Office of Emergency Services
The El Dorado County Office of Emergency Services (OES) falls under the umbrella of the Sheriff’s Office, however, their responsibilities include the entire county and all government agencies within. OES includes one lieutenant, one sergeant and three deputies with full-time assignments in Placerville and South Lake Tahoe. OES has three primary responsibilities; emergency management, coordination of the Search and Rescue Unit and investigation of workplace violence cases countywide.
The emergency management portion of OES is responsible for the planning, response, recovery and mitigation of large scale emergencies. In this role, OES is the link between local emergency services and the State. OES coordinates with CalOES for mutual aid and statewide resources like the California National Guard. OES is also responsible for the County’s Emergency Operations Center and maintains the countywide telephone notification system. OES provides training to both government and community organizations on how to prepare and react to emergencies, including active shooters. As part of the effort to prepare the community for emergencies and to promote resiliency, OES coordinates, trains and equips Community Emergency Response Teams.
In 2017, El Dorado County OES coordinated three Presidential Disaster Declarations related to the devastating winter storms that hit the county at the beginning of the year. The Emergency Operations Center was activated for the wet storms that led to flooding and landslides all over the county. Over 80,000 sandbags and approximately 500 tons of sand were available to the public to assist and mitigate personal property flooding. Many county roadways were severely damaged including several debris slides on Highway 50 closing the main artery to South Lake Tahoe. OES was the coordinating body for various county agencies, the City of Placerville and the City of South Lake Tahoe for resources and recovery efforts. The recovery and rehabilitation process will continue as federal monies assist with getting the county’s infrastructure back to normal and in some cases better than before to mitigate any possible future damage.
In addition to in-county emergency responses, OES responded for mutual aid to the Oroville Dam emergency with a ten member Swiftwater Rescue Task Force. The Task Force consisted of deputy sheriff’s trained for water rescues, a 19’ rigid hull inflatable jet boat, two personal water crafts, and a Swiftwater Rescue vehicle. They also coordinated the mutual aid responses for law enforcement and animal services officers to several counties during the California statewide fire emergencies.
When OES is not responding to emergencies, they are coordinating and collaborating with all first responder partners, schools, utilities, public works and non-governmental organizations for planning of natural and man-made disasters. In this day and time it is also necessary to address terrorism, an active shooter threat and workplace violence. El Dorado County Sheriff’s OES maintains its commitment to partner with and assist in planning, training and exercising for such events. OES provided Active shooter response training to government and community organizations to better prepare
El Dorado County’s citizens to respond if the worst should occur.
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