From Crisis to Control: How virtual EOCs can help modernize Emergency Management

During the initial phase of an incident getting the right people in the same room is pivotable to starting a response off right. Now, imagine getting those people in the same ‘virtual’ room within minutes, instead of hours or days.

Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) historically have been large rooms, walls of TVs, and served as the central nerve center for the coordination of resources and people. The “Nucleus” of the Emergency Management (EM) cell.

However, with the advancement of technology in the EM field, it’s becoming more plausible to shift some coordination efforts virtually. This effort had been around for years but was fueled during the pandemic, when getting people in the same room was not always an option.

This article will highlight some of the pros and cons of using a virtual EOC environment.

Pros

Instant Access to Stakeholders: The ability to bring a team together without anyone ever leaving their house is one the biggest benefits using a virtual EOC environment has to offer. This can be especially helpful when needing to bring subject matter experts (SME) in to consult on an incident. By being virtual, you can send video meeting requests or use virtual EOC applications to bring in SMEs, executive leadership, partners, and stakeholders up the par with the most recent incident brief and begin coordination discussions.

Non-geographically dependent staff: Having a geographically diverse workforce can be a benefit that might not be felt until an incident occurs. If a community experiences a blizzard or hurricane conditions where staff cannot physically access the EOC, then being able to connect virtually will make it safer for employees and still provide the ability for a coordinated repone. Using a “Designated survivor” mentality where your entire team isn’t all together in the same place, will sustain business continuity, in the event the area around the physical EOC becomes inaccessible.

Burnout Prevention: Sitting in an office chair for 12 hours in a room that has no windows can easily drain staff’s energy and performance. It can be even worse if staff need to sleep on cots and be in work mode around the clock. Having the ability to work remotely and just sleep in your own bed can help promote better mental health and allows employees to recharge faster.

Cons

Technology Fails: All the benefits that technology can offer can all go away in seconds if it fails. Being in an all or hybrid model where the majority of incident information is contained to a single virtual EOC software or application can cause set backs if software fails. To mitigate this, teams needs to plan ahead for what to do while offline and continue coordination efforts.

Access Management: Credentialing is a key part to knowing who should and shouldn’t be in your EOC. It’s how you can protect sensitive information, incident response and planning procedures, and potentially restricted information such as Personal Identifiable Information (PII). The burden of this protection gets shifted largely over to individual employees to ensure that they are working in a safe space and the organizations equipment can be secured when needed.

Site specific procedures: There are some actions that simply cannot be done virtually. Filling individual preparedness kits, setting up emergency shelters, use of radio equipment, etc. There will always be elements of Emergency Management that will always need to be done in person and on-site. The response phase in particular tends to have the most hands on actions requires.

With all the above points in mind, virtual EOCs can be another tool to use for organizations as incidents become larger, harsher, and more diverse. This especially can be beneficial for the private sector who may have assets and staff located across the country or world.

Are virtual EOCs here to stay? Perhaps a hybrid solution of both virtual and physical EOC management can be the best solution. Each organization knows their resource limitations and hazards and will need to adapt to form the best possible coordination effort they can.