What is Emergency Management?

Emergency management is a framework that reduces vulnerability to hazards and helps cope with disasters.

The City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) is responsible for reducing the effects of disasters before they occur, through mitigation, planning for and coordinating the operations and response to a disaster, managing resources and coordination of recovery efforts following a disaster as well as providing public information.  We work with numerous local, volunteer, state, and federal organizations on an ongoing basis and after a disaster.

The CEMA office is home to the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Activated during large-scale emergencies or special events, the EOC is a central location for senior officials from City, state, and federal agencies and relevant private entities to coordinate response efforts, make decisions, and gather and disseminate information.  The EOC is also the central point for allocation and deployment of resources to support response and recovery efforts, such as vehicles, heavy equipment, fuel, and other emergency supplies.

CEMA Provides

  • Effective and orderly governmental control and coordination of emergency operations during emergencies;
  • Development and maintenance of the City's Emergency Operations Plan (EOP);
  • Coordination of emergency management activities, services and programs within the City of Saint Louis, including:
  • Teaching people how to prepare for a disaster
  • Helping prepare first responders
  • Request for disaster assistance available to our communities, businesses, and individuals following a disaster
  • Training and emergency simulations;
  • Liaison to the State of Missouri Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and other local emergency management agencies and organizations. 

Activation Levels

Learn about the City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) four activation levels.

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