By Josh McFadden
Ferguson has been at the forefront of national and international news since the controversial shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown just after noon on Aug. 9, 2014. Brown, an African-American, died on a Missouri town street after being shot by 28-year-old police officer Darren Wilson. Wilson, who is white, fired 12 rounds at Brown, hitting him at least seven times. Brown died at the scene.
Within hours of the shooting, residents began holding peaceful memorials. The turning point occurred that evening during a candlelight vigil when 150 police officers in riot gear gathered. Some people in the crowd began vandalizing vehicles and looting businesses. Others confronted the officers. Protestors burned down the convenience store and gas station from where Brown had allegedly stolen a box of cigarillos. In all, more than 30 people were arrested that first night on charges of theft, burglary, and assault.
The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing produced a chaotic scene and caused five deaths and 280 injuries. The subsequent manhunt for the perpetrators lasted four days, involved thousands of law enforcement officers, and prompted lockdowns in some areas.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, La., putting 80 percent of the city underwater. In some areas, the water was as much as 20 feet deep. The massive hurricane was one of the deadliest in history, causing 1,833 deaths. It was also the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, with more than $108 billion in damages. The hurricane left more than 1 million people looking for new places to live. Frenzied residents resorted to looting, rioting, and general disorder in an attempt to find supplies and relief.
What do these events have in common?
In all-out citywide rioting, natural disasters, or far-reaching violent acts, careful coordination and mobilization of police, fire, and medical responders must happen quickly and efficiently in order to render appropriate aid and restore a sense of order.
This is where the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) comes in.
The EOC fills the role of coordinating the emergency response across various agencies, including police, fire, and medical responders. During a time of chaos, danger, and threats to residents’ safety, this organized, timely effort is vital. The EOC is the basis for making critical decisions and releasing crucial information during events that could have a significant impact on the lives of many people.
“Our mission is to concentrate on information management and rescue coordination,” said Mario Formisano, director of Dorchester County (S.C.) Emergency Management. “The EOC is the conduit to the county council, which makes the tough policy decisions, dependent on the EOC’s solid recommendations.”
Though an EOC’s makeup varies from locale to locale across the country, most EOC staff members in Dorchester County are county employees. Formisano said they must be organized and decisive, and they must be good communicators. Like 9-1-1 dispatchers, the EOC staff must be calm under pressure and must have the ability to follow step-by-step protocol even in the most adverse conditions. In fact, many EOC members are trained dispatchers, such as those at Sandia National Laboratories on the team of Lita Suina, Lieutenant/Shift Supervisor for the team lead.
“They are fully accredited and certified in CPR and Medical Priority Dispatch,” Suina said. “They bring the busy dispatch center experience to the unique laboratory experience.”
EOC process
In general, an EOC assigns an Emergency Support Function (ESF) member to perform given tasks. The ESF decides the personnel resources, such as fire, police, or others, needed to fulfill the assignment. That agency has the responsibility to respond to the situation according to the need and their expertise. In many ways, the EOC functions much like a 9-1-1 emergency dispatch center. The EOC also maintains management over the situation and keeps all parties involved apprised of developments and updates, and how and when the emergency is settled. The EOC keeps the public informed through alert levels, such as the five-tier system in Dorchester County, S.C., which is displayed on the county’s website during an emergency.
Formisano said on a typical day, the EOC is at level 5 (the lowest level). As situations arise, the level might rise from 4 to 2. The gravest of emergencies, such as hurricanes and widespread looting and rioting, will warrant an alert level of 1. When levels are high, the EOC works closely with city mayors to make key decisions. The determination to activate the EOC is dependent on the need in the field. Other EOCs have similar alert levels.
In Albuquerque, N.M., the Sandia National Laboratories houses the Emergency Management Communications Center due to the critical nature of the work. Sandia tests and conducts research in relation to nuclear equipment and defense systems and assessments. The New Mexico facility is one of six in the U.S. Suina oversees the emergency management operations there. When activated, this EOC goes through a three-step process to respond to and help mitigate large-scale emergencies. It is similar to the processes other EOCs practice.
Suina said the Sandia EOC’s job begins when the incident is confirmed and emergency responders arrive at or near the incident scene and gather information about the situation. Responders also identify what hazards are present. The second step is initiating and managing ongoing actions, such as re-assessing potential consequences and making the required notifications to the right people and agencies, whether it be police, fire, medical, social services, public works, or other applicable parties. Lastly, the EOC manages the termination and recovery of the event. In this final important step in the process, the EOC can declare that an incident is over and evaluates if site conditions require recovery such as cleanup and damage repair.
Sandia has had a number of occasions when the EOC has been called to manage emergencies.
“Sandia’s EOC has been activated in response to national emergencies, suspected terrorism concerns, local weather conditions, facilities concerns arising from power and gas availability, and a nearby active shooter,” Suina said.
Dorchester County, this one in Maryland, is by law required to operate an EOC because of the proximity to a nuclear power plant. A portion of the rural 983-square-mile county lies within a 10-mile plume of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, one of the nation’s 65 nuclear power plants. The plume is a cloud-like formation of radioactive gasses and particles that can be formed after a release of radioactive material from the plant into the environment.
Though only 300 of the county’s 32,618 residents live within the plume, the county’s EOC trains for countywide activation.
“There are not a lot of situations for us to have an EOC,” said Dorchester County (Md.) Emergency Services Director Jeremy Goldman. “The EOC basically uses the plume zone as an impetus for training.”
Staying prepared
Neither of the two Dorchester counties nor Sandia Laboratory in New Mexico has experienced anything to the magnitude of rioting in Ferguson or flooding in New Orleans.
But they still have their own problems to worry about and they train accordingly.
The Dorchester County, S.C., EOC has a three-day, 24-hour classroom-level training program for department heads that takes place before hurricane season begins in June. In this setting, students learn disaster operations principles and effective ways to respond to emergencies.
“We’ll have independent Emergency Support Functions workshops and review emergency operations plans: getting roads opened up and removing debris, brick, steel, and concrete,” Formisano said.
Similarly, Suina’s group vigilantly prepares itself for activation.
“All EOC members are trained using guidelines specific to their role,” she said. “The initial qualification process requires the entire initial training program be tailored for each individual emergency completion response position. Maintaining qualification status requires timely completion of the refresher training program tailored for each individual emergency response position.”
Of course, the EOC doesn’t have to wait for a monumental emergency to be ready to act.
“There are instances where we anticipate that something is happening,” Formisano said. “We have to be a in a steady state to support.”
Like its counterpart in South Carolina, Maryland’s Dorchester County is also situated in hurricane and tropical storm country and it trains annually in exercises designed by the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
Not all training, however, revolves around the weather. One year the training may revolve around what to do in the event there is an active shooter; another year, it may focus on what steps are taken following a core meltdown. Regardless, Goldman said every EOC in the country that operates in an area where a nuclear power plant is present has the same training program.
“The EOC would be staffed with public health, law enforcement, town council members, FEMA, MEMA, county council, and public works,” Goldman said. “Everyone has a seat at the table. When you put them shoulder to shoulder, you can come up with a solution.”
Importantly, Goldman points out that the Dorchester County EOC is not generally equipped with dispatchers or comm. center personnel. Additional dispatchers are brought into the EOC as needed, but the required minimum remains at the comm. center. Goldman said even during a disastrous event, comm. center managers don’t want to reduce the number of dispatchers and risk not having sufficient help available to respond to common emergencies like heart attacks, fires, and police-requested incidents.
“We don’t pull out dispatchers,” Goldman said. “The 9-1-1 center plays a role in large-scale emergencies, but they can’t be tied up. We don’t sacrifice the comm. center.”
Reaching beyond emergency responders
In emergency situations that affect the entire community, it is generally the EOC’s job to coordinate expanded support and involve other entities in addition to police, fire, and medical.
The EOC works hand in hand with social services, if needed, as well as with the highway patrol or state police. If a disaster or event requires opening shelters, the EOC will coordinate to ensure adequate food, water, and other needed supplies are available to those who have been displaced. The EOC also oversees the process of opening and closing roads and verifying when and where it is safe for residents to drive and travel.
“The EOC determines what is needed in terms of safety and equipment,” Formisano said. “We determine where we are and where do we need to get to.”
In Maryland’s Dorchester County, the EOC is activated when large gatherings take place, such as when the annual Ironman competition comes to the county every October, bringing hundreds of participants and spectators. To help with potential problems during such events, the EOC will become mobile with an on-site command post. Ordinarily, the EOC sets up at the comm. center.
Always on standby
Much like a 9-1-1 dispatcher can’t possibly predict the exact nature of a call he or she will take, an EOC team member can’t foresee the overall magnitude of a natural disaster, riot, or violent act that may take place. Certainly, though, an EOC does have measures in place to respond appropriately to a situation, even if many unknown factors accompany the incident.
“You can’t plan for everything,” Goldman said. “We don’t say, ‘When we get 18 inches of snow, we’re going to do this.’ A lot of factors play in—what is the temperature, how much wind is there, what is the weather like behind the storm? We don’t write rigid plans; there is the same basic outline regardless of the situation.”
Whether it's rioting, hurricanes or other powerful storms, or environmental threats of any kind, it’s the nature of the business for these dedicated professionals to be vigilantly prepared to act in perilous times and to be highly trained and agile.
Always on standby
Much like a 9-1-1 dispatcher can’t possibly predict the exact nature of a call he or she will take, an EOC team member can’t foresee the overall magnitude of a natural disaster, riot, or violent act that may take place. Certainly, though, an EOC does have measures in place to respond appropriately to a situation, even if many unknown factors accompany the incident.
“You can’t plan for everything,” Goldman said. “We don’t say, ‘When we get 18 inches of snow, we’re going to do this.’ A lot of factors play in—what is the temperature, how much wind is there, what is the weather like behind the storm? We don’t write rigid plans; there is the same basic outline regardless of the situation.”
Whether it's rioting, hurricanes or other powerful storms, or environmental threats of any kind, it’s the nature of the business for these dedicated professionals to be vigilantly prepared to act in perilous times and to be highly trained and agile.
