Douglas County officially appoints Emergency Management Director Kara Easton
Submitted by paula on Thu, 06/15/2023 - 1:46pm
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Douglas County’s Emergency Management Director Kara Easton was officially appointed at the Board of County Commissioner’s meeting on June 15, 2023. Although Easton started her employment with Douglas County on May 8, the County was still under contract for Emergency Management services with East Fork Fire District through June 30, 2023. She assumes her official position on July 1, 2023.
A new emergency management department is being created after the County chose to bring services in-house with a growing need due to fire and floods and other concerns. The County had been contracting out those services to East Fork Fire.
The Board of County Commissioners presented East Fork Fire and Chief Carlini with a proclamation for its dedicated years of service in Emergency Management Services to Douglas County.
“I’m incredibly appreciative of the support I have received from East Fork Fire and from the entire community as the transition continues,” Easton said. “I’m excited for the future of emergency management in Douglas County and am dedicated to expanding upon the existing framework focusing on prevention-mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.”
Easton most recently served the City of Las Vegas as the Emergency Management Specialist, where she was in the role since 2016. Highlights of Easton’s experience include extensive work in Incident Command System (ICS) training, collaboration with stakeholders and city personnel, state-certified lead instructor for ICS, writing emergency-operation plans, and assistance with tabletop exercise planning. She also served as the City’s Logistics’ Section Chief in the Emergency Operations response for the City of Las Vegas.
Easton will also be hiring an Emergency Management Coordinator to help improve the County’s emergency response. In addition, Easton oversees the Douglas County 911 Communications Dispatch Department.
Emergency Management is a critical core function and primary responsibility of local government. Given the evolving nature of emergency management, many state and local agencies are taking steps to evaluate and streamline programs to ensure the most effective and efficient operations possible. On October 6, 2022, Douglas joined Lyon and Storey counties in creating new stand-alone emergency management positions in three out of the four quad counties in the region.
“We are grateful to East Fork and Chief Carlini for their role in providing crucial public safety services for residents, businesses, and visitors,” said County Manager Jenifer Davidson. “We look forward to continuing to partner with East Fork in the future to improve program effectiveness and we thank them for their dedicated service.”