The Role Of Law Enforcement Agencies In Preparing To Disasters (Research Paper Sample)

Disaster Modeling for Catron County Name Professor Course Institution Date Disaster Modeling for Catron County Introduction Catron County is located in the state of New Mexico and is the largest county in area and third least populous county in the state. With a population slightly above 4000, Catron County is faced with a high level of environmental threats including Superfund, and tanks and spills, however, the county does not face any environment threats from registered polluters and Brownfield. Health hazards, on the other hand, there are high-risk area of the ultraviolet index with a potential moderate risk of radon and categorized as a yellow zone. The risks of natural disasters are moderate level of risk for earthquakes, high risks for flooding, low risk for hurricanes, hailstorms, and tornadoes. Catron County has experienced some fire hazards in the recent past such as the Wallow Fire in 2011 and Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire in 2012. This has been the largest wildfire disaster recorded in the history of the county and is considered the largest active fire disaster in the United States. Law enforcement agencies have a crucial role in preparing and responding to disasters, and therefore, it becomes necessary to view emergency management regarding disaster modeling. Therefore, the Disaster Modeling for Catron County uses critical thinking and research to identify the emergency response facilities in the county, as well as analyze the threats to those facilities. Section I: Emergency Response Facilities Catron County has seven fire departments and fire stations, and they include Cruzville Apache Creek Aragon Volunteer Fire Department, Alan Robinson Station; Datil Fire Department, Old Highway 60; Horse Mountain Fire Department, Old Thomas Ranch RD; Luna Fire And Ambulance, US HWY 180; Pie Town Volunteer Fire Department, HWY 60 and Custard Junction; Village Of Reserve Fire Dept, Jake Scott AVE, and Wild Horse Ranch Volunteer Fire Department 911 Round-Up RD (Reid, 2007). There are only two police stations in the country namely Catron County Sheriff on 100 Main St and Quemado State Patrol on Highway 60, and there are no hospitals located in the area rather than only two health centers including the Catron County Medical Center. Reid (2007) argues that the emergency response facilities in the county include the ones provided by the larger State of New Mexico, notably the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The earth data Analysis Center based at the University of New Mexico also provides geospatial data development, analysis, applications, and management in collaboration with emergency management and planning, public health, transportation, water and resource management, and many other domains. The Erath data analysis Center also ensures the integration of knowledge, technologies, and geospatial data into emergency management and response solutions to the wider State of New Mexico including Catron County (Reid, 2007). Earth Data Analysis Center has also developed the Catron County Flood Map, and in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with other technical partners provides geospatial support to communities in New Mexico at risk of flooding. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provides help through the Gila Regional EMS, and The response to emergency medical situations in the cities, rural areas, and other frontier regions through the southwest west of New Mexico including Catron County. The Emergency Medical services provide 911, as well as other non-emergent transport services. Paramedic help is provided through the utilization of a unique network of professionals and volunteers who responds promptly to emergency medical situations (West & Lenze, 1994). The Emergency Medical services run a fleet of nine ambulances that are stationed both at the central station and other outlying communities, and the satellite services offered by a dedicated team of volunteer personnel. Trained first response is provided and other medical care including CPR is administered, and therefore, the rapid emergency medical response is provided throughout the county having about 100 volunteers. Furthermore, the Gila Regional EMS responds quickly to rope rescue, water rescue, and they have a trailer equipped with protective equipment and showers designed for hazardous situations (West & Lenze, 1994). New Mexico Federal Emergency Management Agency is responsible for emergency response facilities in Catron County. President Obama declared in October 2013 that federal money is to be allocated to supplement the state and local disaster recovery programs. Therefore, FEMA’s role is to assess the damages from disasters to determine how much money is to be funneled to various counties. It is important to note that the federal government reimburses the local governments, community ditch associations, tribal entities, and other nongovernmental organizations participating in and contributing to emergency disaster situations (West & Lenze, 1994). Public safety is provided across the entire county by 911 emergency response services, and the Catron County Sheriff’s Department is responsible for providing protective services. Catron County has also created an emergency management office, managed by a response manager and facilitated by the Local Emergency Advisory Committee together with others engaged in local fire departments, as well as emergency medical services. The county’s Wildfire Protection Plan is also in place to assist fire departments in expediting the county’s needs for rural fire departments and other emergency medical services (Boin & Rhinard, 2008). The Catron County Commission through the County Emergency Response Manager is responsible for monitoring, coordinating, as well as acting as a liaison between the county, federal and state agencies, and the various departments. The commission is also charged with seeking for additional funds required for emergency services. Therefore, some disaster resolutions and declarations have been put in place in the county, as well as intergovernmental task forces because of past fire disasters such as Wallow and Whitewater-Baldy, and floods including the Dixon’s Apple Orchard catastrophic floods (Boin & Rhinard, 2008). The Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) are utilized in emergency response operations. Therefore, public safety and emergency communications depend on the specific functions of military and law enforcement operations, through the utilization of intelligence analysis and emergency response planning and management. Public safety assets include traffic management, extended data housing, and public camera networks (Boin & Rhinard, 2008). Disaster response facilities and systems used in emergency management significantly improve and support responses to emergencies. Therefore, the required disaster response facilities include technical assistance, onsite operation support, safety parameter display, and near-site emergency operations facilities. These facilities in combination make up the comprehensive emergency response facilities that meet the quick and safe response to emergencies (Boin & Rhinard, 2008). Map of Catron County Section II: Threats to Emergency Response Facilities Emergency disasters can happen anytime across the largely rural communities of Catron County. When they supersede the capabilities of local emergency response agencies and healthcare facilities, implies that these communities need to increase their capabilities. Therefore, the threat to emergency response facilities in Catron County includes manmade and natural disasters that come with or without warning, and which are above the capabilities of the county. Such threats can be averted by embarking on initiatives that increases the county’s ability of preparing and planning for large scale emergency disasters before they occur. Therefore, it is prudent for Catron County to have an ideal preparedness planning that engages different people, as well as organizations across the community (Steinback, 2004). The rural communities within Catron county faces threat to emergency preparedness and response facilities , such as threats of limited resources, remoteness, separation, low population density, and communication issues. Emergency disaster preparedness and response depends on the emergency response facilities available in the county. Therefore, effective response to emergency disasters relies on the public health centers, fire departments and stations, the Catron County Commission, the Catron County Sheriff’s Department, and the Gila Regional EMS (Steinback, 2004). Therefore, threat to these emergency response facilities includes significant staffing and budget constraints. The financial limitations and scarcity of other resources is a major threat to these response facilities in the county, given that the few health centers available may lack the required surge capacity in responding adequately to emergencies. Therefore, such threats may leave the communities in a more vulnerable situation, as well as more dependent on volunteer services (Steinback, 2004). It is apparent that there are a myriad challenges to emergency management in Catron County regarding emergency preparedness and response. Limited funding and resources of responding agencies such as fire departments and the Gila Regional EMS, compliments other threats including longer travel distances between emergency response personnel and the residents leading to longer response times. Outmigration of youthful people is a factor in workforce, as well as poses staffing issues in these emergency response facilities. It is also imperative that communication aimed at educating the public is more expensive per capita, and the...