Regional Emergency Management

Purpose

St. Charles County Regional Emergency Management (REM) promotes unified planning and coordination of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery before, during, and after a disaster.

The full-time staff has completed training in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Professional Development and Advanced Professional Development programs, as well as the National Incident Management System adopted nationwide.

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EOC

Emergency Operations Center

St. Charles County REM maintains the St. Charles County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The EOC coordinates with the cities within St. Charles County, as well as neighboring jurisdictions and state and federal agencies during emergency activations. Learn more about this 30,000-square-foot facility, which houses all the County's emergency functions.

Monitoring weather and satellite data to provide warnings and information to the public is an important emergency management function. Public warning systems such as the outdoor warning sirens and emergency cable television broadcasts can be initiated directly from the EOC.

Communications Room

The Operations Center Communications Room is equipped to monitor and communicate with emergency response agencies on their frequencies. An amateur radio section provides communications with volunteer "weather spotters" reporting weather conditions to EOC personnel and the National Weather Service during severe weather and other events.

Interagency Command Center

Emergency Management also maintains and deploys St. Charles County's Interagency Command Center. At the request of any public safety agency in the county, this mobile command center can bring computer, communication, weather monitoring, as well as other capabilities to emergency responders at the location of their choice, providing a much more efficient public safety response with critical resources in one place.

Effective Collaboration

Disasters don't respect boundaries; city, county, or state. Recovering from a disaster requires skills, knowledge, and equipment from a wide range of agencies and organizations, including:

  • Business and Industry
  • Community Health
  • Emergency Dispatch Centers
  • Emergency Management
  • Emergency Medical Services
  • Federal and State Agencies
  • Fire and Rescue Services
  • Hospitals and Medical Facilities
  • Law Enforcement
  • News Media
  • Public Works
  • Technical Specialists
  • Utility Companies
  • Volunteer Organizations

Definition of Emergency Management

"Emergency management" means many things, including:

  • Monitoring weather to provide early detection and warning
  • Planning, funding, and maintaining public warning systems
  • Helping residents, business owners, and communities learn about and prepare for disasters
  • Joint planning and training with neighboring local, state, and federal agencies

St. Charles County REM is actively involved in all this and much more to enhance life safety, protect property, and preserve the environment.

Emergency management doesn't start when disaster strikes. Emergency management is happening every day!