TEMA REGIONAL OFFICES

In addition to the agency’s headquarters, TEMA has three Regional Offices. The regional office serves as the primary day-to-day point of contact with local governments and the citizens of the state.  Each office is headed by a Regional Director, and has staffs that include an Administrative Officer and three or more Area Coordinators (AC). The Area Coordinators travel to local Emergency Management offices daily to coordinate planning and preparedness activities, insure that federally-assisted counties are complying with grant requirements, and provide training to local emergency responders. The AC also serves as the agency’s first line of response to major emergencies. A TEMA AC is always sent to any major emergency, emergencies involving multiple state agencies, hazardous materials, multiple fatalities, and other events upon the request of local officials.

Each county in Tennessee has its own Local Emergency Management Director, who serves at the pleasure of the Chief Executive Officer (County Executive). The Local Director is the key to Comprehensive Community Emergency Management, because disasters occur at the local government level. Some local Emergency Management programs receive federal funding assistance through TEMA. Such programs must meet minimum mutually agreed upon criteria. These counties are called State/Local Assistance (SLA) counties. The TEMA Regional Offices are responsible for ensuring SLA counties meet or exceed the minimum SLA criteria.

Regional personnel conduct a variety of training courses and workshops that include Hazardous Materials, damage assessment, professional emergency management courses and various other hazard related programs. All training for local government personnel is free of charge. This includes volunteer firemen, rescue squads and other personnel directly involved in providing emergency/disaster services.