Director's Office
David Halstead
Interim Deputy Director
David Halstead started his fire service career as a volunteer firefighter in 1970 in Central Florida, later becoming a paid firefighter for the City of Altamonte Springs and retiring in 1998 as an Assistant Fire Chief. During his service to the City he was a paramedic, instructor for hazardous materials, became a certified emergency manager and coordinating the cities emergency management program.
In 1992 he was part of a task force from Seminole County that immediately responded to Miami-Dade County in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. After his retirement he came to the State Division of Emergency Management serving from 1999-2004, implementing the recommendations made to the Governor after the devastating wildfires of 1998. He coordinated the statewide assessment for emergency services after the attacks of September 11, 2001. He served as Emergency Services Branch Chief during the 2004 hurricane season. In 2005 he assisted in leading more than 1,000 of Florida’s responders into the southern counties of Mississippi immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.
In 2004 he was appointed as the first Chief of Domestic Preparedness for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. In that capacity he coordinates the efforts of the state working group for domestic preparedness in developing and refining an all discipline approach to potential acts of terrorism.
Halstead returned to the Division in April, 2006 as Bureau Chief for Response. He also serves as the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) Chief, responsible for managing the day-to-day and activation operations of the State Watch Office and State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, the alternate Emergency Operations Center, Domestic Preparedness Grants, Critical Infrastructure, and the State Logistics Response Center in Orlando.
On May 12, 2009 Governor Charlie Crist appointed Halstead as Interim Deputy Director of the Division of Emergency Management.
Updated:
May 18, 2009 16:32