Emergency Management

Staff:
Ken Kern, Director

Berks County Emergency Management Public Meetings [PDF]

"Communications technology is key to new EMC"  -Ken Kern, Director

The Emergency Management Center (EMC) is a location for the coordination of the emergency response of a community. The most basic function during an emergency is the ability to have an immediate availability of a unified command center to address the needs of all those involved. We are proud to tell you that the Kutztown EMC is now ready to open the door, turn on the lights, and serve our friends and neighbors.

The success of an emergency operation center is also dependent upon good communication both within and outside the organization. The Borough has recently purchased additional service equipment to facilitate technical communication needs so field operations can readily be reached during emergency periods. A new high-band base station has been installed so that the emergency center can communicate with any high band use response team during a County emergency.

Computer networking capabilities have been enhanced so that police and administration servers can be accessed from the center.

Table spaces has also been assigned for a RACES (Radio Amateur civil Emergency Services) representative. The center has a dedicated sending and receiving antenna that accommodates the portable units that are carried.

The EMC was last activated during the July 16 and 17, 2007 wind, hail and rain storm.  Trees and large branches knocked out power and telephone services to most of Kutztown for several hours, and Main Street was impassible.  The Radius Toothbrush building on Railroad Street took the hardest hit.  Fire, police, ambulance and fire police services, as well as various departments of the Borough, were well served by the unified command that the center provided.