Different by Design
We’re not your typical emergency management department—and that’s on purpose.
San Mateo County’s Department of Emergency Management prepares and supports 775,000 residents across one of California’s most complex regions: 20 cities and 18 unincorporated communities, stretching from the Pacific coastline to the bay. When disasters don’t stop at city borders, neither can we.
Why Our Team Is Built Differently
Today’s emergencies aren’t simple. Earthquakes trigger landslides. Wildfires lead to mudslides when the rains come. Atmospheric rivers cause flooding that knocks out power, which affects hospitals, which strains emergency services. One disaster can set off a chain reaction across our interconnected communities.
To meet these complex, cascading crises, we’ve built a team with expertise you won’t find in most emergency management agencies. We pair veteran emergency managers with data scientists, environmental specialists, infrastructure experts, and social scientists. Our staff brings backgrounds in climatology, geology, advanced analytics, technology integration, and human-centered design.
We’re also multigenerational, multicultural, and multilingual—because the communities we serve are too.
How We Work
Our 3C Framework—Connection, Capability, and Communication—guides everything we do.
We think in three operational modes:
- Blue Sky: Everyday preparedness—planning, training, and building relationships
- Grey Sky: Heightened readiness when threats emerge
- Dark Sky: Active crisis response
This approach keeps us ready for whatever comes and helps us scale our response to match the moment.
Our Vision
We’re working to make San Mateo County the most resilient county in the nation by 2030. That means not just responding to disasters, but preventing harm before it happens, reaching every community—especially those historically underserved—and building systems that will outlast all of us.