"But there is one front and one battle where everyone in the United States - every man, woman, and child - is in action... That front is right here at home, in our daily lives."

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1942

Niagara County is going "back to the future" to the time honored principle of civil defense in an effort to enhance and build out its capacity for emergency preparedness to protect every man, woman, and child by preparing them for natural or man-made disasters and for military or terrorist attacks. Homeland security, the new civil defense, uses the principles of emergency operations :prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, emergency evacuation, and recovery to accomplish its mission. This civil defense approach is historically well founded going back to at least the 1920s and became widespread after the threat of nuclear weapons was realized in the Cold War.

With the end of the Cold War in the 1980s, the focus of civil defense largely shifted from military attack to emergencies and disasters in general. Civil defense became described by a number of terms, each of which has its own specific shade of meaning, such as crisis management, emergency management, emergency preparedness, contingency planning, emergency services, and civil protection. The all-encompassing nature of civil defense can be denoted by the term " total defense". Civil defense and now homeland security suggests committing all resources to the defense of every man, woman, and child and can be compared to total war. Such resources cover law enforcement services, fire services, public works protection of critical infrastructure, utility services, citizen preparedness, emergency medical treatment, public health services, ambulance services, hospital services, coroner services, chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological response services, animal and veterinarian services, and mass transportation services.

With terror attacks of September 11, 2001, and the ushering in of the War on Terror, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War, the mission of Niagara County in support of the State of New York and the Federal government, needed to be refocused to protect against both natural or man-made disasters and military attacks by terrorists and any sponsoring terrorist nation states.

To accomplish this, the Niagara County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management was created after extensive research anddialogwithlocal, regional, state-wide, and national members and leaders in the homeland security field. County homeland security and emergency management offices and departments around the country were contacted and questioned about efficacy of refocusing the County's existing fire coordination and emergency management in this direction. County offices and departments reviewed included St Clair County, Gratiot Countyand Saginaw County, Michigan; Franklin County and Tuscarawas County, Ohio; Ft Wayne County, Indiana; and Prince George's County, Maryland.

The refocused Department was budgeted in 2008 at essentially the same level of personnel and operations as budgeted for the Department in 2007. The only addition was to create a new department head with professional credentials essential to lead both a refocused civil defense effort and continue the existing emergency preparedness program. The Director will be a highly qualified and accountable professional responsible for leading the County in providing a properly planned, organized, equipped, trained and exercised emergency management and homeland security force capable of preparing for and responding to public emergencies and homeland security incidents. The Director's responsibilities will include coordinating and mobilizing available resources in response to public emergencies and for administering the County's homeland security and emergency preparedness programs and services. The Director must have at minimum a Bachelor's Degree with a Master's Degree preferred and five to eight years of full-time paid experience in a managerial or administrative position involving first-line supervision in one of the following areas: homeland security, emergency preparedness, or public safety.

The Department will seek to (1) enhance, improve, and build out the County's capacity to accomplish its strategic plan for civil defense, (2) achieve its federal Urban Area Security Initiative goals for homeland security on a regional basis, working with its partners, the City of Buffalo and Erie County, and (3) support the New York State Office of Homeland Security in its development and implementation of a comprehensive State strategy to prevent, detect, respond to and recover from acts of terrorism. The Department will be thoroughly grounded in the principles of emergency preparedness necessary for managing all types of public emergencies, natural or man-made.

The Department will be dedicated to protecting every man, woman, and child in the County. The Department will communicate to County citizens to be alert for the signs of terrorism, prepare citizens to take action, remain vigilant in responding to natural disturbances, and stand at the ready for the ever possible man-made disasters whether spills, industrial incidents, vehicle accidents, train derailments, or waterway hazardous exposures.

The Department will provide for civil defense and emergency preparedness for County residences and visitors along with its neighboring communities. This will be accomplished through a multi-hazard planning process that will involve mitigation, preparation, response and recovery combined with a strong working relationship with all levels of government and the private sector. The Department will be committed to providing quality services to every man, woman, and child in the County with a goal of continuously improving those services. The Department is authorized through federal, state, and local legislation to provide an emergency plan for the County and its communities. This plan is a multi-hazard plan that addresses natural, technological and terrorism incidents. Emergency planning will involve people from all agencies and at every level of government in Niagara County. County officials and local leaders will be asked to act in the most prudent and efficient manner when called upon during emergency events by becoming trained in the national incident command system. Coordinating events during emergency situations will reduce the loss of life, property damage, and the disruption of Niagara County citizens' daily lives.

The Department will work collaboratively and share resources with all County communities, agencies, organizations, and businesses to prepare to deal with terrorist incidents and will constantly communicate with County residents and visitors to:

• Be alert and aware of their surrounding area, recognizing that the very nature of terrorism suggests that there may be little or no warning.
• Take precautions when traveling, be aware of conspicuous or unusual behavior, not accept packages from strangers, and not leave luggage unattended.
• Learn where emergency exits are located.
• Think ahead about how to evacuate a building, an internal corridor, or a congested public area in a hurry and to learn where staircases are located.

The Department will reach out to make sure every man, woman, and child in the County understands that knowing what to do is their best protection. They must be prepared to cope with an emergency for up to 72 hours until help arrives. Disasters can happen anywhere at anytime. Everyone must prepare in advance for a disaster. Everyone must plan ahead by having a Disaster Plan ready and having a Disaster supply kit available to them whether they undergo an evacuation or are confined to their home for a period of time. The Department will live this mission!

Greg Lewis, Niagara County Manager Posted Buffalo.Com: