THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS: A COMMUNITY EMERGENCY ORGANIZATION

The typical department of public works is a highly bureaucratic, public organization responsible for designing, constructing, and maintaining city property and certain services to the general public. It possesses specialized disaster relevant engineering and maintenance skills, extensive physical resources including large mobile equipment, and a fairly well developed radio communication system. Its two major categories of personnel, maintenance and engineering, are geared for emergency as well as normal operation. Except in floods and hurricanes, most departments are not active in community warning and pre-impact activity. Rather, they become most heavily involved after impact and remain so until well into the rehabilitation phase. In all but the most stressful community emergencies, the department carries out its pre-defined emergency tasks with its normal structure. (Author) Sponsored in part by Office of Civil Defense, Washington, D. C.