 The Cal-O-E-S Mutual Aid System is the backbone of emergency management, moving resources between states by helping communities and neighbors as they respond to disaster. Within the Mutual Aid System is the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, commonly known as EMAC. EMAC includes all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The definition of Mutual Aid is really neighbor-helping neighbor, and so if we can, one, bring California subject matter expertise to another state and help them respond and recover quicker. During a disaster, resources are strategically positioned throughout the state. Once those resources are overwhelmed, California can request additional support, sometimes from beyond the state line. Typically, we do reach out to our neighboring states just because it's quicker to receive resources that way, but as we've seen back in 2020, we had fire engines come all the way from New Jersey. EMAC plays a critical role within the emergency management community by providing expertise and support during times of need. EMAC is implemented on behalf of each state governor by the state emergency management agencies. The process is relatively straightforward. Once a state declares an emergency, a request for resources can be initiated, starting with the closest states. Mutual Aid resources are then mobilized and deployed to impacted areas, starting with a 14-day deployment. Other states can reach out at any time so long as they have that proclamation, and it's just a state-to-state relationship to basically open up lines of communication, see what's available, and if both states agree, then that process can take place. As wildfires raged into Mexico, Cal OES coordinated firefighting resources, as well as a recovery team consisting of experts in watershed and debris flow, debris operations, public assistance, individual assistance, and interagency recovery coordination. Cal OES spoke with Ali Rai of the New Mexico Emergency Management about their decision to use the EMAC process to request support from other states. We wanted to learn when they determined they needed more support and when they started reaching out to other states. We actually ran the incident for probably about, I don't know, probably about two and a half, three weeks, and we knew that we were getting very overwhelmed. So I will say my staff, typically, I have a staff of about 20. Actively right now I have a staff of seven, not including the California folks that you guys have sent as via EMAC. So we got to a point where we were just very overwhelmed in general. With little rest and working around the clock, the situation was growing increasingly dire without EMAC support. I probably wouldn't have any staff. We would just have gotten to a point where we were so exhausted and so overwhelmed that either the federal government would have had to come in, the feds through FEMA would have had to come in and pretty much run everything. Or we, I would have had people quitting on me to be perfectly honest. At the same time, Cal OES sent resources to New Mexico, additional personnel deployed to Montana to assist with historic flooding. Resources from throughout the country have all deployed to California in support of past statewide disasters. In return, California has regularly sent resources to neighboring states to assist with response and recovery efforts for wildfires and Puerto Rico for earthquakes and to the south and the east coast for tornadoes and hurricanes. Disasters have no boundaries. Neither does mutual aid support. We built friendships. We built relationships. We built people for us who were springboard ideas off of later on once the fires have died down. It's not just about coming in and helping during that period of time. It was about building capacity honestly. The days are long and travel can often be rushed and disruptive. The terrain unfamiliar. We didn't know if we were going to get days off for breaks and we were prepared to not and grateful that we did. The mission though is always the same. Support the impacted communities and set them up for long-term success. It was a very fulfilling experience to get sent to another state and support New Mexico. I mean, it's fulfilling to work at Cal OES anyway, supporting the state of California, but to bring what is sort of an unfortunate subject matter expertise with wildfire recovery to another state so that they can help their public faster. For more on EMAC and to see more from Cal OES, visit news.caloes.ca.gov and follow us on all our social media platforms.