APRIL 29, 2015
State of Arizona earns EMAP Reaccreditation
Emergency Management Program meets National Standards
PHOENIX – The State of Arizona was formally reaccredited by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) Commission at its semi-annual meeting in Denver last week.
The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA), Division of Emergency Management was initially accredited by EMAP on behalf of the State of Arizona in 2004. Arizona was one of the first states in the country to be fully reaccredited in 2009. Reaccreditation lasts for five years.
“Reaccreditation from EMAP is a significant achievement that doesn’t come easy. Our Emergency Management staff and stakeholders worked hard to make it happen,” said DEMA Deputy Director Wendy Smith-Reeve. “Reaccreditation was awarded to the State, but it is an achievement we share with our program partners.”
Emergency management is the sum effort of various departments and agencies, including non-profit partners such as the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army; a fact illustrated by the number of stakeholders named in the State Emergency Response and Recovery Plan. Many of DEMA’s response and recovery partners participated in the self-assessment and application for reaccreditation.
The EMAP is the only accreditation process that provides emergency management programs the opportunity to be evaluated and recognized for compliance with industry standards, to demonstrate accountability, and to focus attention on areas and issues where resources are needed. Applicants must demonstrate through self-assessment, documentation and peer assessment that its program meets national standards.
DEMA’s application for reaccreditation was evaluated against a set of 64 standards organized into 16 functional areas. Those areas include program management; administration and finance; hazard mitigation; incident management; training; exercises, evaluations and corrective action; and crisis communications, public education and information.
Federal, state, tribal, local and university emergency management programs are eligible for EMAP accreditation. According to the EMAP website, 31 total states are either fully or conditionally accredited. The EMAP Commission also announced the (re)accreditation of the commonwealths of Kentucky and Pennsylvania; and the states of Arkansas, Connecticut and Nebraska during last week’s proceedings.
For more information on EMAP, visit www.emap.org.
