Savannah, Ga. – Amtrak made history this week as the first Private Sector Entity to ever earn Emergency Management Programs accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). The Amtrak Emergency Management and Corporate Security (EMCS) department manages Amtrak’s security and preparedness program to help protect passengers, employees, and assets throughout the rail system.
“Congratulations to Amtrak for achieving this significant accomplishment in emergency management by earning accreditation. Through their commitment and leadership, they have demonstrated to their employees, passengers and stakeholders their program is sustainable, and safety and security are a top priority.” stated Robie Robinson, Executive Director of Public Safety, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and the EMAP Commission Chair.
Amtrak, America’s Railroad®, is dedicated to safe and reliable mobility as the nation’s intercity passenger rail service provider and its high-speed rail operator. With state and commuter partners, Amtrak moves more than 30 million Amtrak passengers for each of the past five years. Formally known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Amtrak is governed by a nine-member board of directors appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Providing emergency management programs the opportunity to be evaluated and recognized for compliance with standards certified by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) and recognized by the industry complies with the EMAP’s mission to build safer communities through credible standards of excellence. These programs demonstrate accountability and focus attention on areas and issues where resources are needed to heighten their preparedness efforts to any technical or natural disaster that may affect their communities.
To achieve accreditation, applicants must demonstrate through self-assessment, documentation and peer assessment verification that its program meets the Emergency Management Standard. The emergency management program uses the accreditation to prove the capabilities of their disaster preparedness and response systems. Accreditation is valid for five years and the program must maintain compliance with the Emergency Management Standard and is reassessed to maintain accredited status.
EMAP revolutionizes emergency management programs that coordinate preparedness and response activities for disasters based on standards. EMAP recognizes the ability of emergency management programs to bring together personnel, resources and communications from a variety of agencies and organizations in preparation for and in response to an emergency, in addition to obtaining the ability to measure those capabilities. The Emergency Management Standard is flexible in design so that programs of differing sizes, populations, risks and resources can use it as a blueprint for improvement and can attain compliance with those standards in an accreditation process. The accreditation process evaluates emergency management programs on compliance with requirements in sixteen areas, including: planning; resource management; training; exercises, evaluations, and corrective actions; communications and warning; and administration. This forms the foundation of the nation’s emergency preparedness system. EMAP is the only accreditation process for emergency management programs.