San Mateo County Emergency Management

What San Mateo County Emergency Management does

San Mateo County Emergency Management (San Mateo County Department of Emergency Management) is the official county government department responsible for coordinating emergency preparedness, response, and recovery across San Mateo County, California. Operating from its headquarters at 501 Winslow Street in Redwood City, the department serves all unincorporated areas and incorporated cities within the county — including Daly City, San Mateo, Redwood City, and Menlo Park — as well as county businesses and visiting populations. It runs the SMC Alert emergency notification system and has deployed Genasys Protect (formerly Zonehaven) for zone-based evacuation management, while also producing educational and planning artifacts such as the Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, the annual Disaster Preparedness Day event, and the SMC Firewise wildfire preparedness program.

The department's operating model is government service delivery rather than commercial product sales. All emergency alerts, preparedness resources, training workshops, and event programming are provided free of charge to residents and visitors. Funding flows from County of San Mateo budget appropriations, taxpayer revenues, and federal and state emergency management grants, including FEMA and California Office of Emergency Services allocations. Outreach and distribution leverage official channels — the smcgov.org portal, GovDelivery email subscriptions, social media, and the county newsroom — supplemented by cross-promotion through partner agencies including San Mateo County Fire, the Sheriff's Office, County Health, Public Safety Communications (911 Dispatch), the Library system, and community partners such as Stanford Blood Center.

The product surface is effectively a portfolio of three coordinated offerings: SMC Alert for multi-channel resident notification, Genasys Protect for zone-aware evacuation and public safety messaging, and the annual Disaster Preparedness Day as the primary community engagement touchpoint. The department operates under the County of San Mateo government structure, with statutory authority over county-wide emergency coordination and accountability to residents through the County Board of Supervisors.

Name

San Mateo County Emergency Management

Legal name

San Mateo County Department of Emergency Management

Website

https://smcdisa​sterprep.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

San Mateo County Emergency Management is the county government department that coordinates emergency preparedness, response, and recovery for all San Mateo County residents and visitors, operating the SMC Alert notification system, the Genasys Protect evacuation platform, and the annual Disaster Preparedness Day program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Emergency Management Services

NAICS

Fire Protection (922160), Police Protection (922120)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAIAGAE

Emergency Management & Disaster Response (EOC, Civil Defense)

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/Law Enforcement & Public Safety (Police, Fire, EMS)

SECONDARYBPAIACAL

Community Safety Administration (Fire/EMS, Emergency Management)

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/Local/Municipal Government Administration

SECONDARYBPAIABAG

State/Provincial Public Safety & Emergency Management (Police, Fire, EMS Oversight)

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/State/Provincial & Regional Government Administration

Keywords

• Emergency management services
• Disaster preparedness
• Emergency alert systems
• Public safety coordination
• Hazard mitigation planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Redwood City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. County Government Funding: Operations funded through San Mateo County government budget allocations and taxpayer revenues
2. Federal and State Emergency Management Grants: Receives funding from federal and state emergency management programs including FEMA grants and California Office of Emergency Services allocations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

San Mateo County Emergency Management coordinates countywide emergency preparedness, response, and recovery services for residents of San Mateo County, California. It operates public alert and notification systems, conducts community preparedness events, and partners with fire, police, EMS, health, and sheriff agencies to deliver coordinated disaster response and protection services free of charge.

Product overview

San Mateo County Emergency Management operates a unified emergency preparedness and notification system consisting of SMC Alert for resident notifications, Genasys Protect (Zone Haven) for zone-based emergency communication, and the annual Disaster Preparedness Day community outreach event. These products work together to provide comprehensive emergency management services to county residents, combining real-time alerting technology with community education and preparedness resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SMC Alert: Emergency alert and notification system for San Mateo County residents
• Genasys Protect
• SMC Firewise

Products and services

• SMC Alert System County-wide emergency alert system that delivers real-time notifications to San Mateo County residents about imminent threats, evacuations, and emergencies via email, SMS, voice, and other communication channels.
• Genasys Protect (Zonehaven) Zone-based emergency notification and preparedness platform that enables real-time communication with communities during emergencies, supporting evacuation planning and public safety messaging.
• Disaster Preparedness Day

Quantifiable outcome

• Free emergency preparedness resources and workshops available to all county residents at annual Disaster Preparedness Day events

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stanford Blood CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStanford Blood Center provides mobile blood donation units at annual Disaster Preparedness Day events, offering convenient blood donation opportunities for county residents during the event. This partnership enhances the community health impact of the preparedness events.
• San Mateo County FirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint emergency preparedness activities including participation in Disaster Preparedness Day events, fire safety demonstrations, and coordinated emergency response planning.
• San Mateo County Sheriff's OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on public safety communications, emergency information dissemination, and community engagement through joint events and coordinated emergency management.
• San Mateo County HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordination on health-related emergency preparedness including earthquake safety, flooding resources, and general public health emergency planning.
• San Mateo County LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity outreach collaboration to distribute emergency preparedness information and resources through county library locations.
• Genasys / ZonehavencoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partnership for emergency notification and evacuation zone management system (Genasys Protect / Zonehaven) used for public safety communications during emergencies.
• Public Safety Communications (911 Dispatch)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose operational partnership for 911 emergency dispatch coordination and public safety communications infrastructure.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management: County-level emergency management agency for Los Angeles County responsible for preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation across a much larger population. Directly comparable as a California county emergency management office delivering similar alerting, planning, and community preparedness services.
• Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Management: Neighboring Bay Area county emergency management office that coordinates preparedness, response, and recovery across Santa Clara County municipalities. Directly comparable as a same-state county agency serving overlapping hazard profiles (earthquake, wildfire, flood).
• Alameda County Office of Emergency Management: Bay Area county emergency management agency that coordinates all-hazards preparedness and response for Alameda County. Comparable as another California county office with similar alerting, training, and hazard mitigation responsibilities.
• San Francisco Department of Emergency Management: Municipal-level emergency management agency that operates AlertSF and coordinates citywide emergency preparedness and 911/311 integration. Comparable as a same-region, same-state government emergency management office with overlapping urban hazard and alerting functions.

Broad incumbents

• California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES): State-level emergency management authority that funds and oversees county-level emergency management functions including San Mateo County. Comparable as the statewide umbrella agency for emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.
• FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency): Federal agency that provides grant funding, national incident management, and public preparedness guidance to local emergency management offices including San Mateo County. Comparable as the broader-incumbent public-sector provider of emergency management frameworks and disaster funding.
• Everbridge: Commercial mass notification and critical event management platform used by many public-sector agencies for emergency alerts and resident notifications. Comparable as a broader-incumbent commercial alternative to Genasys for the alerting layer that San Mateo County operates.

Others

• Genasys Inc. Provider of the Genasys Protect / Zonehaven emergency notification and zone-based evacuation platform used by San Mateo County. Comparable as the underlying enabling technology vendor whose software powers core county alerting and evacuation management functions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about San Mateo County Emergency Management