Our Mission
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Emergency Management is located in the Office of the Director, BIA. Its mission is to ensure Tribal communities, local and regional BIA offices, BIA leadership, and external emergency management responders work together to build, sustain, and improve the capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
The OEM is responsible for coordinating BIA emergency management efforts internally, function as a liaison with Tribal communities for all phases of emergency management and collaborate with external resources, increasing the Bureau’s emergency management capacity. This mission requires significant interaction within the BIA, with other federal agencies, state governments, local governments, tribal governments and non-government organizations. This interaction emphasizes the multi-layered approach adopted for emergency management.
Policy
Who We Serve
BIA OEM program personnel provides emergency response support, incident coordination, and serves as a liaison between Bureau resources and other response entities to support emergency operations for disasters/emergencies on federal trust lands. Regional Coordinators also coordinate the Indian Affairs all hazard response operations and actions and provides assistance to Agency personnel and Tribal emergency management programs, recognizing and respecting the government-to-government relationship.
Services We Provide
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Connect With Our Team
The Office of Emergency Management is headquartered in Washington, DC with virtual staff located throughout the nation to provide technical expertise and program support to BIA's 12 Regions. Learn who your regional coordinator is here.
About the Office of Emergency Management
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Emergency Management (BIA EM) is responsible for policy development and program management of Indian Affairs activities concerning continuity of operations, disaster preparedness, planning, response and recovery. OEM represents Indian Affairs in coordinating across organizational elements of IA and interagency emergency management activities relating to Tribal affairs. This includes coordinating with and among federally recognized Tribes, federal agencies, states, and other jurisdictions to enhance preparedness and resilience of Tribal communities for disasters.
