Who Runs Your Emergency Operations Center?

A colleague on the International Association of Emergency Managers list recently asked this question. I foolishly thought that I could dash off a quick reply. Instead I found myself doing one of those mini-research projects that keeps me up later than anticipated and earns me a sigh from my long-suffering wife.

The question was specifically about job titles. Here's my reply:

There’s no real definitive answer to this – it really depends on how your EOC is organized. FEMA’s EOC Management and Operations course identifies four possible methods of organization: organizing by major management activities, Incident Command System (ICS) organization, functional organization, or organizing as a Multi-Agency Coordinating System (MACS). There are many other possibilities, I’m sure. This organization in turn depends on how your EOC functions. In some jurisdictions, it is a coordination point. Others view it as a command post serving as an area  command. Still others use a hybrid of the two.

 

As far as I know, there's no generally accepted term for the peson in charge. NIMS is silent on the subject, although the guidance does discuss the role of the EOC under MACS rather than ICS. The FEMA course suggests the following, althoughthey are not specific titles:

 Organing by major management activities – Emergency Manager

  1. ICS organization – Command (not Incident or Area Commander – these are on scene structures)

  2. Functional organization – Operations Management

  3. Organizing as a MACS – MAC Group Coordinator

The ancient CPG 1-20 Emergency Operations Centers refers to the “EM Director” while the updated drafts I have seen refer “EOC Managers” in a brief reference in the training section but does not define an operational structure.

 

My suggestion is that if you are using your EOC to direct operations, use the ICS terminology. If you are using it to coordinate and support operations, consider using EOC Manager or MAC Coordinator. For what it’s worth, the term we use in California is EOC Director. I would personally avoid using “EOC coordinator” since in California the “EOC Coordinator” handles the administrative support to the EOC (e.g. catering, janitorial service, IT support, etc.)

 

You can find California’s guidance on EOC management at http://www.oes.ca.gov/Operational/OESHome.nsf/PDF/SEMS%202006%20Guidelines/$file/EOC-OAHandbk-Mgmt.pdfBe aware that it is eight years old.

 

There’s also a more in depth discussion on the functions of the EOC in Chapter 9 of my book, Emergency Management: Concepts and strategies for Effective Programs.

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