Introduction

The basic function of the Baranya County Disaster Management Directorate is protecting the lives and the property of the population living in the county and insuring the safe operation of the national economy and protecting the elements of the critical infrastructure.

Its main duties are to prevent disasters as an authority; carry out rescue operations in civil emergencies; to organise and control protection activities; to eliminate the negative consequences of emergencies and to perform reconstruction and rehabilitation.

In order to fulfil its function:

• It possesses a wide range of industrial safety, fire safety and civil protection authoritative competences: regulates, permits, prohibits, restricts, controls and sanctions. In order to prevent emergencies it coordinates the activities of other authorities.
• It has county, district and local professional organizations, voluntary and obligated civil protection bodies.
• It possesses important competences in identifying and monitoring the critical infrastructure, and in civil emergency planning, in defense/protection administration, in the mobilization of the national economy.
• It regulates and directly commands and controls the fire protection system. Its local on-call professional bodies perform firefighting and conduct technical rescue operations, protect, inform and alert the population. It controls the participation of municipal and industrial fire brigades, and voluntary fire associations in firefighting and technical rescue operations. It effectuates the county level deployment control. It maintains an up-to-date telecommunications network, a deployment control and IT system, furthermore, measuring, detecting and public alert systems. It cooperates with other law enforcement bodies, the Hungarian Defense Forces, municipalities and other authorities ensuring public safety.
• It maintains relations with non-governmental and charitable organizations, with their federations, educational and scientific institutions and the media.