Snohomish County emergency management briefs Lynnwood council on NIMS, EOC roles and local readiness

Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management officials briefed the Lynnwood City Council Wednesday on how county emergency management supports city responses, the roles elected officials play under the National Incident Management System and planned updates to county and city emergency plans.

The presentation, delivered by Lucia Schmidt, director of the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon, and training by Jared Dippel, the department’s readiness program manager, explained when the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and other support functions would activate and what local leaders can expect to do. Deputy Chief Chuck Steichen, Lynnwood’s point of contact with the county, described the city EOC setup and local staffing challenges.

The briefing matters because city officials will be expected to make time-sensitive policy decisions — including emergency declarations, delegations of purchasing authority and prioritization of scarce resources — as incidents scale beyond department capabilities. Schmidt emphasized the county’s role as “connective tissue” between agencies during incidents that exceed local operating procedures.

County officials said the department performs preparedness work before incidents, operational coordination during incidents and after-action improvement afterward. “We are active before, during and after emergencies,” Lucia Schmidt told the council, describing the county’s duty officer program that provides 24/7 on-call support and the department’s ability to scale up to an activated EOC when needed. Schmidt also noted the department has about 20 staff and that some positions are…