The Rusk County Office of Emergency Management (RCOEM) works in coordination with Rusk County response entities, municipalities, and other organizations to maintain a prepared stance to respond to any and all emergencies that may impact our area.  This is done through continued training and exercises as well as weekly briefings to stay on top of trends and potential hazards.

All agencies in our area have personnel trained in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as well as Incident Command System (ICS) to quickly take necessary responsibilities in the event of an incident that requires a multi-juridictional response.  Predetermined resources at the local, state, and federal level may be utilized in the response of a large scale emergency.

Rusk County is fortunate to have many personnel who participate in voluntary organizations active in disasters (VOAD's) which are also organized at the regional, state, and federal levels including some which assisted in the response to the Memorial Day 2015 tornado which impacted Henderson and central Rusk County.

RCOEM is looking to revive and build an active Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) comprised of trained and active volunteers prepared to respond to emergencies in our communities.  The CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community. Visit https://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams for more information about CERT Programs.