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Office of Emergency Management
October 17, 2024
First Inaugural Newsletter
Santa Fe County OEM
Brad Call - OEM Director
Fostering public trust through transparency is a key attribute that we at OEM want to create.
To honor our commitment to transparency, here is a brief overview of our department and what it means for you.
Emergency Management is primarily a liaison between responders and incident commanders. Emergency Management connects the various agencies with resources through our EOP's (Emergency Operation Plan) during an emergency. This could be any incident, man-made, natural disasters, or pre-planned event such as the pilgrimage to Santuario De Chimayo, or something unexpected like wildfires.
The Office of Emergency Management has been in place for years but existed under the Fire Department.
After extensive research and in collaboration with an outside consulting firm, it was recommended that Santa Fe County reorganize the Office of Emergency Management and place it under the authority of the County Manager's Office. This move aims to elevate the department in response to the evolving disaster challenges that accompany the county's growth.
Since the reorganization of Office of Emergency Management, Santa Fe County selected Mr. Brad Call as the departments director. Brad is a southwest native from Arizona and comes to Santa Fe with a wealth of experience and education.
Since OEM's reorganization in April of 2024, OEM's vision is to build a safer, more disaster resilient Santa Fe County. With the help of communities, volunteerism and continuous training, OEM is here to serve Santa Fe County!
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We are pleased to announce the publication of a newsletter for the Office of Emergency Management. As you read in Director Call's statement above, this Department is still getting itself established and strives to communicate its growth and initiatives with the citizens of Santa Fe County. Our newsletter will include upcoming events, trainings, expo's, community meetings, and their locations and who to contact.
To start, this will be OEM's newsletter for 2024 and as we enter 2025, we will issue quarterly newsletter as we have more information to share and accomplish our goals.
Subscribe to our Newsletter!
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Santa Fe County Office of Emergency Management hosted our second quarterly L.E.P.C (Local Emergency Planning Committee), on October 10th, 2024, at 10:00 AM and our last meeting of 2024.
The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is a federally mandated body established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) of 1986. It is tasked with ensuring that local emergency response plans are in place for hazardous materials incidents and that these plans address community concerns and their risks.
We strongly encourage all local business owners, utilities, local officials, their safety officers or representatives attend. This is a public meeting, anyone can attend. As this includes you too!
Why attend? Learn more about Santa Fe County's emergency response strategies. To voice your concerns or suggestions about local emergency planning and to collaborate with local agencies to enhance your community's safety. This will not only benefit you, your business or governmental organization, but it shows your neighbors, clients, and citizens that their safety matters to you.
Our next year quarterly meeting dates are as follows:
January 9th, 2025
April 10th, 2025
July 10th, 2025
October 9th, 2025
Location TBD.
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On October 2nd, 2024, the Santa Fe County Fire Departments Wildland Division with support from their firefighters, wildland crews and volunteers administered a prescribed burn to ensure brush fire mitigation and wildfire prevention. As you can see below, they were hard at work and staff from Emergency Management were able to join. Be sure to thank them for all the hard work they do in our community.
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N.M.E.M (Association of New Mexico Emergency Managers) Conference.
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The Office of Emergency Management will be attending the New Mexico Emergency Managers Conference in Ruidoso, from October 21st through the 24th.
We will be attending continuing education instruction and learning new material so that we can provide a more complete service to you in the event of a disaster.
This meeting will also allow us to network and collaborate with our statewide partners in Emergency Management. Working together makes a more prepared Santa Fe County.
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We are currently planning to attend the International Association of Emergency Managers conference in Colorado Springs in November 2024. Unlike the state conference, this will let us meet our partners both federally, nationally, and globally. Putting Santa Fe County Emergency Management in world class training, we will undergo a series of programs, software demonstrations and state of the art innovations in Emergency Management, including instructional courses. |
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Several staff members will be attending the Basic Emergency Managers Certificate training, hosted through the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management of New Mexico in Albuquerque. These classes are scheduled to take place over 5 months, starting in December of 2024 and ending April 2025. This training is free of charge. It will cover topics from Fundamentals of Emergency Management, emergency exercises, to public information.
We are excited and thankful that we will be able to send some of our staff to this training as it will provide invaluable resources to the Office of Emergency Mangement.
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We are currently exploring our options in the creation of a Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T). C.E.R.T is a program that would comprise of un-paid volunteers to be a part of the Santa Fe County Office of Emergency Management resource pool. You would receive free training in emergency preparedness and response.
This team would be called upon in the event of a major catastrophe. It could also be called upon for a pre-planned event at the volunteer's discretion.
This program would be for those who wish to receive training in debris clearing, light search and rescue, basic first aid, Incident Command Structure and much more. We would also welcome those who have skills they can bring to the Office of Emergency Management. Anything from finance to amateur radio operators, prior service, transportation, and CDL holders. This opportunity would be primarily for you to become trained and to take action in the event of a disaster in our community.
As we prepare the foundation of this program, we will provide updates and opportunities in future newsletters.
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Do you have experience in Emergency Management, or a related field, such as a first responder? OEM is currently accepting applications for the position of Emergency Management Coordinator. Please see the Human Resources job postings
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HERE.
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We want to thank you for being a part of Santa Fe County. As the County continues to grow, we here at OEM want to remind everyone, that emergency preparedness is everybody's responsibility!
For more information or to learn how you can prepare for a disaster, please visit our website for more information and explore the links at the bottom of the page.
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A publication of
Santa Fe County Manager's Office
102 Grant Avenue
PO Box 276
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-0276
santafecountynm.gov
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