Emergency preparedness and planning is a vital part of emergency response for Stark County. The Stark County Emergency Management Agency has a central role in emergency preparedness for the county. EMA serves all local government offices that have direct responsibility for the safety of Stark County residents. Stark County EMA has additional legal responsibilities for emergency response, recovery, and serves as the point of contact/coordination between municipal, state, and federal governments. Specific areas of authority and responsibilities for emergency management are clearly delineated in state law, as well as local, and county ordinances.  Despite high levels of cooperation, tension still exists between local county and state jurisdictions. To help alleviate this tension the National Incident Management System trains jurisdictions to develop a unified command structure.

Different agencies within Stark County often collaborate to form contingency plans for weather, health and hazardous material emergencies. The recent H1N1 flu pandemic is an example of the collaboration of the health departments, Sheriff’s Department and others in the distribution of flu vaccines. Such a response comes from the Public Health Disaster Plan which includes a Standard Operation Guidelines for a variety of health threats to the community. The public health departments work cooperatively with partners in the development of the plan. Additionally, drills and exercises are conducted locally and regionally to test and evaluate the community’s readiness should a health-related disaster occur.