Charleston County Emergency Management Program receives full accreditation

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) —  Charleston County’s emergency management program (EMP) has received full accreditation for the second time, a testament to the county’s emergency preparedness and response.

To maintain accreditation, the program has to reapply every five years, a process it has successfully completed twice now. This demonstrates Charleston County’s commitment to continuous improvement.

To receive accreditation, Charleston County’s program had to not only show its accounts of communication in past responses but also provide written accounts of all tests the program runs, whether weekly, monthly, or even mundane. 

Other steps in the process include performing an on-site assessment during a regular work week and having that report reviewed by a Program Review Committee. 

“One of the things that go hand in hand with this accreditation is that most people don’t understand or know that we even have been accredited, but what this does help provide is a guarantee that we have put together one of the best emergency management programs in the state, and we’re the only county in the state that has put forth the effort to ask people to come and judge our program,” said EMP Director Joe Coates. “And to say that we’ve been accredited for a second time. By doing so, we have to put a lot of work, time, and energy into it, and we have allowed our fellow emergency managers from all over the nation to come and judge our program, and twice now, we’ve received it without any issue.” 

This accreditation shows the residents of Charleston County that its management program is nationally qualified and prepared when it comes to emergency situations. 

“Accreditation recognizes the ability of programs to bring together personnel, resources, and communications from a variety of agencies and organizations in preparation for and in response to a disaster of any type,” the official accreditation letter says. “We applaud Charleston County’s leadership and congratulate you on your commitment to achieving accreditation.”