Preparedness
The Texas Division of Emergency Management, Preparedness Section, administers a statewide emergency management all-hazards preparedness program that includes the following units.
Who Do We Serve?
TDEM Preparedness Section prepares state and local first
responders to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from hazardous material
incidents through US Department of Transportation’s Hazardous Material
Emergency Preparedness Grant. Under the grant the term "first
responder" refers to those individuals who, in the early stages of an
incident, are responsible for the protection and preservation of life, property, evidence, and the environment,
including State and local emergency response providers (emergency
personnel public safety, law
enforcement, emergency response medical and related personnel, agencies and
authorities) as well as emergency management, public health, public works, and
other skilled support personnel (such as equipment operators) who provide
immediate support services during prevention, response, and recovery
operations.
- Emergency Management (EM): Individuals,
both local and state, who coordinate preparation, recognition, response,
and recovery for Hazardous Materials incidents.
- Emergency Medical Services
(EMS): Individuals who, on a full-time, part-time, or voluntary basis,
serve as first responders, emergency medical technicians (EMT) (basic),
and paramedics (advanced) with ground-based and aero-medical services to
provide pre-hospital care.
- Fire Service (FS): Individuals
who, on a full-time, part-time, or voluntary basis, provide life-safety
services, including fire suppression, rescue, arson investigation, public
education, and prevention.
- Governmental Administrative
(GA): Elected and appointed officials responsible for public
administration of community health and welfare during an incident.
- Hazardous Materials Personnel
(HZ): Individuals, who, on a full-time, part-time, or voluntary basis,
identify, characterize, provide risk assessment, and mitigate/control the
release of a hazardous substance or potentially hazardous substance.
- Healthcare (HC): Must be a
public (county/city) owned facility. Individuals who provide clinical,
forensic, and administrative skills in hospitals, physician offices,
clinics, and other facilities that offer medical care, including
surveillance (passive and active), diagnosis, laboratory evaluation,
treatment, mental health support, epidemiology investigation, and evidence
collection, along with fatality management for humans and animals. (DMORT,
DMAT, MRC
are federal when deployed therefore are not public employees)
- Law Enforcement (LE):
Individuals who, on a full-time, part-time, or voluntary basis, work for
agencies at the local, municipal, and state levels with responsibilities
as sworn law enforcement officers.
- Public Health (PH): Individuals,
who prevent epidemics and the spread of disease, protect against
environmental hazards, promote healthy behaviors, respond to disasters and
assist in recovery, as well as assure the quality and accessibility of
health services.
- Public Safety Communications
(PSC): Individuals who, on a full-time, part-time, or voluntary basis,
through technology, serve as a conduit and put persons reporting an
incident in touch with response personnel and emergency management, in
order to identify an incident occurrence and help support the resolution
of life-safety, criminal, environmental, and facilities problems
associated with the event.
- Public Works (PW):
Organizations and individuals who make up the public infrastructure for
the operation and management of these facilities. The categories/roles
include administration, technical, supervision, and craft (basic and
advanced).
THIS IS THE GUIDANCE FOR STUDENT ELIGIBILITY
Students
must be Public Sector Employees/Volunteers: Students must be
employed or used by a political subdivision (county, municipality, city, town,
township, local public authority), school district, special districts,
interstate district, council of governments (whether or not incorporated as a
nonprofit corporation under State law), any other regional or interstate
government entity, or any agency or instrumentality of a local government.
Private sector, federal, non-profit, not-for-profit employees may not be
eligible for these classes unless they also serve in a public sector volunteer
position. Volunteers must apply through their public sector agencies.
Texas residents only.
EFFICIENT
USE OF GRANT FUNDS
Although a student may meet the
above criteria, doesn’t mean that they are automatically approved for all HMEP
funded training. We must consider efficient use of funds. For example a county
clerk is a public employee however; based on their job “county clerk” there
would be no reason for them to need training above the awareness level.
Remember we are not a process for a public employee to get training so they can
get another/better job…we are to train first responders to protect themselves,
the public and the environment.
