Emergency Preparedness & Management
Olmsted County Emergency Management
Olmsted County Sheriff's Office Contact Directory
The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office is responsible for Emergency Management for all of Olmsted County, including the management of outdoor warning sirens for severe weather awareness.
Our Mission: To ensure, through coordination with County and Local shareholders that the county is prepared to respond to, and recover from, all-natural and man-made emergencies. This office will provide the leadership and support to reduce the loss of life and property through an all-hazards emergency management program of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
Emergency preparedness requires attention not just to specific types of hazards but also to steps that increase preparedness for any type of hazard. Specific hazards that we need to be aware of and understand include Bioterrorism, Mass Casualties, Chemical Emergencies, Natural Diseases, Severe Weather, Radiation Emergencies, and Natural or Man-made Disease Outbreaks. During a disaster or emergency, your normal routine changes.
Medical Reserve Corps
During a response to a public health emergency, pre-trained and pre-registered volunteers may be needed to assist with various tasks. In 2008, Olmsted County Public Health Services created the Medical Reserve Corps of Olmsted County (MRCOC). The mission of the MRCOC is to enhance the emergency response capabilities in Olmsted County by recruiting and training a corps of medical, non-medical and public health volunteers to assist in response to a public health emergency.
Volunteers have been utilized as ushers, registration clerks, and forms reviewers for mass vaccination clinics. They’ve provided assistance during flood responses by delivering clean-up information to area businesses in flood-impacted communities along with general behavioral health.
Most recently, in 2020, volunteers assisted at the COVID-19 Graham Park Collaborative Collection Testing Site as station one greeters and helped with demobilization of the site to transition for winter. Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers transported materials to make cloth masks. Volunteers also assisted as injectors for the city and county employee annual flu clinic.
We are looking for volunteers interested in helping during a public health emergency. Volunteers are asked to attend an orientation and complete various training based on the core competencies from the National Office of the Civilian Volunteers Medical Reserve Corp. If you are interested, register at www.mnresponds.org. For other questions, contact us at mrcofolmstedcounty@co.olmsted.mn.us or call us directly at 507-328-7500.