Page 22 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch November 15, 2013 Resort’s New Emergency Management Plan OK’d By JOANNE SHRINER STAFF WRITER OCEAN CITY – Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald presented and received approval this week from the Mayor and City Council for the new Town of Ocean City Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEOP). “It has been a long road to get here,” Theobald said. Theobald submitted the Town of Ocean City (TOC) is subject to a wide range of natural and manmade hazards that have the ability to injure citizens, damage businesses, destroy infrastructure and disrupt government operations. Ocean City’s vulnerability warrants an allhazards approach in developing plans, training personnel, and utilizing resources to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a major emergency, according to Theobald. The original Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for Ocean City was adopted in 1994 with revisions completed in April 2009. The new CEOP follows the phases of emergency management in accordance with state and federal mandates and acknowledges that most responsibilities and functions performed during an emergency are not hazard specific and are designed to follow an all-hazard approach during this process. Thus, actions performed are to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from all emergencies. Many of the roles and responsi- bilities of the document are facilitated through the day-to-day operations of involved entities. The plan addresses major hazards utilizing an Emergency Support Function (ESF) structure. ESFs are mechanisms that represent a specific field of emergency operations and are collectively used to execute an allinclusive response and recovery effort. Through the Incident Command System (ICS), the ESFs can be utiSEE NEXT PAGE FAGER’S ISLAND BURGER NIGHT Every Wednesday 1/2 Pound For 1/2 Price... Fresh Ground Beef Not Frozen... Hand Made... All Toppings Included 1/2-PRICE 60TH STREET IN THE BAY 410-524-5500 • WWW.FAGERS.COM 8 GOURMET BURGERS FOR LUNCH OR DINNER