About the Office of Emergency Management

Each municipality has emergency management coordinators who interact at the local level with police, fire, EMS, public works, public health, schools, etc.

Preparing for and carrying out all emergency functions—also known as comprehensive emergency management—is accomplished in four phases. A description of these phases and the division’s role in each are described below.
Mitigation

The County’s Office of Emergency Management has developed a county-wide pre-disaster all-hazards mitigation plan that has identified hazards and vulnerabilities in all of Sussex County’s twenty four municipalities.

Preparedness
Under the supervision of the County all twenty four municipalities have certified Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) that are reviewed annually and recertified every four years. The purpose of the EOPs is to give guidance to emergency responders in emergencies and disasters. The division also assists other public and private nonprofit agencies in developing their own specialized EOPs.

Response
The division has the responsibility to be aware of and coordinate the response of all emergency resources requested by the incident commander of an emergency or disaster.

Recovery
If a disaster strikes in Sussex County, the County OEM coordinates a thorough preliminary damage assessment with the affected municipalities. Non-insured losses are totaled and reported to the state. In the event of a presidential disaster declaration, the County then coordinates with the state and FEMA to recover the non-insured public sector losses.

In addition to the foregoing, the County Division of Emergency Management presents training and educational programs including personal emergency preparedness, access and functional needs and incident command for responders. Stillwater Township and the County OEM division also uses a community alert program Swift911™ that is of tremendous service to the public.

2021 Hazard Mitigation Update