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The General
Assembly overhauled its emergency preparedness system in 1998.
The Division of Emergency Management in the Department of
Military Affairs was created to handle emergency situations.
Local governments are required to create and support a local
emergency management agency. Each shall develop,
implement, and maintain a local comprehensive emergency
management program, which shall include a local emergency
operations plan, in accordance with Chapters 39A through 39F of
the Kentucky Revised Statutes and executive branch requirements
(HB 453, Section 29). Each does so in conjunction with the
Kentucky Emergency Response Commission.
The county
judges/executive and the mayors of the cities, and the chief
executives of other local governments shall each appoint a
director of emergency management, or they may choose to jointly
appoint a single director to represent all the local
governments.
A rescue squad grant
program was established to assist local rescue squads that are
established in accordance with the provisions of KRS Chapter 39F
in the execution of their duties. The rescue squads must
comply with the requirements set out in KRS Chapter 39F in order
to be considered for the grants.
Christian County’s Disaster
& Emergency Director, Matt Snorton, has served in this
capacity since early 1994. His duties are to make
himself available for response to emergency scenes, command
posts, or operations centers and to coordinate emergency
response of public and private agencies and organizations.
He regularly attends local and state training programs, in order
to keep abreast of current methods of dealing with disaster and
emergency preparedness. |
