Caribou Emergency Management Agency
Annual Report for 2010

The purpose of the EMA is to coordinate activities between the Police, Fire, Ambulance, Public Works, Utilities and other departments within the City during a major emergency. In the event the emergency goes beyond City control and capabilities, the EMA coordinates help between City, County and State of Maine EMA’s. State Statute, Section 781 states that each municipality of the State must have an “Emergency Management Department”. The City of Caribou has a great one made up of all volunteers.

This agency of the City has approximately 30 volunteer members who are willing to give their time to help the different departments should the need arise. The Caribou EMA is always looking for new members and would welcome a call from you. It is hard to find people today willing to help others and give spare time without being paid. These people will receive a small amount of training in firefighting, police work, emergency medical care and help the Public Works in various ways. We have response guides for the different jobs such as communications, evacuation, animal control, sheltering, and damage assessment as well as others.

CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training is part of the Caribou EMA. Training includes emergency preparedness, fire safety, search & rescue and medical operations. Through the CERT Program we were able to apply for grant money to buy a trailer, equipment and other items, which can be used at emergency scenes. This program continues to grow throughout the country; if you are interested we would welcome a call from you.

The Caribou EMA has developed an emergency plan for about any emergency situation you can think of. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) moved from 158 Sweden Street (next to the Court House) to the Lion’s Building at 111 High Street (next to the fire station). The Caribou EMA can operate all departments from there in the event of a major emergency. We hope to be able to broadcast from that point, all emergency messages to the citizens as needed.

This department took part in the Halloween activities with what we call “Child Watch”. Volunteer members rode around the city streets to help the Police Department watch out for the safety of the children while they were out trick or treating.

This department was very involved in the Caribou “Relay for Life” events that were held at the High School. They did traffic control, security, fire control and ran the command post for the entire 24 hours. The police, other departments and the City Council gave recognition for a job well done.

All disasters are local, since all responses begin and end with local emergency responders. In order to reduce the impact of a disaster on a community’s residents and property, a community needs to put into place a management program to mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from the effects of disasters. The EMA department is activated only during major emergency situations and also during large events when extra help is needed within the City and other communities that we cover. By keeping the Caribou Emergency Management Agency active and up to date, we hope to be prepared for the unexpected.