Our Mission

Working together to build resilient communities

Our Vision

Disaster Ready, Everyone - Everywhere

Multnomah County Emergency Management, MCEM is guided by national and international best practices, research, After Actions and Improvement Plans, and robust, meaningful engagement with our community.

Disaster Resilience

Research

The Phases of Emergency Management

Mitigation

Mitigation is the process of turning potential disasters into less harmful occurrences by assessing the risks to life and property posed by a potential event. Emergency Management weighs an event by severity and probability to rank relative risk. This process helps inform actions that can be taken to prevent such events from occurring; or to reduce the impact of an event if it does occur.

Preparedness

Preparedness is the state of being ready for whatever emergencies may occur in your community that could affect you. Readiness is an excellent idea, especially for your home; no one knows your needs better than you and your family, and it’s good to think ahead about what could happen. If you would like training or more information on how you can prepare your home and family, please browse the preparedness links listed on our site menu, or Contact Us. We have local trainings that may be of assistance.

What is emergency response?

When you think of emergency response, you may think of ambulances, fire trucks or policemen—and you’re right. These people are often referred to as Emergency Responders, because their job is to be there for a community when the unforeseen occurs. Far more than these groups, however, are volunteer organizations and government agencies that are poised to bring assistance when an emergency becomes too large for a single group to handle.

What is recovery?

When an emergency becomes a disaster, communities affected by it will need to rebuild. Recovery is the process of coming back from disaster and restoring the quality of life to what it was before the event happened. Emergency Management may coordinate the recovery process to assist the community in resuming a pre-disaster working and living environment.