What you may not know:
- In Massachusetts there are 352 communities each with their own Emergency Management Director (EMD), Fire Chief, Police Chief, etc. Few than 45 communities have full time paid EMDs. The duties of the EMD are usually assigned to someone who:
- already holds a full time 1st Responder job within the community - or
- is a volunteer who is paid a small stipend (generally $2000 to $3000 a year)
- EMDs have finite resources to do their jobs while supporting all the NIMS/ICS disciplines in their community. Local emergency management funding is local. It is not supported with ear-marked dollars from the state budget.
- EMDs are best described as Stage Managers and Producers. EMDs pull together the resources identified by principal actors and then set they stage for the actors on large scale operations. EMDs do not run the fire scene, terrorist response, public health mass prophylaxis, or even a large scale special event like a marathon. EMDs manage resources and support the Responders. It’s not glamorous in the rear with the gear but if the show is going to be successful somebody has to set the stage.
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