Learning About CRESA

The Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency ) is a regional public safety agency that provides 9-1-1 dispatch, technology services and emergency management. CRESA’s service area includes each of the seven cities within Clark County – Battle Ground, Camas, La Center, Ridgefield, Vancouver, Washougal, and Yacolt – as well as the unincorporated areas of the county.

In Clark County, an emergency that is too large for any single first responder agency (fire, law enforcement, EMT) is assessed, managed and responded to by an organization called CRESA, the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency. CRESA’s job is to coordinate the other first responder agencies to work together during an emergency, be it a natural disaster, a terrorist attack or a viral epidemic. CRESA also houses the 911 call center. If you ever call 911 in Clark County, the call will be received by one of the 911 dispatchers at CRESA’s main office.

Eric Frank, CRESA’s emergency coordinator, spoke about the organization’s three main branches: the 911 call center, emergency management, and technical services.

Technical services involves radio towers, handheld radios, computers and all other infrastructure that supports emergency responders out in the field. Frank continued to explain that the 911 call center is sometimes used to coordinate other emergency agencies like fire and public works, while emergency management is an overarching umbrella that is activated in times of great need in the county.

If a natural disaster is too large for one first response agency to handle, CRESA is brought in to manage the emergency. If, from that point, the disaster exceeds the resources available in the county, CRESA looks to the state government for guidance. CRESA's 'activation' can take the form of a declaration of emergency from the governor, emergency personnel brought in from other counties, and resources diverted to the impacted area. If at that point the resources available to manage the disaster are still not available, the federal government will become involved and begin supplying aid in any way possible, be that a declaration of emergency from the president or calling in FEMA or the National Guard.

Frank said if he had to send only one message to the public about CRESA, he would make it a three part message. “There is so much of what CRESA does from 911 operations to emergency management. From the 911 side the side of the preparedness, the importance of knowing your location and knowing where you are.”

Frank said that frequently 911 callers assume that the GPS in their phone will allow emergency responders to track them, but that is very frequently not the case. Knowing your location will speed up your rescue by a factor of minutes, which can literally be the difference between life and death in certain situations. Second, Frank says “if you accidentally call 911 they are legally obligated to call you back, so don't hang up, just explain it was an accident.” Frank estimated that approximately 20 percent of all 911 calls are accidental. When people call and realize they made the mistake, they hang up immediately, but this forces the 911 dispatcher to call back and tie the line up to make sure an emergency has not needed response from law enforcement, fire or EMT. Finally, from the emergency management side of CRESA’s activities, Frank said the most important message he could send to citizens of Clark County is to take responsibility for their own safety. “You need to take some responsibility, something is eventually going to happen, CRESA can't be there for everybody in those non-life safety incidents,” he said. People are going to be on their own and counting on each other, counting on their neighbors and their families to make them more resilient and able to bounce back from any emergency.”