The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has developed over many years. Beginning in the 1970s the Government of The Bahamas maintained a "desk" to deal with hurricane preparedness and response. This "desk" was manned by a single officer who attended meetings and during the hurricane season convened meetings of the hurricane committee. The government also maintained the National Emergency Relief Account at the Royal Bank of Canada, funds which were used as early as 1965 in the Hurricane Betsy relief effort.

In August 1992 following the passage of Hurricane Andrew the government became aware that the then current level of preparedness and the response mechanisms were not adequate to address the needs of the country. A decision was made to establish a permanent disaster relief arm of the government. The late Mrs. Catherine Benjamin, senior public officer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ms. Juel Barry, Senior Clerk from the Office of the Prime Minister were both seconded to work in the Hurricane Relief Effort of Hurricane Andrew. Mrs. Benjamin had many years of experience in public service and had worked with many international organisations in garnering technical assistance for the country. Ms. Barry, due to her accounting skills, was responsible for all financial matters. It is interesting to note that the present Director of NEMA, Captain Stephen M. Russell was a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and had responsibilities for Logistics and Transportation in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.

Despite these developments, it was not until after the passage of Hurricane Floyd in 1999 that the Recovery Sub-Committee was formed. On 24th September 1999, the Cabinet Office issued a press statement advising of the appointment of several senior public servants who would work with the hurricane relief effort. These officers were Mrs. Elma Garraway, Under Secretary -Ministry of Education, Mrs. Nicole Campbell, Deputy Permanent Secretary -Ministry of Education, Mr. David Cates, First Assistant Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Joshua Smith, Chief Estates Officer -Ministry of Public Works, Ms. Chrystal Glinton, Assistant Director -Department of Social Services, Mr. Stephen Russell, Commander -The Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Ms. Juel Barry, Chief Clerk (Accounts) -Office of the Prime Minister and Mr. Earl Seymour, Assistant Comptroller -Bahamas Customs Department. The Hurricane Floyd relief effort continued until the summer of 2002 and was headed by Permanent Secretaries who served in succession of each other; Mrs. Barbara Burrows -Ministry of Health, Mrs. Leila Greene -Office of the Attorney General and then Under Secretary Mr. Carl Smith- Cabinet Office.

While the relief effort proceeded a decision was taken that the Recovery Subcommittee would no longer focus its efforts only on hurricane preparedness and recovery but would take a more comprehensive approach to disaster preparedness. The role of the hurricane committee was expanded to include preparedness of all forms of disasters. This was the beginning of the Disaster Management Committee (DMC) in its current form.

At the same time the Recovery Sub-Committee was renamed Disaster Management Unit (DMU) to reflect the more comprehensive nature of its work.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was enacted by an Act of Parliament in 2006. NEMA relocated from the Cabinet Office to its new facility on Gladstone Road in August 2013. It is designed to house NEMA's staff and serves as the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) when a disaster affects the country.

The DMC meets on the last Friday of each month and more frequently if necessary with the exceptions of January and December. Committee members are drawn from government ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Services, Ministry of Transport and Aviation, Royal Bahamas Police Force, Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Bahamas Customs, Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, The Airport Authority, Department of Social Services, Port Department, Department of Meteorology, Department of Civil Aviation, Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), Bahamas Telephone Company (BTC) and the Water and Sewerage Corporation. Non-Governmental Organizations include The Bahamas Red Cross and The Salvation Army.

The focus of the Disaster Management Unit was again expanded to include the concept of Comprehensive Disaster Management. To reflect this, the name was again changed to National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). In the past the Agency was headed by Senior Public Servants with the ranks of Permanent Secretary or Under Secretary. NEMA is presently headed by a Director, Captain Stephen M. Russell, formerly of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.

NEMA has conducted many training programs for Family Island participants at their Islands as well as hosting training sessions in New Providence to which participants from the Family Islands have been invited. These programs have included Shelter Management (SM), Comprehensive Rapid Damage Assessments (CRDA), Initial Damage Assessment (IDA), Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (DANA) and Communications in the time of a disaster. The aim has been to have a cadre of trained people in each community who will be able to respond to a disaster.

NEMA has also conducted Fire Fighting (FF) and Swift Water Rescue (SWR) on Eleuthera, Abaco, Long Island, Inagua, Mayaguana, Crooked Island, Bimini, Grand Bahama, Andros and New Providence. The Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) program has been introduced to the Family Islands and serves as an early response mechanism. Annually, the Family Islands submit disaster preparedness plans for their islands.
NEMA is not a responding agency but is a coordinating agency. When an incident occurs, NEMA activates the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) which operates on a twenty-four-hour basis. NEMA coordinates the response to that incident using the resources and equipment of the appropriate agencies utilising the Emergency Support Function (ESF) Concept that is: