About San Mateo County’s Department of Emergency Management
Our mission is to advance community resilience through a proactive and comprehensive approach to emergency management, involving the whole community in every phase of disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.
The Department of Emergency Management (DEM) coordinates countywide preparedness, response and protection services and activities for large-scale incidents and disasters. DEM is responsible for alerting, notifying , and coordinating with appropriate agencies within the county's 20 cities and unincorporated county areas when disaster strikes; coordinating all agencies that respond; ensuring resources are available and mobilized in times of disaster; developing plans and procedures in response to and recovery from disasters; and developing and providing preparedness materials for our residents.
The DEM staff maintains and operates a 17,500 square-foot Regional Operations Center which serves as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC, a centralized location to facilitate a coordinated response during a major emergency or disaster).
DEM is funded through a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between twenty cities and the County of San Mateo. The JPA is governed by an Emergency Services Council (ESC), which consists of one representative of each city and a member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. The ESC approves budgets and provides strategic direction
