GOHSEP Elected_Officials_Manual_2015

GOHSEP
Louisiana Elected Officials
Emergency Management Manual
Prepare + Prevent + Respond + Recover + mitigate
1.1 Introduction to the Louisiana Elected
Officials Emergency Management Manual
Louisiana is recovering from the Nation’s most expensive natural disaster to date and several
other Presidentially declared events. Our State is home to some of the Nation’s most critical
infrastructure that could be targets for man-made acts of terror. The State’s history of hurricanes,
tornadoes, floods, ice storms and hazardous materials (HazMat) incidents necessitates forward
thinking and preparation for emergencies still to come.
To better protect our citizens, families and communities, as State and local leaders, we need to know
all we can about disaster preparedness, prevention, response, recovery and mitigation.
The Louisiana Elected Officials Emergency Management Manual (Manual) is intended to help
address that need. It identifies important roles and responsibilities and introduces elected officials
to the work of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP)
and the resources we bring to disaster preparedness, prevention, response, recovery and mitigation.
Local elected officials and GOHSEP have leadership roles in emergency management.
Emergency Management Cycle
Mitigation efforts are attempts to prevent
hazards from developing into disasters
or to reduce the effects of disasters.
Emergency managers develop plans
of action to manage and counter their
risks and take action to build the
necessary capabilities needed to
implement such plans.
Mitigate
Prepare/Prevent
Event
Response includes the mobilization of
necessary emergency services and first
responders in the disaster area.
Recover
Respond
Recovery efforts are primarily concerned with actions that involve rebuilding destroyed property,
re-employment and the repair of other essential infrastructure.
1.1 Introduction Page 1 of 2