On April 10, 2006, Palm Beach County Emergency Management officials held the first of many future monthly meetings focusing on emergency management operations in the county. The Emergency Management TEAM consists of Palm Beach County administration and departments, the Sheriff’s office, local municipalities, and other service agencies like the Red Cross, and United Way.
Topics discussed at the meeting were the new Emergency Operations Areas (EOA) which will help to focus and streamline the recovery efforts after an emergency incident, an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) organizational update, new disaster response software, future training schedules, and the volunteer efforts organized by emergency management.
The disaster management structure at the EOC relies on a system of Emergency Support Functions (ESF) with the individual ESF’s coordinated by a branch leader. An important part of the TEAM meeting will be the Branch Leader updates. These updates will provide information as to the working of the ESF’s under those Branch Leaders; such as Food & Water, Search & Rescue and Disaster Recovery.
The EOA plan involves dividing the county into six different areas rather than centralizing relief efforts at the Emergency Operations Center in West Palm Beach. Each area will have a coordinator who will manage water, ice and food distribution, survey affected areas and send damage reports to the EOC.
The main theme of all current hurricane preparation in Palm Beach County is personal responsibility, and the county is stressing that residents should rely on themselves first after a hurricane. All households should stock up on five to seven days of supplies including one gallon of water per person per day.
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Government
