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Learn how the County prepares for disasters of all kinds in our interview with Pete Gomez, Director of the Department of Emergency Management.
Miami-Dade County has one of the country's most sophisticated emergency management programs, preparing for and responding to 41 disaster scenarios. That includes everything from extreme heat and flooding to cybersecurity and active shooter attacks.
“We run the gamut of the different types of disasters in preparation, response, mitigation, and recovery from those events,” said Pete Gomez, Director of the Miami-Dade Department of Emergency Management.
He’s responsible for the administration, development, and implementation of the County’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, which is vital to any region’s economic future and how quickly it can bounce back from a disaster.
Learn more about this work towards a more resilient future in our latest interview.
A FUTURE IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Gomez has nearly 40 years of experience in emergency response and management and also participated in Miami’s Sea Level Rise Committee. Most recently he served as the Senior Director of the Academy for International Disaster Preparedness at Florida International University – where he oversaw the COVID-19 Testing Site at FIU and the launch of their bachelor’s program in Disaster Management.
After seeing first responders graduating with a bachelor’s degree, FIU doubled down on the field by creating the Academy for International Disaster Preparedness. The program includes a comprehensive educational foundation in disaster management and emergency medical services to be better prepared for, respond to, and recover from natural and human disasters as well as acts of terrorism. Their motto: global preparedness through education.
“The field of emergency management is growing by leaps and bounds and we’ve been able to provide a lot of that leadership here…in South Florida,” Gomez said.
Some students go on to different areas of emergency management programs such as with the cruise industry or government agencies. There are also internship opportunities where the students get immersed in emergency management, including a three-day field training program that reenacts a real-world event and gets them involved in making hard decisions, and learning about the National Incident Management System so they understand who to report to and what actions to take.
WORKING WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
The Department of Emergency Management works directly with the business community on operations planning to prepare for and recover from any one of 40-plus disaster scenarios.
“It’s important for those businesses to understand how proactive we are,” Gomez said. That assistance includes creating a continuity of operations plan to understand threats and risks, as well as mitigation actions to prepare your business to thrive here.
“We want to make sure that we're resilient and that we come out of a disaster better than we were before,” Gomez added.
To schedule a planning and training exercise visit their website. You can also schedule a tour of the emergency management facility.
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– Suzette
