Partner Profile: Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) spends most of its time behind the scenes and in support of our local agencies during events such as the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships. For more than three years members of the DHSEM have been involved in planning, preparing and supporting the resource needs of the event. This support comes from several areas within the division:

* Field Services
* Strategic Communications
* Operations/ State Emergency Operations Center
* Colorado Information Analysis Center

Chuck Vale, Regional Field Manager

The Field Services staff includes regional field managers and exercise specialists. They bring technical support in the areas of mobilizing and securing the resources necessary for the county to meet the needs of the event. Their support begins before the event with exercises and incident action plan development, continues with onsite support during the event and includes post-event evaluation.

The Strategic Communications team began its work more than three years ago as well through the support of exercise and training programs to support the now operational Joint Information Center (JIC). This training included most public and private partners involved in the event. The Strategic Communications team also worked within the JIC to support the local public information officers and to manager the Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team as it monitored the conversation on the web related to the event.

The State Emergency Operations remained virtually activated to support the needs of Eagle County and ready to respond to any requests for additional resources. The Colorado Information Analysis Center worked with the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to support the public safety needs of the local jurisdiction. They worked during the event in the Joint Operations Center.