(a) Department of Emergency Management; Director. There is hereby created a Department of Emergency Management. The Mayor shall appoint a Director of the Department of Emergency Management who shall serve as department head and appointing officer for the Department. The Director, at the time of appointment, must have a total of at least ten years of employment, experience, or professional service in any of the following fields: firefighting, law enforcement, public health, or military service, or in the fields of disaster management or emergency preparedness and relief at the local, state, or federal level. At least five years of that employment, experience or professional service shall be at a management level. The Director shall serve at the pleasure of the Mayor and shall report directly to the Mayor. The Department shall include such officers and employees as are authorized pursuant to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter.
(b) Divisions. The Department shall include two divisions: (i) Emergency Communications and (ii) Emergency Services, each headed by a deputy director appointed by the Director of the Department of Emergency Management, with each Deputy Director reporting directly to the Director.
(c) Emergency Communications. The Emergency Communications division of the Department shall manage the Combined Emergency Communications Center and related systems, and shall direct all operations related to taking calls from members of the public seeking emergency police, fire and medical assistance and related to the dispatch of emergency police, fire and medical services. The Deputy Director of the Department of Emergency Management for Emergency Communications shall have experience in the field of emergency communications, including experience at a management level in a large municipal, county, or military communications center, and sufficient professional training and/or experience to manage the operations of the Combined Emergency Communications Center and related systems.
(d) Emergency Services. The Emergency Services Division of the Department shall be responsible for supporting and overseeing the Emergency Services of San Francisco, as further provided in Chapter 7 of this Code. The Deputy Director for the Department of Emergency Management for Emergency Services shall have experience in the field of emergency preparedness and relief, preferably at a management level.
(Added by Ord. 286-98, App. 9/18/98; Ord. 261-06, File No. 061116, App. 10/13/2006)