Emergency Preparedness Training Manager, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
What would happen if you put out a call to staff an Emergency Management (Operations) Center and no one showed up?
Technically, with the use of the WebEOCTM system, it would be feasible to run the operations center adequately without having anyone physically in the room. The computer based communication system can tie together, via computer, every component of the Emergency Management Center and accomplish real-time information sharing even when the people are scattered.
While we have not gone to a “virtual EOC” at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, by using the WebEOC we have cut down the number of people in our Emergency Management Center and vastly improved both the quantity and quality of our communication.
How It Works
The WebEOC system uses the intranet, and the software offers a series of windows to display status screens designed for the way the Emergency Management (Operations) Center conducts business. This intuitive system allows the users to choose which screens to display, scaled to the size desired.
Information can be added, changed and updated, then displayed simultaneously for all logged-on users. Each entry is tagged with the user’s organization, the type of event and the time. New displays go to the top of each screen. The screens can be pulled up on a single computer or displayed on a large screen using a projector or projectors.
I first saw the system demonstrated at a Department of Energy site in Aiken, South Carolina two years ago. My boss, LLNL fire Chief John Sharry, and I were so impressed that we purchased the system for use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
How It Used To Be
Before we installed the WebEOC, our Emergency management Center was staffed with up to 30 people. That number included Emergency Management Team members, communicators (who relayed information from Satellite Operations Centers) and staff (runners, information managers, telephone operators, fax and computer operators and posters).
The sequence of events, log of notifications, current weather and the classification of the emergency were all logged by hand on a large status board. Two runners would take information from the seven-member management team and pass the information onto the information manager for posting on the status board.
Satellite Operations Centers – five of them staffed by operations, which include operational safety, plant operations, environmental protection, etc. – are located throughout the Laboratory and each had one or two communicators who funneled information between the management team and the Satellite Operations Centers. Computer operators logged the posted information for historical reference. Two telephone operators and other support personnel were also in attendance.
A Much Smaller Crew
Today, when the Emergency Management Center is fully staffed, we have seven managers, a computer operator, one telephone operator and an information manager. All the other members operate from the remote Satellite Operations Centers. Community partners, including the City of Livermore and the Alameda County Office of Emergency Services, log onto the WebEOC to follow the progress of any exercise or emergency event.
Senior managers who are Emergency Management Team members, but not needed for the Center operations can also log on to view the action.
The WebEOC can also be used to send private messages to anyone who is logged onto the system, to display full color maps or building layouts, to show live video or closed circuit TV, commercial television and video and voice teleconferencing. The system also provides a hard copy log of all posted information.
The WebEOC operates from a server in our Emergency Management Center, which has two back-up power systems. In the event of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, the system will continue to operate.
When we first introduced the system and began training others, users voiced some concern, mainly users reluctant to give up hand-printed messages and redundant telephones. But after a year of using the system, the most vocal feedback we get is ”..this is almost too much information.”
We keep toying with the idea of a “virtual EOC …maybe someday!
Note: The system is designed, marketed and supported by Emergency Services integrators, 699 Broad Street, Suite 1011, Augusta, GA 30901. (706-823-0911). Web site: http://www.esi911.com/
You can reach author B. J. Sibley at 510-423-6501. E-mail: sibley2@llnl.gov.