Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency

The Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) operates under chapter 5502 of the Ohio Revised Code. The EMA is tasked with the developing and maintaining a county wide all hazards emergency operations plan and is responsible for the coordination, organization, and administration of all emergency management functions.

The Mahoning County EMA is the Central point of coordination within Mahoning County for activities to support mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response and recovery functions before, during and after a disaster.  We are the lead county agency as established by the Board of Commissioners for Emergency Management and Homeland Security funding, training and operations. We also facilitate planning and resource deployment of county departments and agencies.

The activities of the EMA are based on the emergency management cycle.  This can be used for all hazards and all sizes of incidents.  It follows the best practices set in the federally mandated National Incident Malmanagement System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS)

• Prevention - Proactive actions taken to avoid an incident or stopping an incident from occurring. It’s important to acknowledge that incidents can’t always be prevented.  Prevention activities include educational programs, raises awareness, installs or strengthens prediction and warning systems, and advocates for proper land use and safe construction.
• Preparedness - Planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, and evaluating focusing on readiness to respond to all-hazards incidents.  Preparedness activities include maintaining the county emergency operations plan, participating in hazard identification and risk assessment, training and exercises, and equipment maintenance and capability testing.
• Mitigation – Actions taken to reduce the impact and consequences of an incident.  Some examples of mitigation activities are flood control projects, clearing areas around structures, advocating for building code updates, etc.
• Response - Actions carried out immediately, during, and immediately after incident.   Response activities are aimed at saving lives, reducing economic loss, and alleviating suffering. This is when preparedness plans are put in action.
• Recovery - Actions taken to return the affected area to normal conditions.   These can include restoration of basic services and repair of physical, social, and economic damages.  This may involve many government and non-governmental agencies and can be a prolonged process depending on the scope of the incident.