The Military Department, under the direction of the state's Adjutant General, is responsible for administering a comprehensive emergency management program for the state to ensure adequate preparation for disasters, administration of state and federal programs providing disaster relief to individuals, and further ensure adequate support for search and rescue operations. Each political subdivision?county, city, or town?of the state must establish or jointly create a local organization for carrying out emergency management functions in accordance with the state comprehensive emergency management plan.
The state's Emergency Management Act (EMA) requires the state to accept liability for damage to property, injury, or death caused by acts done or attempted during an emergency, disaster, search and rescue, training, or an exercise authorized by the Military Department in preparation of such. In certain circumstances the state must indemnify a person who has been appointed and regularly enrolled as an emergency worker while engaged in emergency management duties, or as a member of any agency of the state or political subdivision engaged in emergency management activity, or their dependents, for damage done to their private property or for any judgment against them for acts done in good faith in compliance with the EMA.
The EMA grants immunity from legal liability for acts of covered volunteer emergency workers while engaged in a covered activity. "Covered activity" means providing assistance or transportation during an emergency or disaster or a search and rescue, or participating in a training or exercise in preparation for an emergency or disaster or search and rescue. A "covered volunteer emergency worker" is a volunteer who is registered as an emergency worker with the local emergency management organization or the Military Department. The covered volunteer emergency worker immunity extends to:
The covered volunteer emergency worker immunity applies only when the covered volunteer emergency worker was engaged in a covered activity within the volunteer emergency worker's assigned duties and under the direction of a local emergency management organization or the Military Department, or under a local law enforcement agency if for a search and rescue. The covered volunteer emergency worker immunity also applies only if the covered volunteer emergency worker's act or omission does not constitute gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
The definition of emergency worker is expanded to include a person who is registered with a federally recognized tribe within the state, so long as the Military Department receives a tribal government resolution declaring the tribal government's intention to participate in the Emergency Worker Program.
The state's responsibility under the EMA to accept liability for harm caused by acts arising from good faith attempts to comply with the EMA is expanded to include indemnification of members of federally recognized tribes. The immunity provided for acts or omissions of covered volunteer emergency workers while engaged in a covered activity extends to federally recognized tribes within Washington.
PRO: A recent review of the emergency management statute revealed that it is silent with respect to tribes. Tribes can mobilize and exchange volunteers and they often do, but they do so without the protections afforded by the Emergency orker program. This simple change extends the applicability of the Emergency Worker Program to tribes. This is particularly important because nearly all local and tribal governments, especially those in rural areas, rely on volunteer workers to provide necessary search capabilities for effective disaster response and recovery.