Orland Park officials last week voted to adopt a comprehensive overhaul of its emergency management system, creating a formal Emergency Management Agency (EMA) coordinator position and establishing clear protocols for coordinating disaster response across all village departments.
The village board unanimously approved an ordinance that replaces an older emergency services framework with a structure that is designed to improve coordination during crises and clarify the chain of command.
The new coordinator will report to both the village managerand police chief, and will have authority to mobilize equipment and personnel from public works, police, parks and other departments during emergencies. The ordinance also extends workers’ compensation coverage to volunteers assisting with emergency response.
“This puts us in a much better place going forward,” Mayor Jim Dodge said. “You need the excellence, you need the operational gearing, you need the inter-relationships with all the other departments that you’re dependent on for equipment and manpower.”
The ordinance was the result of months of of work by village staff, including detailed discussions about budget authority, procurement procedures and access to departmental resources.
Trustee Dina Lawrence raised several technical questions during the meeting about how the coordinator would interact with other department heads and how purchasing decisions would be made.
Village Manager George Koczwara clarified that the EMA coordinator would make purchasing recommendations that would then go through the village’s standard procurement process, similar to how other department directors operate.
The ordinance also specifies that the EMA can utilize existing agency facilities and supplies. Trustee Lawrence noted that this means the coordinator could access equipment from public works – including light towers, generators and plows – if needed during an emergency.
Koczwara called the process a “total team effort.”