Emergency Management Division

Emergency Management is a division of the Ulster County Department of Emergency Services. The four pillars of Emergency Management are preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation from natural and man made disasters.

View the County's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.

On a day-to-day basis, Ulster County Emergency Management staff performs disaster planning, training, and exercise functions. During emergency activations, Emergency Management is responsible for managing the operations of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Ulster County Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

The Ulster County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), is supervised by the County Emergency Manager and operates at the direction of the Director of Emergency Services. Additionally in conjunction with county departments, agency liaisons and municipalities it will act as the primary direction and control facility during times of disasters and other warranted emergency situations for the assignment of resources as well as the coordinated response and recovery efforts.

EOC staff is responsible for the overall coordination of Ulster County incident management and resources during disaster response and recovery operations.

The EOC has four core functions:

  • Collect, analyze, and share information
  • Coordinate response and recovery efforts
  • Communicate clearly to all responsible parties, in a unified voice
  • Coordinate and track resource requests

In the event of an emergency, we will conduct emergency operations to save lives and property by positioning emergency equipment and supplies; evacuating potential victims; providing food, water, shelter, and medical care to those in need; and restoring critical public service.

The onset of an emergency creates a need for time-sensitive actions to save lives and property, as well as for action to begin stabilizing the situation so that the jurisdiction can regroup. Such response actions include notifying Emergency Response personnel of the crises, warning and evacuating or sheltering the population if possible, keeping the population informed, rescuing individuals, and providing medical treatment, maintaining the rule of law, assessing damage, addressing mitigation issues that arise from response activities, and even requesting help from outside the jurisdiction.

 

Local State of Emergency

The Declaration of a Local State of Emergency (SOE) and Emergency Order (EO) provides for the waiver of normal procedures and formalities during a disaster otherwise required of political subdivisions by law pertaining to:

  • Performance of public work and taking action that is necessary to assure health, safety, and welfare of the community;
  • Entering into contracts;
  • Incurring obligations;
  • Employment of permanent and temporary workers;
  • Utilization of volunteer workers;
  • Rental equipment;
  • Appropriate and expenditure of public funds

This is found in NYS Article 2-B: State and Local Natural and Man-made Disaster Preparedness

 

Ulster County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan

Multi-Jurisdictiional Hazard Mitigation Plan

Hazard mitigation is an action to help reduce long-term risks caused by hazards or disasters, such as flooding, earthquakes, or wildfires. The Ulster County Multi- Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update was conducted with all 24 jurisdictions opting to participate. This update was approved by NYS DHSES and FEMA in 2024 for all the participating jurisdictions.

Ulster County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan

 

 

 

For controlled burns call (845) 338‑1440

Dial 911 in an Emergency

Division Head

Michael J Madison

Deputy Director / Emergency Manager

845-943-5927