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Citizen Engagement

A community that is aware, prepared and engaged is resilient and will better weather the storm of any disaster.

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The Jefferson County EMA, along with all our government and non-government partners, encourage you to get engaged in public safety.  No government can prepare and keep safe every citizen, therefore it is incumbent upon YOU to engage yourself and your family.  You make the effort; we can help.

CERT is a 24-hour certification course featuring instruction in general preparedness, disaster medical operations, fire safety and suppression, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, and terrorism.  Typically taught one night a week for two months, this course will prepare you to be a part of the solution when a disaster strikes. 

Volunteer Firefighters are the unsung heroes of our communities.  Most of unincorporated Jefferson County is serviced by either all-volunteer or combination volunteer/paid firefighters.  It is this group of citizen first responders that stand between you and disaster, and they need your help.

In an emergency, you want to have multiple means of receiving critical, timely information.  In Jefferson County, we have just that.  Whether it's through our Mass Notification System (Everbridge), Outdoor Warning Sirens, Social Media or other alerts, we'll make sure you get the information needed to make a sound decision.

The Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) group is a consortium of both for- and not-for-profit businesses, agencies, community action groups and others.  The goal of this group is to work together before the disaster strikes, so that we all know what benefits we can bring to the table quickly.

Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) must develop an emergency response plan, review the plan annually, and provide information about chemicals in the community to citizens. Plans are developed by LEPCs with stakeholder participation.

ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) and RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services) are both amateur radio communications organizations utilized during times of critical communications needs.  ARES is a part of the ARRL organization, while RACES is a sanctioned organization through the FCC.

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