(a) When a governmental entity is affected by an occurrence that its resources will not be adequate to handle, the governmental entity may request aid through the appropriate emergency management employee or official, or a county or municipality may declare a local state of emergency as provided in § 58-8-104 and request assistance by communicating the request to a potential responding party or multiple potential responding parties. Requests for aid or for assistance must be made by the appropriate official or employee to the emergency communications dispatch center of potential responding parties or other officials authorized by the potentially responding party to respond to requests under this chapter.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 58-8-105

  • Aid: means the same as assistance, except that aid is provided in an occurrence during any period of time when a state of emergency has not been declared. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • Assistance: means the provision of personnel, equipment, facilities, services, supplies, and other resources to assist in firefighting, law enforcement, the provision of public works services, the provision of emergency medical care, the provision of civil defense services, or any other emergency assistance one governmental entity is able to provide to another in response to a request for assistance in a municipal, county, state, or federal state of emergency. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Emergency: means an occurrence or threat of an occurrence, whether natural or man-made, that results in or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property and which results in a declaration of a state of emergency by a municipal mayor, a county mayor or executive, the governor, or the president. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • Employee: means paid, volunteer, and auxiliary personnel and emergency management workers of a governmental entity. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • Governmental entity: means any political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, any incorporated city or town, metropolitan government, county, utility district, school district, nonprofit volunteer fire department receiving public funds and recognized under title 68, chapter 102, part 3, rescue squad, human resource agency, public building authority, airport authority, and development district, or any instrumentality of government created by one (1) or more of these named governmental entities or the general assembly, or any entity otherwise recognized by state law as a local governmental entity. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Occurrence: means the imminent threat of an event or an actual event and its aftermath, whether natural or man-made, that could lead to or results in bodily injury or property damage. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Requesting party: means a governmental entity that requests aid or assistance from another governmental entity under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • Responding party: means a governmental entity that has received and responded to a request to provide mutual aid or assistance to another governmental entity under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 58-8-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Each request for aid or assistance may be made verbally and should, to the extent possible, include the following:

(1) A statement that an occurrence is imminent, in progress, or has occurred. The statement should also indicate whether a declaration of a state of emergency has been made and give a general description of the occurrence or emergency, including an initial estimate of the damages and injuries sustained or expected;
(2) Identification of the service functions for which aid or assistance is needed and the particular type of aid or assistance needed;
(3) The amount of personnel, equipment, materials, and supplies needed; and
(4) An estimated time and place for a representative of the requesting party to meet the responding party.
(c) Each request for aid or assistance may include the following if known or necessary:

(1) An estimate of the amount of time, aid, or assistance that will be needed.
(2) Identification of the types of infrastructure for which aid or assistance is needed, e.g., water and sewer, streets, gas, electric, or other infrastructure; and
(3) Identification of the need for sites, structures, or other facilities outside the requesting party’s jurisdiction to serve as relief centers or staging areas for incoming emergency goods or services.
(d) All requests for assistance shall be confirmed in writing to the responding party or parties within thirty (30) days of the initial request. Parties shall keep records of all requests made for assistance under this chapter.
(e) In addition to any agreement for mutual aid made under title 5 or title 12, a governmental entity is authorized to request mutual aid for emergency medical services provided under title 68, chapter 140, from the emergency communications dispatch center of a county that is contiguous to the requesting county or governmental entity for occurrences that involve serious injuries or possible loss of life in instances that might not reasonably lead to a declared emergency.
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