Community and First Responders Services


Field Officers (Fire Field Officers and Emergency Management Field Officers) of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (Agency) are responsible for ensuring all Alberta's municipalities, Metis Settlements and First Nation communities have effective and well managed emergency, safety and fire protection systems in place. They achieve this by working closely with community authorities to develop and maintain their mitigation, preparedness, and response and recovery capabilities. These community based services are provided from regional offices located in Lethbridge, Calgary, Red Deer, Camrose, St. Paul, Grande Prairie and Peace River as well as from Head Office in Edmonton. 

Agency field officers enable:
  • Risk management and planning for emergencies
  • Advisory and support activities for communities and their first response agencies
  • Liaison with other partner agencies across government and federally
  • Fire investigation and inspection services
  • Access to grants and opportunities for training and exercises
  • A critical resource for communities requiring direct assistance during the response phase of an emergency
  • Access to Disaster Recovery Programs and the development of broader recovery strategies in the aftermath of the most serious events


In partnership with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Agency also employs two First Nation district officers working directly with Alberta's 46 First Nation communities, where they build capability, capacity and resilience in emergency management and ensure all Agency services are available and accessible in those communities.

Under the Agency Critical Event Response Plan, field officers guarantee a timely and effective Agency response to the most serious and complex emergencies wherever they occur in support of community and government responders 24/7/365. In this role, field staff can influence events at the site and the municipal or community emergency operations centre by:

  • Providing direct support and assistance to community operations
  • Evaluating:
    • Incident severity and impact
    • Community response capacity
    • Required Agency or other Government of Alberta and/or Industry actions and resources
  • Improving accuracy and currency of information to the Agency Duty Manager, leading to quicker decisions and resource allocation
  • Consistent Agency service to all communities
  • Greater agility in resource provision to communities

Services provided to Communities and First Responders