Essex Country Emergency Responder Committee

The next part of the act is looking at the definition of category 1 and category 2 responders. Every responder has an emergency planning officer. Their main role is to make sure they have good communication with the other responders and that they stay in accordance of the act.

Greenville County’s disaster preparedness plans and resources are maintained by the Emergency Operations Center. The Emergency Operations Center “is the physical location where emergency management and support personnel come together during an emergency to coordinate response and recovery efforts and allocate available resources” (“Emergency Preparedness,” 2015). Greenville County Hazards include naturally occurring events such as dam/levee failure, drought, flooding, tornados, tropical storms, and winter storms; as well as hazardous materials (HazMat) events including fixed facility accidents, nuclear accidents, pipeline accidents, and transportation accidents. Hazardous materials events are of particular concern due to the fact that “Greenville County has more than 1,400 miles of state-maintained highways, numerous railroad lines, and many industrial manufacturing plants that use hazardous materials”

Establishment of a chain of command in a situation such as a severe storm or other disaster is essential. Because there may be a disruption to commonly used manners of communication, such as television, telephones, and the internet, it is important to have a clear outline of where and to whom to report, how to find answers, and who will perform necessary tasks. In the simulation, the Public Health Department is both a link in the larger, county-wide chain of command and has its own hierarchy structure. Within the scope of the county, the Public Health Department reports to the Medical/Health Branch Director who is directly under the Operations Chief. The Operations Chief, who is in charge of managing and monitoring the actions of each department, reports to the Emergency Operations Commander. The Emergency Operations commander is the highest link in the chain, not only overseeing the operations of the various governmental departments, but also the officers in charge of Safety, Public Information, and Legal.

5) Logistics Chief: Acquires space, supplies, and equipment for operations to be able to function.

At first glance, Knoxville’s EOP is a seemingly simple document but the further you read into it you quickly discover how comprehensive it is. The plan describes how local government, first responders and agencies including the American Red Cross and Salvation Army will respond. The plan also addresses these organizations roles once the transition from response to recovery occurs.

In Smith County, an E-4 tornado touched down in Stadtown leveling many of the homes and the shopping mall (Walsh, D.W., et al, 2012). Command was established by the local on the scene within minutes of touchdown. Given the impact of a potential of 900 residents in the area, there could be multiple levels of response needed to respond to and recover from this incident. Given that the response could include many agencies from many levels of government and specialties, the National Incident Management System (NIMS) would be instituted. The NIMS allows local, state, and

Sixth the executive management team must define the procedures that all employees and essential vendors will use during emergency situations. Seventh, the employee training team must define and execute an awareness campaign that properly informs each employee of their role within the DRP/ECP plan and confirm that employee's understanding of their role. Last, the emergency management team’s members must maintain documentation of the DRP/ECP plan including updating when needed, changing the plan to meet organization changes, and recording of observations post plan execution.

The Jefferson County EOC will serve as clearinghouse for response and recovery operations and for deployment of resources within Jefferson County.

This chapter provides an overview that describes the basic types of hazards threatening the United States and provides definitions for some basic terms such as hazards, emergencies, and disasters. The chapter also provides a brief history of emergency management in the federal government and a general description of the current emergency management system—including the basic functions performed by local emergency managers. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the all-hazards approach and its implications for local emergency management.

Directly receiving directions from the Incident Commander as well as reporting to the Command Staff are sections that oversee, plan, and assemble the necessary resources to carry out the Incident Action Plan passed down from the Command Staff. The Operations Section is managed by the Operations Section Chief who oversees all tactical operations at the incident. Deputies can then be appointed underneath the Operations Section Chief to control different Branches of operations in order to keep the span of control in scale. Ideally one individual should only control five other individuals on scene. As resources grow, the span of control can be reduced through the implementation of Divisions and Groups. Divisions can be used if the need arises to slit operations into geographical locations. This allows for the Operations Section Chief to pass on vital information to crews in a specific location. These divisions may simply be a quadrant of a structure, as well as a large area. It enables for all Divisions to communicate and work together, even through the use of different methods. Groups can then be implemented to further break down Divisions into smaller more manageable resources. In each geographical location, the ability to control law

An Initial recommendation determined that all local and state governments work together to develop one set of state protocols utilized during a crisis. These protocols would be implemented by all responding or involved agencies during a county or state crisis declaration. As with any area, territories and boundaries are a major issue. Without a clear, concise directive, the different state and local police agency jurisdictions may handle this combined protocol. However, the assortment of EMS agencies within my direct surrounding area would certainly have issues as to who establishes the EMS incident command. Unfortunately, there are still too many boundaries that even lower scale multi-victim motor vehicle accidents have previously caused friction between responding agencies.

To better understand the effectiveness of the EOC during and after the response to 9/11 one must first understand the intended purpose of an EOC. EOC’s have been found to have six identifiable duties during a major incident. These duties or functions include coordination,

The burden of emergency management has grown great deal in the last few decades. We have seen an increase in natural disasters, a new threat of terrorism on our front door and an increase in manmade disasters. All of these have tested emergency management in a number of cities and towns across the nation. It is not always disasters that present problems for emergency managers. We have to look beyond our traditional view of emergency management of helping us during times of disasters and view what issues they consider may affect their emergency response. Issues that emergency management see that are moving into the critical area are issues of urbanization and hazard exposure, the rising costs of disaster recovery, and low priority of emergency management.

2. Situational Assessment. Once the Incident Commander arrives on the scene, s/he will need to assess the emergency quickly. Is there still a threat to the general population? Are the casualties identified or does Search & Rescue need to be mobilized? The IC needs to come up with a game plan to save lives, protect property and the environment, meet basic human needs, and stabilize the situation. 5

Establishing the incident command system is first and foremost. The system establishes a common organizational structure that is conducive for different types of agencies as well as multiple jurisdictions to be able to effectively work together in response to the situation. The components of this system include the Incident Commander, who oversees all aspects of the disaster response, operations, planning, logistics and finance/administrative (Briggs & Twomey, 2003).