Emergency management director urges council to keep contact info handy, outlines EOC role and training

Brendan Cowan, San Juan County Emergency Management director, told the council the department is a small team that coordinates large‑scale incident response and communications and urged council members to keep his and his deputy's contact information readily available. "You need to know how to reach us," Cowan said, stressing that elected officials benefit from timely, accurate briefings during incidents.

Cowan outlined the department's responsibilities: maintaining plans, staffing the Emergency Operations Center at the fairgrounds, coordinating warning and alert messages, and facilitating communications among fire, EMS, schools and hospitals during incidents that exceed routine response capacity. He described the incident command system as the standard framework the county uses for organizing response and said the EOC has a line connecting council in a policy role to the top of the incident command structure.

Cowan proposed multiple engagement options for the council: one‑on‑one familiarization about ICS, a short 20–30 minute basics briefing in council session, participation in county exercises such as a planned oil spill drill and other tabletop exercises, and public talks on individual preparedness (the next county talk scheduled April 17 at the Grange). Councilmembers supported an ICS familiarization and discussed potential exercises and trainings so elected officials can operate effectively at a high level in major incidents.

Why it matters: The Emergency Management department coordinates cross‑agency response in events that exceed normal local capacity. Cowan said a primary goal is to ensure elected officials are informed and can support public messaging and policy direction without impeding operational response.

Next steps: Cowan will follow up to schedule briefings and training options, and staff will circulate registration and outreach materials for the April preparedness talk.