Local emergency managers coordinate mutual aid assistance throughout Maryland by activating a state compact.
Talbot County Emergency Services Director Clay Stamp working with other county emergency directors organized a response from Maryland’s Eastern Shore counties to assist with snow removal efforts on Maryland’s western shore.
Several of Maryland’s Eastern Shore counties received less snowfall than the western shore in the recent storm, and were able to provide additional resources. Ten trucks from four Eastern Shore counties arrived in Anne Arundel County on January 27 to assist with snow removal from roadways. Other counties throughout the state are providing similar mutual aid.
The assistance was performed through MEMAC, the Maryland Emergency Management Assistance Compact. MEMAC provides a framework for counties providing mutual aid in any type of emergency, including the chain of command for personnel. Under MEMAC,
- Emergency responders will continue under the command and control of their regular leaders, but the organizational units will come under the operational control of the emergency services authorities of the requesting jurisdiction.
- Emergency responders shall have the same powers, duties, rights, and privileges as personnel of the requesting jurisdiction correspondent to performing the same function.
MEMAC parallels a national program called EMAC that allows state to provide resources to one another during catastrophic emergencies. For more information, see the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Overview.
