Who We Are#
We are responsible for coordinating emergency planning for the City of Fort Collins and coordinating the response and support for all types of emergencies. Fort Collins EPS coordinates with partners at the local, state, regional, and private levels for a more efficient and effective response.
What is Emergency Management?#
Emergency Management is the function of creating a framework that coordinates preparation, response, and recovery from a wide range of emergency events. The department is tasked with ensuring that this framework is established, and meeting the four phases of emergency management: Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and Mitigation.
Preparedness is the concentration on developing plans and partnerships to ensure an effective disaster response
Response is the immediate response to disaster, and the effort to reduce the losses to life and property/
Recovery is the series of activities that work towards the restoration of the community, including critical services. During this phase we also plan on how to restore the community to what it was, and what it can be.
Mitigation is the work of ensuring that future disasters are less impactful. We focus on the development of the community that has a goal of reducing loss of property and life in a future emergency.
Our Responsibilities#
Planning#
In order to prepare for a disaster, we have to identify potential hazards in our area that could affect our community, and then establish goals, policies and procedures for mitigating and preparing for those hazards before an event takes place.
Mitigation#
Mitigation is the process of risk reduction through identifying those who live or work in high risk areas and, following this identification, designing systems that will reduce the impact of a disastrous event.
Education#
Public Education is a primary concern. Our goal is for all residents to be able to answer the following questions: What do we do in an emergency? Where do we go? Who do we call for help? How can we better prepare ourselves? We know that the proper preparations and responses save lives, so it is important to offer comprehensive education about the events most likely to happen in our area.