Newton Emergency Management

Emergency Management is a vital function involving all departmental levels of local government. Each department takes part in efforts to prepare for, respond to, mitigate, and recover from all types of dangerous or hazardous situations. During times when no emergencies exist, some of the duties handled by the Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) include the identification and analysis of the effects of hazards which might pose a threat to the Town of Newton and to attend training courses to keep skills and knowledge current.

Meet Newton’s Emergency Management Staff

Thomas S. Russo, Jr.

Position: Emergency Planning Committee Chair

Serving since 2008 trusso@newtontownhall.com

Ken Teets

Position: Emergency Management Coordinator

Serving since 2003 kteets@newtonoem.org

Dan Finkle

Position: Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator

Serving since 2008 dfinkle@newtonoem.org

Jason Miller

Position: Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator

Serving since 2017 jmiller@newtonoem.org

What is Emergency Management?

Able Oil Explosion 2003

Emergency management was institutionalized in 1979 with the creation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Five Federal agencies that dealt with many types of emergencies consolidated to form FEMA. Since that time, many State and local organizations have changed the names of their organizations to include the words: emergency management.

The name change indicates a change in orientation from specialized preparedness for single or narrowly defined categories of hazards toward an all-hazards approach that includes potential threats to life and property through environmental and technological hazards, and domestic and foreign attacks. This change reflects not a reduction in security, but an increased emphasis on making the nation’s emergency management capability responsive to any major emergency.

The Four Phases of Emergency Management

Since World War II emergency management has focused primarily on preparedness. Often this involved preparing for enemy attack. Community preparedness for all disasters requires identifying resources and expertise in advance, and planning how these can be used in a disaster. However, preparedness is only one phase of emergency management. Current thinking defines four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Click the toggles below to learn more about each phase of emergency management.

Mitigation
Preparedness
Response
Recovery

Mitigation

Preventing future emergencies or minimizing their effects

Includes any activities that prevent an emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies.
Buying flood and fire insurance for your home is a mitigation activity.
Mitigation activities take place before and after emergencies.

A recent study by the Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) shows that each dollar spent on mitigation saves an average of $4.00.

Preparedness

Preparing to handle an emergency

Includes plans or preparations made to save lives and to help response and rescue operations.
Evacuation plans and stocking food and water are both examples of preparedness.
Preparedness activities take place before an emergency occurs.

Response

Responding safely to an emergency

Includes actions taken to save lives and prevent further property damage in an emergency situation. Response is putting your preparedness plans into action.
Seeking shelter from a tornado or turning off gas valves in an earthquake are both response activities.
Response activities take place during an emergency.

Recovery

Recovering from an emergency

Includes actions taken to return to a normal or an even safer situation following an emergency.
Recovery includes getting financial assistance to help pay for the repairs.
Recovery activities take place after an emergency.

Newton Office of Emergency Management