Teamwork
By Hank Weston, District 4 Supervisor
October, 2012
Over the last few years I’ve dedicated this space to explaining the functions and activities of
various County departments. In September I moved on to covering my own service as one of the
Board’s representatives on certain regional advisory committees and commissions, such as
LAFCo. This month I’d like to discuss the functions of the Nevada County Operational Area
Emergency Services Council (ESC), which I chair.
The ESC was established to ensure all agencies that provide emergency services to the residents
of Nevada County meet periodically. An Operational Area consists of all local governments in a
county. The lead agency for each Operational Area is the County Office of Emergency Services.
The ESC is empowered via County Resolution, Administrative Code, and Ordinance to review
rules, regulations, and if needed, to implement any plans or agreements that have an impact on
emergency services in Nevada County. The ESC also conducts critiques of emergency response
actions and recommends improvements.
The ESC is comprised of representatives from each of the following agencies: Nevada County
Board of Supervisors, Nevada County Office of Emergency Services, City of Nevada City, City
of Grass Valley, Town of Truckee, Nevada Irrigation District, CHP, Nevada County Fire Chiefs
Association, Nevada County Sheriff, American Red Cross, Tahoe National Forest, Cal Fire,
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, PG&E, and Nevada County Public Health. The representative
from the Nevada County Board of Supervisors serves as Chair. In addition to the required
committee members, representatives from other organizations such as the County Environmental
Health Department, Lake Wildwood HOA, Federation of Neighborhood Associations, FREED,
and the National Weather Service normally attend and are active in the discussion and
presentation phase of each meeting.
A typical meeting includes reports from the following agencies: OES, Public Heath, and the
National Weather Service. Also a different emergency response agency will give an update on
their latest activities each quarter. During the last four meetings the NCCFD, CHP, the American
Red Cross, and the Penn Valley Fire Protection District have presented updates on their agency’s
activities. This ensures a constant exchange of information between all agencies that normally
may not work together on a day-to-day basis.
The ESC has one standing committee called the Emergency Medical Care Committee (EMCC).
The EMCC is tasked via County Resolution to review, at least annually, the operations of
ambulance services, emergency medical care, and first aid practices in Nevada County. The
EMCC has nine voting members from various agencies in Nevada County that provide medical
services. The current Chairman of the EMCC is Chief Vander Platts from the Penn Valley Fire
Protection District.
The ESC also serves as the Disaster Council for the County of Nevada. Disaster Councils were
created during World War II, and were originally called War Councils. During the Cold War,
civil defense volunteers had to be registered with the local Disaster (or War) Council. All
counties in California are required to have a Disaster Council accredited by the California
Emergency Council. Nevada County was accredited on March 1, 1951. This accreditation is
important to ensure that in the event of a disaster in Nevada County, volunteers that are utilized
by local governments can be registered as Disaster Service Workers, are covered by Workers’
Compensation if they are injured performing disaster service work.
The ESC and EMCC meetings are open to the public. To see when the next ESC or EMCC
meeting
is
scheduled,
go
to
the
Nevada
County
OES
webpage
at
http://www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/igs/oes
Any agency or member of the public may request an item to be added to the ESC agenda by
contacting the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services.
For additional information or questions you may have, please contact the Nevada County Office
of Emergency Services at 530-265-1515 or oes@co.nevada.ca.us
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