The Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency trains and manages an Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) that covers Aroostook County, part of Washington County, and part of Penobscot County.
Maine currently has 10 county based teams and 1 state level team that is made up from members of the Wardens Service, State Police, Department of Conservation and MEMA.
The Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) is a multidisciplinary group assembled for the purpose of augmenting the incident command system at the local, county or State response level. The team can also be used for large-scale events that require pre-planning. Members of the team are trained professionals that volunteer their time and are drawn from local response agencies, specialized teams, and State agencies or in some cases, even the private sector. This team is only deployed if requested by the local incident commander to the Aroostook EMA Director.
The purpose of creating an IMAT is to provide a valuable resource for state and local Incident Command /Unified Command staff at the scene of an emergency or disaster. IMAT would provide support to the Incident Commander/Unified Commander in the implementation of the incident command system and specifically in the formation and implementation of the Incident Action Plan (IAP). The purpose of IMAT is to support the incident commander, not assume or divide command authority.
In order to assist this team in its response, the Aroostook EMA has procured through the Homeland Security Grant process, specialized equipment. Some of this includes a mobile command trailer, a ¾ ton truck, a mobile communications tower, and many other items essential to the mission such as portable radios and laptops.
