Safeguarding the life and property of its citizens is an innate responsibility of the government. Under Chapter 252 of the Florida Statutes, each county must establish and maintain an emergency management agency. In 1975, Lee County established an emergency management agency for this purpose. Today, we are known as Lee County Emergency Management which is part of the Division of Public Safety, along with Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Communications, Emergency Dispatch and the Enhanced 9-1-1 system. Lee County Emergency Management is organized around the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS) principles, usually referred to as the Incident Command System or ICS for short. This system works on the All Hazards approach to emergency management, from hurricanes to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).  Our team now consists of twelve full time emergency management professionals and many dedicated volunteers.

WHAT WE DO!

We develop and coordinate programs to protect the public from large-scale natural and technological hazards or disasters. We serve all of Lee County and coordinate closely with the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), local municipal emergency management programs and many public service disciplines within the County and Southwest Florida. Some of our Specific responsibilities include:

• Monitor severe weather and tropical disturbances
• We are in compliance with the National Response Plan (NRP) and have adopted and implemented the National Incident Management System (NIMS)
• Provide "on-location" support and assistance to local first response agencies (Fire, EMS, Health Department, and Law Enforcement) with our Mobile Response Unit (MRU)
• Develop local emergency response plans, procedures and guidelines
• Provide technical assistance to municipal emergency management programs
• Provide or coordinate mutual aid with the State of Florida and surrounding counties
• Comply with state and federal emergency preparedness and response requirements and standards
• Conduct Hazardous Materials Analysis of facilities reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA)
• Review emergency plans for health care facilities, residential developments, marinas, businesses and government agencies
• Implement local hurricane shelter and evacuation development standards
• Collect and distribute emergency related information, such as the All Hazards Guide in English, Spanish, and Haitian-Creole
• Conduct and coordinate public outreach seminars and workshops, as a public service to our community
• Conduct local emergency management briefings, workshops, meetings and training courses
• Coordinate regional/state/federal emergency-related training courses
• Conduct and evaluate local emergency exercises and drills
• Maintain the Special Needs Program for the County

MORE OF WHAT WE DO!

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is the official County Warning Point. The EOC receives emergency information through the Emergency Dispatch Center (E-911) and reports serious emergencies to the State Warning Point (SWP) located at the State EOC in Tallahassee. We in-turn coordinate State and/or Federal involvement or assistance within the County. The EOC has three (3) preparedness stages or Activation Levels.

• Level Three (3) is normal day-to-day operations or monitoring
• Level Two (2) is a partial activation, where some, but not all, EOC elements are activated
• Level One (1) is a full activation and provides round-the-clock service during an actual or threatening large-scale emergency.

At Level 1, we become the focal point for coordination of emergency response and recovery activities throughout the County. The EOC is staffed with key personnel from public safety agencies, emergency relief organizations, county departments, municipalities, utility companies, media and other essential agencies.

During activation, the EOC functions include, but are not limited to:

• Collection, analysis and communications of pertinent information with involved agencies
• Coordination of emergency actions with local, state and federal agencies
• Direction of emergency preparedness, response and recovery operations for the County

HOW WE CAN SERVE YOU!

One of our major goals is to help you prepare for an emergency, well before it happens. Some of the ways we do this are listed below. We can provide...

• Information on natural and technological hazards that may affect you, your family or business. Click here to see County Hazardous Analysis for 2006
• Advice on how to protect yourself and your family or your business
• Technical assistance in developing emergency plans for public agencies and the private sector
• Advice on how to exercise your emergency plan
• A guest speaker at your group/organizational meeting
• A tour of the EOC for you group or organization
• Information on how you can support your community during a disaster, such as being a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member
• Information on emergency preparedness training opportunities
• Information on emergency related volunteer opportunities in our community

ABOUT THE EOC

The EOC is the official County Warning Point. The EOC receives emergency information through the Emergency Dispatch Center and reports serious emergencies to the State Warning Point located in the State EOC in Tallahassee. We in-turn coordinate State and/or Federal involvement or assistance within the County. Street Address: 2665 Ortiz Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33905-7804 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 398, Fort Myers, FL 33902-0398 Phone: (239) 477-3600 Fax: (239) 477-3636, Special Need Coordinator Phone: (239) 477-3640