 Sumter County Emergency Management
Emergency Management is a Division of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. It is responsible for numerous areas of emergency and non-emergency operations within Sumter County.
This Division is partially funded by Federal grants, the State of Florida and from the Board of County Commissioners general fund.
For a period of time, the Emergency Management function was handled through a stipend granted to a Board Employee, Mr. Vernon Berry, whose main job was County Veterans Services Officer. Mr. Berry was designated the “Civil Defense Director”. Upon his retirement the duties were divided between County Manager Bernard Dew who was designated Emergency Management Director and Public Works Director Gary Breeden who was designated Assistant Emergency Management Director.
 Although Emergency Management was being handled by the BOCC prior to 1995, the first fulltime Emergency Management Director was hired in that year. Director Milton Hill came from a Fire Department background with many years of firefighting and firefighting instruction at Lake Technical Center under his belt.
The first Emergency Operations Center was located in the basement of the old courthouse. It could brag of tight quarters with a little mildew and mold thrown in for luck and an occasional furry critter scurrying around to keep things lively.
The old Health Department building became available and, after chasing the squirrels out, it was remodeled to what it is today. It is a rock building that has seen many storms and has stood its ground through them all. It was being shared with Sumter County Fire Rescue which sometimes made it crowded, like during training sessions and EOC activations.
A new facility was remodeled within the Old Wal-Mart building at 1010 N. Main Street. This facility has a hardened Emergency Operations Center and a hardened area for the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch center. It is collocated within Sheriff Bill Farmer’s new Sheriff’s Office Complex and became operational in October of 2007.
 This new EOC can seat approximately 50 people and has an internal and external telephone system with 25 landlines and antennas for cell phone usage. It also boasts of a designed multi-media center capable of bringing in up to four television stations and the internet all at the same time. This enhances our communications capabilities tremendously and allows real time information to be almost instantaneously gathered and collated for our use.
Most everyone is aware of the Emergency functions provided by Emergency Management which include securing and coordinating personnel and equipment for emergency field operations. These operations may be caused by such natural or man-made disasters as hurricanes, tornados, mass casualty incidents, wildfires or terrorist incidents. What most people are not aware of is that Emergency Management is also responsible for securing the clean up of any hazardous materials incident including fuel spills. Other duties include response to, and reporting of, sinkholes, radiological incidents and severe weather incidents. Non emergency duties include establishing a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), public outreach, planning, training, exercising and grant writing/reporting.
Emergency Management personnel include a Director, who, in times of disaster declaration, may become the person responsible for coordinating all emergency services throughout the county. The second position within Sumter County’s Emergency Management Division is the Deputy Director who has similar qualifications as and may assume the duties of the Director as well as serving as the EOC Manager during activations. The final fulltime position is that of Grants Manager and Special Needs Coordinator.
The Sumter County Emergency Management Division serves as the liaison between all Cities/Districts and agencies within our county and the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.
Currently Judd Wright serves as our Director of Emergency Management. He comes from a Fire Rescue background and has served in every position within a Fire Rescue Division from Volunteer through Chief of Department. He is certified as a Fire Services Instructor III, Fire Officer II, Fire Inspector II, Live Fire Instructor I, Arson Investigator I, Florida Professional Emergency Manager (FPEM), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and has held a Code Enforcement Level II Certification in the past.
Judd also has an Associates Degree in Fire Science, a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire and Safety Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. He has attended and taught classes at the Governor’s Hurricane Conference for the last twelve years and the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association conference for the last 4 years.
The Deputy Director’s position is currently held by Rebecca Cason. Becky has served as second in command of the Emergency Management Division since 1997 and has assisted in bringing a level of professionalism to Sumter County Emergency Management that is far above a lot of the other counties within the state. She has applied for her Florida Professional Emergency Manager certification.
Becky serves as the EOC Commander during times of activation or training and also manages the finances within Emergency Management. She is very capable of stepping up and assuming the roles and duties of the Director in his absence.
Diane Surratt serves as our Grants Manager and Special Needs Coordinator. She is currently taking college level classes in Emergency Management and has applied for her Florida Professional Emergency Management certification. Ms. Surratt has only been full time with the division since December of 2007 but served in a part-time capacity since 2003.
Diane fills a critical roll in our EOC during times of activation. She serves as a unit leader which is the first line of authority when problems occur.
We have a part-time position currently being filled by Brian Gibson. Brian is in charge of managing our critical facilities information and plays a very active role within the EOC during emergencies and during training. He functions in the planning and information section and helps keep all of the paperwork flowing.
The Sumter County Emergency Operation Center is certified "Storm Ready" by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration). |
