Emergency Management Coordinator

Kirk Turner

611 F Street
P O Box 647, Meridian, TX 76665
254-233-9867

Email

Mission Statement

The Bosque County Office of Emergency Management (BCOEM) serves the citizens of Bosque County by directing and coordinating emergency management programs to prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters.

Program Vision

The Bosque County Office of Emergency Management’s vision is to continue to be a leading edge, all-hazards emergency management and homeland security program that encompasses all organizations in the public and private sectors. This includes citizens; government agencies at the city, county, regional, state, and federal levels; school boards; businesses (small and corporate),
faith-based; and volunteer agencies.

Our program coordinates the comprehensive community planning, training, and exercises needed to ensure maximum efficiency and benefit from hazard prevention / mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery in order to protect lives and property in Bosque County. Our program will be professional, responsive, and shall strive to address all the needs of the citizens of Bosque County.

What is Emergency Management?

The Bosque County Office of Emergency Management (BCOEM) serves the residents of Bosque County in four main ways:

Preparedness

Emergency-Management-CycleThe OEM maintains the Basic Emergency Operations Plan and twenty-two annexes covering everything from public warning to terrorism incident response. OEM also participates in regional planning efforts with the 6-county council of governments, Heart of Texas Council of Governments.

Another piece of what we do during the "ready state" is preparing our residents for disasters. This website and our Facebook page is one way we prepare the public with vital information.

Response

When disaster strikes Bosque County the OEM coordinates the response and provides critical resources to the responders in the field. We leave the hands-on tactics to the professionals in the field: your local firefighters, police officers and EMTs. We work directly with them to ensure they have everything they need.

Recovery

When the news trucks are gone and the dust has settled, OEM is still working hard. Recovery is the long, slow, and critical process of getting our community back on its feet. Our role in recovery includes, but isn't limited to: helping the community get recovery grants, helping residents file claims, and getting reimbursements for all the agencies involved in the response.

Mitigation

Mitigation is a big word for a simple concept: make sure that if disaster happens again, it hurts us less. This means everything from pre-staging response and recovery assets, to ensuring our levees are stronger and safer. You also play a critical role in the mitigation efforts by buying storm-resistant windows, having a tornado shelter, and trimming your tree limbs over your house.