Emergency Preparedness & Response

All City employees are designated by both State and City law as Disaster Service Workers (“DSW”).  When the Mayor declares a citywide emergency, all City employees serve as DSWs. Pre-identified staff have been assigned to the Emergency Operations Center or other specific emergency duties. If you have not been pre-assigned an emergency duty, you will serve as a general DSW.

As City employees and DSWs it is your responsibility to assure you and your family are prepared for an emergency. Establish a family emergency plan, including how you will communicate and where you will meet if you cannot return home. Assure your family has emergency supplies, including water, food and medications. Your work as a DSW may not be during your normal work hours or at your normal work location.

Those serving as general DSW’s may be asked to perform a variety of tasks to support the emergency response and recovery. These may include administrative support, damage assessment, driving, food preparation, sorting, packing or staffing a call center or shelter. You may have more specialized duties, depending on the work you do every day, and/or any special skills you may possess. As a DSW you will never be asked to perform any duty or function you do not know how to perform or have not received adequate training to complete.

If you have special skills, such as holding a commercial driver’s license or language skills, let your supervisor or our City Emergency Manager, Quinn Gardner know.

In the event of a disaster, the City will activate its Emergency Operations Center (EOC), a multi-agency hub designed to manage emergencies. Staff assigned and trained for the EOC will be contacted using Everbridge. Everbridge will be the primary tool for sharing EOC activation and emergency information with EOC and city staff.