Disaster and Emergency Services
Sweet Grass County
by Pat Hansen
The Sweet Grass County Office of Disaster and Emergency services is responsible for helping coordinate the four phases of emergency related activities at the -local. level. These four phases are:
1) Preparedness (including planning and training);
2) Mitigation (measures to lessen the effect of a disaster or emergency before it happens);
3) Response (action when a disaster or emergency event is actually happening); and
4) Recovery (such as "cleanup" following an event).
Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) also goes by other designations in other places. "Civil Defense" and "Emergency Management" are two of the more common ones used. In Sweet Grass County, Disaster and Emergency Services began to replace Civil Defense as the departnietit'5 title in the late 1970's.
As a coordination agency, DES plays a role of support for and among a variety of agencies we usually think of as responders when an event occurs. Law enforcement, fire services, medical services, and elected officials are examples of entities which are more likely to have leadership functions during emergency situations. The role of DES in these times is one of ensuring that the other departments are "on the same page" in the response as well as preparedness phases. In addition, DES helps in the identification, notification, and obtaining of needed resources to respond to an incident, including resources outside Sweet Grass County (i.e., neighboring communities or state or federal agencies). As a rule, the local DES office would become involved in an incident if action by more than one response agency is needed.
The Sweet Grass County DES Coordinator is Sheriff Dan Tronrud and the Deputy Coordinator is Pat Hansen. The DES office is located in the (Community Center (old hospital) at the corner of fifth Avenue and Hooper Street. Regular office hours are Monday to Thursday from 9 AM until 3 PM. The DES phone number is 932-5300. The 24-hour contact number, as well as the number to call in the case of an actual emergency or disaster, is 932-5143 (Sweet Grass County Sheriff's Office).