Emergency Response System
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The Ohio Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact (IMAC), Ohio Revised Code Section 5502.41, was updated on July 3, 2012. IMAC is mutual aid agreement through which all political subdivisions can request and receive assistance from any other political subdivisions in the state; many of the administrative and legal issues are resolved in advance of an incident. All political subdivisions are automatically part of IMAC. The definition of political subdivision is broad and includes not only counties, municipal corporations, villages and townships, but also port authorities, local health districts, joint fire districts, and state institutions of higher education.
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5502.41 Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2744.01 Political Subdivision Definition
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3345.042 IMAC Participation by State Institutions of Higher Education
Requests for mutual aid can now be made without a formal declaration by the chief executive of a political subdivision and the first eight hours of assistance is expressly identified as not requiring reimbursement. Requests can also be made for assistance with training, exercises, and planned events. The regional response teams that have been developed, such as bomb, collapse search and rescue, water rescue, and hazardous materials, can also be requested and provided through this mutual aid compact.
Political subdivisions are authorized to enter into mutual aid agreements and new language expressly authorizes political subdivisions to enter into mutual aid agreements with political subdivisions in neighboring states without a governor’s declaration of emergency. Many of the same protections set forth in IMAC apply to this form of mutual aid as well. Several neighboring states also have similar provisions which should make working out these mutual aid agreements much easier. http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5502.29- Interstate Arrangements - Coordination of Mutual Aid Plans
The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) is the first national disaster-relief compact since the Civil Defense and Disaster Compact of 1950 to be ratified by Congress. Since ratification and signing into law in 1996 (Public Law 104-321), 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have enacted legislation to become EMAC members.
EMAC offers assistance during governor-declared states of emergency through a mutual aid framework that allows states to send personnel and equipment to help disaster relief efforts in other states. EMAC establishes a firm legal foundation for interstate mutual aid deployments. Once the conditions for providing assistance to a requesting state have been set, the terms constitute a legally binding contractual agreement that makes affected states responsible for reimbursement. The EMAC legislation solves the problems of liability and responsibilities of cost and allows for credentials, licenses, and certifications to be honored across state lines.
More information is available at www.emacweb.org.
Ohio Homeland Security/CIMS
