Emergency Operations

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is an instrumental part of our team’s daily operations and response efforts. Our EOC brings our community responders together in the event of a disaster or emergency and serves as the hub for a coordinated response that includes information sharing, command and control decisions and resource distribution.

• EOC operations provide a comprehensive strategic overview or “big picture” for disasters, emergencies and planned events and is responsible for collecting and analyzing data, making decisions that protect life and property and maintaining standard operations, all within the scope of applicable laws. Our EOC does not directly control field assets or tactical operations, although personnel who directly control such efforts may be present in our EOC during an activation.

• Secondarily, our EOC supports other agency or department level operation centers, locally and at the state and federal levels, depending on the circumstance.

• In addition to activation for disasters or emergencies, our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is co-located with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management Office (CMEMO) and is considered warm, meaning that the EOC is ready for activation seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours each day, three-hundred and sixty-five (365) days per year.

• Our office also maintains a backup EOC at an alternate location that may be used in the event our primary EOC is inaccessible. We also have established a system to operate a virtual EOC with enhanced technology should an incident require these accommodations.

Wrangling incident information in a disaster or emergency generates a unique set of challenges, especially when multiple agencies and organizations are involved in a response. The media and the public are often seeking immediate access to information, especially when the incident affects the entire community. When our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated, almost always, a Joint Information System (JIS) or Joint Information Center (JIC) is activated simultaneously. Either function may operate virtually or in a physical space.

• The Joint Information System (JIS) provides the mechanism to organize, integrate and coordinate information in a timely, accurate and consistent manner across multiple agencies and functions, including dissemination of information to internal and external stakeholders, the general public and the media.

• The Joint Information Center (JIC) serves as a collective space that coordinates the operation of the Joint Information System (JIS) and is typically the central source of incident related information. The JIC is established at the direction of the Incident Commander (IC) or Unified Commander (UC) and run by a designated lead Public Information Officer (PIO). Functions of the JIC may include information dissemination and operations or liaison support.

The North Carolina Emergency Management Act, N.C. G. S. 166A-7(d)(2) authorizes and requires each county and incorporated municipality in the state to direct and coordinate the development of emergency management plans and programs in accordance with the policies and standards set by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) and the Division of Emergency Management (NCEM).

Our office operates primarily under this guidance, but our office also maintains legal authority under local ordinances and federal authorities, situation dependent. Included are a few key federal authorities that guide Emergency Management initiatives nationwide:

• Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act

• Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8

Resource acquisition and support are significant functions of all disasters and emergencies. Even planned events and daily operations require resources. Our office integrates whole community logistics planning and support for timely and efficient delivery of supplies, equipment, services and facilities. Official requests for resources to support services offered to our community, must funnel through our office prior where we leverage local capabilities first and if necessary, work with North Carolina and Emergency Management (NCEM), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other governmental and private sector partners to fulfill requests. We can’t guarantee resources, but we sure will try our best to meet the needs our community as each incident dictates