Emergency Management Services

Current Conditions

The Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency (AFCEMA), also known as the Office of Emergency Management Services, is a joint, cooperative effort between the City and Fulton County.  AFCEMA is responsible for comprehensive, coordinated and interdisciplinary mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities.  It is the primary emergency management agency for the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, and is the central point of contact for a wide range of emergency management activities.  Agency responsibilities include the coordination of policies and procedures for the execution of all major emergencies and disaster operations for the City and Fulton County.  The agency also works closely with each incorporated jurisdiction, non-governmental agency, business and industry within Fulton County to coordinate emergency management activities.

The current authority for Emergency Management within the City is contained in the Atlanta City Code, Chapter 4, “Emergency Management”; Sections 11-4001 through 11-4010, Fulton County code, Section 27-4-6, Georgia Emergency Management act of 1981, as amended, Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Volume 28, Emergency Management, 1982, and the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended (Public Law 81-920).

Emergency Management is a term in use since 1978 to describe the initiative taken by governments to organize and prepare for the actions necessary to save lives, minimize damage and speed recovery in the event of a man-made and/or natural disaster.  The agency’s vision is to provide the most responsive and progressive emergency management program anywhere, so that our citizens can enjoy the best possible quality of life.  Its mission is to direct the coordinated work efforts of other in mitigating, preparing, and planning for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies and disasters.   The Atlanta-Fulton County EMA consists of full-time trained professionals knowledgeable of federal, state, and local emergency and disaster laws, rules and regulations.  While the agency is authorized for a staff level of 13, budget constraints have limited the current staff to 9.

The Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Operations Center (EOC), which is the emergency facility where local governments conduct emergency and disaster operations, serves as the primary EOC for both the City and Fulton County.  The EOC is the central point of contact during emergency and disaster incidents, in order to provide rapid, accurate situation, damage and needs assessment.  This in turn results in more efficient, effective use of resources and in reduction in loss of life and property.  In 2000, AFCEMA activated the EOC for 4 major incidents and many smaller incidents.

AFCEMA is responsible for the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Operations Plan (EOP).  The EOP is the legal and organizational basis for coordinated emergency and disaster operations in the City of Atlanta and Fulton County.  It assigns broad responsibilities to local government agencies and support organizations for disaster mitigation, preparedness and recovery.  These responsibilities are generally extensions of normal, day-to-day functions involving the same personnel and material resources.  Supporting documents set forth the concepts and procedures whereby the City and County can effectively apply available resources to insure that casualties and property damage will be minimized following an emergency or disaster situation.  The Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) is the document approved by resolution of the Atlanta City Council and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners for overall coordination, development, implementation and revision of emergency plans and procedures for the local public and private sectors.

Programs And Projects:  Emergency Management Services

  • Provide 24hour/365 day emergency response to emergencies and Disasters.  This includes 24-hour on-scene emergency response by the AFCEMA Duty Officer, and 24-hour activation of the Emergency Operations Center.  The EOC upgrade and improvement project will shorten the required time to fully activate the EOC.

  • Provide 24 hour/365 day emergency warning and notification to multiple emergency response agencies and to the public.  Emergency warning and notification systems include the Emergency Alert System (EAS), National Warning System (NAWAS), AFCEMA Notifier, Community Alert Network (CAN), NOAA Weather Radio, Weather Pager, and the Flood Notification System.

  • Provide Coordination and support for the Fulton County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), which includes business and industry in the City.  The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Title III, requires that facilities that use or store hazardous materials above certain quantities report their inventories.  The legislation requires that the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) identifies these 2000 facilities and develops community emergency plans.  In 2000, 430 facilities have reported their hazardous materials in Fulton County, most of which are in the City of Atlanta.  The goal of compliance and this law is to decrease the risk of hazardous materials accidents to our community.  SARA Title III also requires that information reported by facilities under SARA Title III be accessible to the public.  The Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency is currently working to make this information easily accessible by the public, first responders, and the Fire Department. Provide coordination and support for the Atlanta Metro Medical Response System (MMRS) and the Domestic Preparedness Program.  The MMRS is managed and supported by AFCEMA, and combines resources from the Metro Atlanta area to respond to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), including nuclear, biological and chemical incidents.  President Clinton directed major cities in the United States to prepare for the WMD threat, which has become the weapon of choice of terrorists.  AFCEMA has brought together a diverse team of local responders and has funneled over $800,000 in federal resources to our team to better equip and train them for response to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.

  • Develop and coordinate emergency management presentations, brochures, pamphlets, public service announcements and other information for civic organizations, business and industry, emergency response agencies, government, media and the general public.  The office conducts a broad range of information and education campaigns each year designed to increase the knowledge level of the general public in emergency preparedness.  Among these are Severe Weather Awareness Month, City of Atlanta Youthfest, City of Atlanta Employee Excellence Week and Fire Prevention Week.

  • Develop and coordinate mutual aid agreements with other local, state, federal and private agencies.

  • Provide liaison with local, state and federal authorities during major emergencies and disasters.

  • Develop, coordinate and conduct emergency management training and exercise programs.

Coordinate with individual volunteers and volunteer organizations to provide information and training, including utilization in emergency and disaster situations.