The CDC EOC uses the National Incident Management System to better manage and coordinate emergency responses. An Incident Management System (IMS) is an internationally recognized model for responding to emergencies. Having an IMS in place reduces harm and saves lives. IMS is a temporary, formal organization structure that is activated to support a response, adjusted to meet rapidly changing demands of that response, and is then disbanded at the end of the response. An IMS outlines the specific roles and responsibilities of responders during an event, providing a common framework for government, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work seamlessly together. In IMS, each person is assigned a specific role and follows a set command structure. The level of complexity of an incident dictates which roles are activated. In certain scenarios, incident management staff may cover more than one role at a time Incident management helps with:
An IMS is a flexible, integrated system that can be used for any incident regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity. ExercisesIn addition to responding to real world incidents, the EOC also conducts exercises to evaluate its ability to respond rapidly and effectively to potential public health emergencies. Examples of exercises include simulated incidents such as hurricanes, the detonation of radiological dispersal devices (i.e., dirty bombs), and an outbreak of pandemic influenza.
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) serves a critical role in every phase of emergency management, from being the hub for all coordination during an incident to facilitating and directing recovery/clean-up. However, the EOC does not manage an incident — it coordinates. Various situations will trigger the EOC’s opening, including emergencies that require resources beyond what local capabilities can handle; lengthy crisis situations; when major policy decisions will or might be needed; when a local or state emergency is declared; and when the EOC’s activation will be advantageous to successful management of an incident. The Emergency Operations CenterThe EOC is the centralized location of emergency response and recovery support operations during incidents. While tactical on-scene operations are conducted from the ICP, the EOC supports and helps coordinate ICP operations and any other adjacent incident operations. The EOC utilizes ICS as the command-and-control structure. Within this structure, the EOC is organized into five sections to manage operations. These EOC sections include:
In order to manage the roles and responsibilities of each section, each EOC Section comprises specific functions called units and branches and is overseen by EOC section chiefs, who report directly to the EOC coordinator or the campus emergency director. Depending on the scope of an incident, some or all functions of a section may be activated. The EOC TeamThe EOC Team members are university personnel who staff the EOC during emergency response operations. The makeup of the EOC Team may depend on the specific incident and. In some cases the EOC Team will be pre-identified, while in other cases, potential EOC Team members will be requested to serve in the EOC. Multiple staff members may be identified to fill the same position so EOC Team members can rotate during prolonged incidents. Executive Policy GroupThe EPG comprises senior university administration members responsible for providing policy direction to incident command and setting broad priorities as they relate to responding to and recovering from emergency incidents. Additional responsibilities of the EPG include:
During incidents, individual EPG members are responsible for coordinating their division’s response to the spillover effects of an incident. This effort must be coordinated with the EOC to avoid duplication of efforts and to effectively use the university’s limited resources. Spillover issues are those that the EOC does not have the capacity to address, may not rise to a level needing EOC attention or may be best addressed directly by a division for any number of reasons. The divisions represented within the EPG include:
EOC TeamTable 11 provides a more detailed overview of the roles and responsibilities of the positions in the EOC represented in Figure 1. Table 11: EOC Roles and Responsibilities
Incident Commander / Emergency Director
EOC Coordinator / Management Section
Finance / Administration Section
Legal (For Long Term Events)
PIO *The PIO will usually function adjacent to the EPG. Depending on the scale of the incident, the PIO may function as a part of the EOC team.
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