Emergency Management
Welcome to the Union County Sheriff's Office Emergency Management site. Safeguarding life and property is a primary function of the governing bodies of all political subdivisions of this state.The Union County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Management is Union County's lead agency for coordination of emergency and disaster response activities. Emergency Management's mission is to provide a comprehensive and aggressive emergency preparedness response and recovery program in order to save lives, protect property and reduce the effects of disasters in Union County. The emergency operations center is housed in a solid building located behind the courthouse and maintains communications equipment ranging from ham radios, two-way and satellite systems for operational emergencies. Union County Sheriff's Office can inter-connect with all other local, state and federal agencies through a statewide inter-operability network designed by the state's domestic security task force.
The staff of Emergency Management is responsible for developing and coordinating programs and assist in training of first responders that protect the public's health and safety from large scale hazards, such as exposure to biological and chemical agents, explosive and incendiary devices and other disasters whether natural or man-made that may overwhelm the efforts of local responders. The emergency management coordinates with other local, state and federal agencies in these efforts. Staff at the operations center include a GIS specialist as well as a planner who work closely with the state of Florida's emergency management agency to develop specific plans to address all hazards.
The emergency management office is housed at the sheriff's office in Lake Butler and maintains a full compliment of technical equipment that is activated once there is a large scale emergency. Decision makers and constitutional officers within the county occupy the operations center during a large scale event for planning and implementation strategies
The Union County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Management utilizes the CODE RED system to notify the community in the event of an emergency or other important information such as missing persons, sex offenders or severe weather impacts. Sheriff Whitehead encourages all residents to take the time and register their home, cellular or alternate numbers. This way, residents and businesses can be alerted if an emergency or important information is sent out. Click here now to register.
Special Needs
Union County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Management maintains an active list of those residents living in Union County with special needs for accomodation during disasters. This is vital information that EM planners and decision makers utilize to assist persons with evacuation or other assistance during disasters. It includes medical and family contact infortmation. The operations center in cooperation with the local department of health and emergency medical services prioritize transportation needs as well as assists in those individuals who medically may need certain items for sustainment or assistance such as food, water, generators for medical purposes or oxygen.The Union County Office of Emergency Management requires pre-registration of your condition as a special need and signed by your physician. Please click here to download the special needs registration form and once filled out and signed, you may either mail or fax to the Union County Office of Emergency Management for inclusion to the database.