The Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) is an All-Hazards operations oriented document authorized by Chapter 252, Florida Statutes. The CEMP establishes the framework for an effective system to ensure that Polk County will be adequately prepared to deal with the occurrence of emergencies and disasters. The plan outlines the roles and responsibilities of State and County agencies, municipal governments and volunteer organizations. The CEMP unites the efforts of these groups for a comprehensive approach to reduce the vulnerability to a host of identified hazards. It establishes the Incident Command System (ICS) as the basic operational philosophy for all phases of emergency management.
This plan is structured to parallel planning activities set forth in the Federal and State Emergency Plans and describes how other outside resources will be coordinated to supplement resources and response. It incorporates the guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in March 2004 as a part of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on May 21, 2008.
The CEMP is divided into five sections:
The Basic Plan (Section I)
The Response section (Section II)
The Recovery section (Section III)
The Hazard Mitigation section (Section IV)
The Terrorism section (Section V)
The CEMP describes the basic strategies, assumptions and mechanisms through which the County will mobilize resources and conduct activities to support local emergency management response and recovery actions. To facilitate effective intergovernmental operations, the CEMP adopts a functional approach that groups the types of assistance to be provided into Emergency Support Functions (ESF). Each ESF is headed by a lead agency, which has been selected based on its authorities, resources, and capabilities in the functional area.