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Emergency Services
About our Agency
The department is organized into 3 areas by the services provided: Addressing, 9-1-1 and Emergency Management. Overall leadership of Emergency Services is provided by the Director who is responsible for all of the ongoing operations of the department.
Hours of Operation
Emergency Services operates Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The 9-1-1 Center is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Citizens Right to Know
Any emergency response plans, material safety data sheets and inventory forms received by the Richmond County Local Emergency Planning Committee are available for public review at 200 Industrial Park Dr in Rockingham.
To learn more about the Right-to-Know Act and to download the Tier II Request form click here.
In 1992, the Richmond County Board of Commissioners decided to begin the process of implementing an enhanced 9-1-1 (E-9-1-1) system. What this meant is the county went away from using rural route addresses and the county began using a house number and street name. This re-addressing process took close to two years to complete. A database was created, along with a Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) and each address was assigned an Emergency Services Number (ESN). An ESN tells the 9-1-1 telecommunicator which police, fire or rescue squad serves this address. The Addressing Department is in the process of migrating to a Geographic Information System (GIS) based addressing.
In April 1993, the Richmond County 9-1-1 Center came to life! Known as ECOMM, the center employs sixteen full time employees. There are twenty-six (26) full time telecommunicators, a Training Officer, a QA/Addressing Assistant, a Deputy Director and Director of Emergency Services. The center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a minimum of five telecommunicators on duty at a time. ECOMM dispatches law enforcement, fire and medical calls for service to all appropriate agencies within Richmond County.
ECOMM utilizes the latest technology to process emergency calls for service. Such technology as Phase II for wireless 9-1-1 calls, computer aided dispatch software to manage resources and an internationally recognized fire and medical protocol system for call processing. ECOMM also utilizes two different mapping systems to locate the caller: MDS mapping system and Pictometry.
Emergency Management is a local function, which is aligned with the State of North Carolina for the Planning, Preparation, Response to, and finally the recovery from catastrophic accident or natural disaster.
The primary function is the process of accessing the county for vulnerability and or its susceptibility to be stricken or impacted from either man-made/technological or natural disasters as well as planning for such events.
Richmond County has a Multi-hazard Plan for such events, which has potential to adversely affect our county, ranging from dam failure, winter storms, tornadoes, earthquakes to hazardous material accidents.
Also the plan provides by Ordinance, the mechanism for the Board of Commissioners to declare a State of Emergency, whereby they may prohibit or control certain activities within our county.
The plan further provides for the roles and responsibilities for the various county departments and agencies in service to its citizens during time of disaster.
The emergency planning function is participated by all emergency services staff and is an on-going work in progress.
However, the most important aspect is the cooperation and involvement between all agencies who may participate in a disaster both county agencies as well as outside and state resources, all who can and do play a role in both disaster response and recovery.
Community Right-to-Know
In 1986, in the wake of the Bhopal, India disaster, the U.S. Congress enacted the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act as part of the Superfund Amendments and Re-authorization Act (SARA). This Act (PL 99-499) requires industry to provide information to local governments and citizens on the types and amounts of hazardous materials they manufacture, store, handle, use or release regularly into the environment.
The intent of the Act was that, with this important information, communities could take steps to reduce the risk of fires, explosions, and pollution and be better prepared for emergencies before they occur. Further information may be obtained by contacting:
Richmond County Emergency Management
200 Industrial Park Dr, Rockingham, NC 28379
910-997-8238
The CodeRED emergency notification system is in use every day as a public alerting tool to deliver critical communications including evacuations, active shooter, local or state-wide declarations of emergency, shelter or warming locations, missing persons and recoveries, BOLOs and much more.
Click on the link below if you would like to be notified.