County and City Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) - Emergency Management Functionality
Subsystem Description
The Emergency Management (EM) Subsystem represents public safety, emergency management, and other allied agency systems that support incident management, disaster response and evacuation, security monitoring, and other security and public safety-oriented ITS applications. The subsystem includes the functions associated with fixed and mobile public safety communications centers including public safety call taker and dispatch centers operated by police (including transit police), fire, and emergency medical services. It includes the functions associated with Emergency Operations Centers that are activated at local, regional, state, and federal levels for emergencies and the portable and transportable systems that support Incident Command System operations at an incident. This subsystem also represents other allied systems including centers associated with towing and recovery, freeway service patrols, HAZMAT response teams, and mayday service providers.
The subsystem manages sensor and surveillance equipment used to enhance transportation security of the roadway infrastructure (including bridges, tunnels, interchanges, and other key roadway segments) and the public transportation system (including transit vehicles, public areas such as transit stops and stations, facilities such as transit yards, and transit infrastructure such as rail, bridges, tunnels, or bus guideways). The subsystem provides security/surveillance services to improve traveler security in public areas not a part of the public transportation system.
This subsystem monitors alerts, advisories, and other threat information and prepares for and responds to identified emergencies. It interfaces with other Emergency Management Subsystems to support coordinated emergency response involving multiple agencies. The subsystem stores, coordinates, and utilizes emergency response and evacuation plans to facilitate this coordinated response. As the response progresses, situation information including damage assessments, response status, evacuation information, and resource information are shared to keep all allied agencies appraised of the response. Interface with the Transit Management Subsystem allows coordinated use of transit vehicles to facilitate response to major emergencies and to support evacuation efforts. The Emergency Management Subsystem also provides a focal point for coordination of the emergency and evacuation information that is provided to the traveling public, including wide-area alerts when immediate public notification is warranted.
The subsystem tracks and manages emergency vehicle fleets using real-time road network status and routing information from the other center subsystems to aide in selecting the emergency vehicle(s) and routes that will provide the most timely response. Interface with the Traffic Management Subsystem allows strategic coordination in tailoring traffic control to support emergency vehicle ingress and egress, implementation of special traffic restrictions and closures, evacuation traffic control plans, and other special strategies that adapt the transportation system to better meet the unique demands of an emergency.
Functional Area: Emergency Early Warning System
Monitors alerting and advisory systems, information collected by ITS surveillance and sensors, and reports from other agencies in order to identify potential, imminent, or in-progress major incidents or disasters. Notification is provided to other ITS centers to notify the traveling public.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall monitor information from Alerting and Advisory Systems such as the Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS), etc. The information may include assessments (general incident and vulnerability awareness information), advisories (identification of threats or recommendations to increase preparedness levels), or alerts (information on imminent or in-progress emergencies). | Existing |
| 3 | The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to traffic management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property. | Existing |
| 4 | The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to transit management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property. | Existing |
| 5 | The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to toll administration centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property. | Existing |
| 6 | The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to traveler information service providers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property. | Existing |
| 7 | The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to maintenance centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property. | Existing |
| 8 | The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to other emergency management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property. | Existing |
| 11 | The center shall coordinate the broadcast of wide-area alerts and advisories with other emergency management centers. | Existing |
Functional Area: Emergency Evacuation Support
Evacuation planning and coordination to manage evacuation and reentry of a population in the vicinity of a disaster or other emergency that poses a risk to public safety.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall manage inter-agency coordination of evacuation operations, from initial planning through the evacuation process and reentry. | Existing |
| 2 | The center shall develop and exchange evacuation plans with allied agencies prior to the occurrence of a disaster. | Existing |
| 3 | The center shall provide an interface to the emergency system operator to enter evacuation plans and procedures and present the operator with other agencies’ plans. | Existing |
| 4 | The center shall coordinate evacuation destinations and shelter needs with shelter providers (e.g., the American Red Cross) in the region. | Existing |
| 5 | The center shall provide evacuation information to traffic, transit, maintenance and construction, rail operations, and other emergency management centers as needed. | Existing |
| 6 | The center shall request resources from transit agencies as needed to support the evacuation. | Existing |
| 7 | The center shall request traffic management agencies to implement special traffic control strategies and to control evacuation traffic, including traffic on local streets and arterials as well as the major evacuation routes. | Existing |
| 9 | The center shall monitor the progress or status of the evacuation once it begins and exchange tactical plans, prepared during the incident, with allied agencies. | Planned |
| 10 | The center shall monitor the progress of the reentry process. | Planned |
| 11 | The center shall submit evacuation information to toll administration centers along with requests for changes in the toll services or fee collection during an evacuation. | Planned |
Functional Area: Emergency Response Management
Strategic emergency planning and response capabilities and broad inter-agency interfaces to support large-scale incidents and disasters, commonly associated with Emergency Operations Centers.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall provide strategic emergency response capabilities provided by an Emergency Operations Center for large-scale incidents and disasters. | Existing |
| 4 | The center shall develop, coordinate with other agencies, and store emergency response plans. | Existing |
| 5 | The center shall track the availability of resources and coordinate resource sharing with allied agency centers including traffic, maintenance, or other emergency centers. | Existing |
Functional Area: Incident Command
Tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration among emergency management agencies for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall provide tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident. | Existing |
| 2 | The center shall provide incident command communications with public safety, emergency management, transportation, and other allied response agency centers. | Existing |