About Us
New Hampshire Homeland Security & Emergency Management is the state agency responsible for coordinating the planning for, responding to and recovery from major natural and manmade disaster.
The New Hampshire Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management is the state agency responsible for coordinating the planning for, responding to and recovery from major natural and manmade disaster. The Division is part of the New Hampshire Department of Safety and is the state-level equivalent of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The origin of the Division dates back to 1950 as the New Hampshire Civil Defense Agency. It became the Governor's Office of Emergency Management in 1987 and joined the Department of Safety in 2002. Through legislation in 2006, the state's homeland security functions and emergency management functions were combined to form the Division as it is today.
Emergencies occur every day and the vast majority of them are handled at the local level by police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel. The Division only becomes involved in major disasters where state resources are needed or where the size of duration of the disaster requires a coordinated state response.
The Division is headquartered at the Incident Planning and Operations Center on the grounds of the State Fire Academy, and houses the State Emergency Operations Center.
The Division has about 75 employees.