management teams across the state. The teams are designed to provide command and control support to local jurisdictions during emergency and disaster events. Each team is comprised of incident managers from emergency management, emergency medical services, fire, law enforecement, public health and public works. A statewide Regional Type III Incident Management Steering Committee provides general oversight and direction to each of the teams. EMAT member, Kevin Starbuck - Emergency Management Coordinator for Amarillo/Potter/Randall Office of Emergency Management - serves on the statewide steering committee to represent the interests of EMAT.

 

EMAT Vice-President, Sean Hughes represents the association on the Texas Interstate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) Statewide Committee. Originally codified into law in 2007, the first activation of TIFMAS occurred during Hurricane Ike in 2008. Taking the many lessons learned from the hurricane activations, a statewide committee has been convened to better coordinate responses under TIFMAS. Mr. Hughes represents the interests of EMAT on this committee.

 

Members of the Emergency Management Association of Texas worked with Governors Division of Emergency Management staff to develop several of the tracks at the 2008 Texas Homeland Security Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Specifically members developed three separate emergency management tracks, the school centered emergency management track, as well as the higher education emergency management track. The variety of presentations and timeliness of topics were illustrated by most sessions at or above attendance (standing room only).

  

EMAT is represented on the NFPA 1600 Review Committee. Terry Moore, Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Houston sits on the review committee for this standard. His alternate, Robie Robinson, Director of the Office of Security and Emergency Management for Dallas County, participates in the review committee meetings when Mr. Moore is not available to ensure appropriate EMAT representation. 

 

The NFPA 1600 Standard is designed to establish basic criteria for a comprehensive program addressing disaster recovery, emergency management, and business continuity. The NFPA 1600 Review Committee is comprised of 36 individuals, representing interests in the public sector, private sector, United States, Canada, and abroad.

 

The 2010 update to NFPA 1600 is well underway with an expected publication date of April 2010.