Summary: EOCs play a huge role in communicating and handling emergency events.
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is a type of tool that coordinates on-scene operations during high-risk incidents. Every community is at risk for an overwhelming emergency event. More often than not, these incidents will transcend political boundaries, which decreases the overall amount of security provided to the community itself.
Handling High-Risk Incidents
In order for a community to be effective, they’ll need to allocate the necessary resources to prepare them for any incident that comes their way. The emphasis must be placed on technical information based on an assessment of risk, vulnerability, and capability. This is where the EOC comes in to identify and obtain additional assets that aren’t always available. Additionally, the EOC mobilizes both people and equipment to handle incidents that are outside the ability of any entity to resolve.
The purpose of the EOC is to ensure that response capabilities are maintained and authoritative information is circulated to the general public with ease.
MACS
The EOC is an integral part of the larger Multiagency Coordination System (MACS). The MACS consists of a variety of coordination resource centers, coordination entities, and the EOC. When major incidents occur, the emergency operations center design shifts its priority to activating every component of the MACS. The EOC serves as a message center and is centrally located where representative from various agencies can gather during an emergency situation.
Most EOCs are designed by experienced manufacturers due to the fact that every component of the center needs to be accurately constructed and placed in an effective position.