Focus on Emergency Management

Committee News

Christopher Lightfoot
APWA Emergency Management Committee Chair

Significant progress has been made in the last 12 months ensuring that public works officials are recognized as first responders. Amid this work, significant disasters have struck our country and shown that emergency management and response from public works will never lessen. The Emergency Management Committee wants to continue to work along with the help of fellow APWA committees and members to ensure public works officials continue to get the resources, funding, and education needed for emergency responses and ensure the First Responder title sticks.

The committee will continue to work toward providing resources for others to use and is always looking for collaboration opportunities with other committees and groups. Feedback from all APWA members is beneficial as well to ensure the emergency preparedness checklists stay up to date and determine if any additional resources are needed. Our committee has members in several regions which has allowed the experiences from a wide array of disasters to be shared among members to help educate and inform others. It is always an eye-opening experience to hear how different regions of the country face or respond to different types of disasters that you may not be familiar with in your area.

If you are passionate about contributing to the work of the Emergency Management Committee, I invite you to join the Emergency Management Knowledge Team. By joining forces with other dedicated professionals, you can help shape the future of emergency management within our organization and beyond. For more information on how to get involved, please contact EMC@apwa.org.

We appreciate your time and commitment to APWA and look forward to working with you in any of your emergency management needs.

Live Programs

Lessons as First Responders: Responding to the 2024 Hurricanes
Hurricanes don’t just bring high winds, they bring devastating flooding, infrastructure damage, and long-term recovery challenges. Join us for this powerful live virtual program, where public works professionals will share firsthand experiences and critical lessons learned from the hurricanes that impacted the East Coast in Fall 2024.

Past programs in the Lessons Learned series:
Lessons as First Responders: Responding to Extreme Winter Conditions in Texas

New Resources

APWA Guide: Planning for Emergency Management Operations
APWA’s Emergency Management Committee developed this document to provide guidance on planning for emergency management operations.

APWA Emergency Management Peer Resource Directory
This resource for APWA and CPWA members contains information on volunteer public works professionals with direct experience in various areas of emergency management willing to provide advice or information on emergency management matters.

APWA Guide: Public Works and Mutual Aid Agreements
This document was developed by the APWA Emergency Management Committee to provide guidance on public works and mutual aid agreements.

Trending Resources

Natural Hazard Checklists
These checklists, created by the committee, are designed to help public works agencies prepare for, respond to, and recover from a variety of natural hazards, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, ice storms, tornadoes, and wildfires. These fillable PDFs are invaluable tools for agencies seeking to enhance their emergency preparedness efforts. There is also a checklist on civil unrest.

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