MARYLAND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY EARNS NATIONAL REACCREDITATION

REISTERSTOWN, MD -- The Maryland Emergency Management Agency joined six other varied programs from around the county when it recently earned accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). MEMA received reaccreditation after originally being accredited in 2009.

"Our reaccreditation shows that MEMA and our partner agencies have again met the rigorous standards put in place to make sure we are prepared for any type of hazard," said Ken Mallette, MEMA Executive Director. "After thoroughly reviewing the State's plans, procedures, and other documents, the evaluators determined MEMA met all of the benchmarks for accreditation."

When our nation’s emergency management is strengthening in professional preparedness from the local level to a national scale, accreditation represents a significant achievement. MEMA continues to offer original and innovative programs through its “Center for Preparedness Excellence,”including the Maryland Emergency Preparedness Program, the Maryland Preparedness Training Certificate Program and the Private Sector Integration Program.

Maryland's emergency management Program has "demonstrated leadership, vision, and commitment to the communities and to the profession of emergency management by achieving a professional third party review and recognition of meeting objectives standards of excellence,” said Barb Graff, Director of Seattle Office of Emergency Management and Chair of the EMAP Commission.

To achieve accreditation, or reaccreditation as in Maryland's case, emergency management programs document compliance with industry-recognized and nationally-accepted standards – the Emergency Management Standard -- and undergo a peer-review assessment by EMAP-trained assessors. The emergency management program uses the accreditation to prove the capabilities of its disaster preparedness and response systems. Accreditation is valid for five years and the program must maintain compliance with EMAP standards and is reassessed to maintain accredited status.



EMAP revolutionizes emergency management programs that coordinate preparedness and response activities for disasters based on industry standards. EMAP recognizes the ability of emergency management programs to bring together personnel, resources and communications from a variety of agencies and organizations in preparation for and in response to an emergency, in addition to obtaining the ability to measure those capabilities.

“Maryland's accreditation truly is a team effort," said Brendan McCluskey, MEMA's Preparedness Director. "Effective emergency management requires planning and contributions from many different agencies."



The Emergency Management Standard is flexible in design so programs of differing sizes, populations, risks and resources can use it as a blueprint for improvement and can attain compliance with the standard. The EMAP process evaluates emergency management programs on compliance with requirements in sixteen areas, including: planning; resource management; training; exercises, evaluations, and corrective actions; and communications and warning. This forms the foundation of the nation’s emergency preparedness system. EMAP is the only accreditation process for emergency management programs.