Carbon County officials commended its emergency management agency for being on top of emergency planning.

On Thursday, the county commissioners adopted the 2018 countywide emergency operations plan, which outlines various scenarios, how emergency responders should respond and who to contact in the event something is needed during an emergency.

Whether it be beekeepers, snowmobile operators or emergency shelter agreements, the plan covers it all.

“It’s an important document,” said Commissioner William O’Gurek, adding that Mark Nalesnik, county EMA coordinator; and the staff at the EMA are continually updating the multipart document.

Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard commended the staff, saying that after speaking with Nalesnik, he found out that the staff goes through the several hundred page plan, page by page, when updating it.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein also said that the EMA staff must keep up with personnel changes, elected officials and organizations throughout the county so when an emergency happens, the most up-to-date information is available to responders.

The commissioners used the example of the latest water rescue when 50 people were on the Lehigh River and needed help.

Nothstein said that in large-scale events like that, sometimes dozens of agencies are involved, so the emergency operations plan is useful for making sure the right agencies are called out to help.

He added that municipalities are required to have their own emergency operations plan in place, and resources from those plans help to complete the countywide plan.

The emergency operations plan will not be submitted to the state.