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APPENDIX C
Emergency Response Stakeholder
Responsibilities25
Stakeholder Emergency Management Responsibilities
Federal Agencies
U.S. Department of Serves as head of federal ESF#1.
Transportation
(U.S.DOT)
Federal Highway While FHWA does not own or operate roads (except on
Administration federal property), it is tasked with aiding the intelligent
(FHWA) operation of those facilities by the agencies that do own
and operate them. FHWA publishes accepted practices
and planning documents to demonstrate what is being
done around the country, including regarding traffic
incident and emergency management.
Other U.S.DOT Depending on the mode affected by an incident, other
Administrations Administrations may be stakeholders responsible for
coordinating their agencies' activities.
Department of DHS is responsible overall for homeland security and
Homeland Security EM/ER, as articulated in its mission statement:
(DHS) We will lead the unified national effort to secure
America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks
and protect against and respond to threats and
hazards to the Nation. We will secure our national
borders while welcoming lawful immigrants, visitors,
and trade. (DHS, 2008)
Federal Emergency As a major department of DHS, FEMA leads the effort to
Management Agency prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively
(FEMA) manage federal response and recovery efforts following
any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive
mitigation activities, trains first responders, and
manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the
U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA is a major provider of EM
policy and financial support for emergency operations.
Transportation TSA, also a major part of DHS, is primarily responsible
Security for the security of airports and the flying public,
Administration (TSA) highways, commercial vehicle operations, and other
modes.
25
Most of this material was adapted from the TIM/Quick Clearance Toolkit, by the same principal author. (I-
95CC, 2009).
140
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Emergency Response Stakeholder Responsibilities 141
Stakeholder Emergency Management Responsibilities
Regional Organizations
Regional Coalitions While there are many multi-state regional organizations
in the nation, one of particular interest is the I-95
Corridor Coalition. Of most immediate concern to the
2010 Guide is the set of four Highway Operations
Groups (HOGs) of the Coalition. These provide
information exchange, promote standardization of
practices, and provide training. A second very significant
regional organization in the Coalition is TRANSCOM,
which is a multi-state/agency operation that serves as
the communications hub for the Corridor. The Corridor is
currently operating a similar system called STIX
(Southern Traffic Incident eXchange) for the four
southern states (FL, GA, NC, and SC), with the hub
located in the Atlanta NaviGAtor TMC.
State, Territorial, and Tribal Agencies
State Transportation The state transportation agency (usually a DOT) is
Agency or Territorial/ responsible for the operations and maintenance of the
Tribal Equivalent highway system. It normally conducts overall planning
and implementation of traffic incident management
programs. In some regions they are also involved in
developing, implementing, and operating traffic
management centers (TMCs); providing intelligent
transportation systems (ITS); as well as managing
incident response patrols. Specific responsibilities--
particularly maintenance forces (including Asset
Maintenance/Management Contractors) and/or incident
response patrols for on-scene activities--are as follows:
· Clear minor incidents,
· Coordinate and provide for vehicle and spilled cargo
removal,
· Mitigate incidental vehicle fluid spills,
· Create interagency agreements and open roads
policies,
· Promote quick clearance laws and policies for
vehicle/cargo removal,
· Promote public information campaigns on quick
clearance,
· Support public-private towing agreements,
· Construct vehicle relocation areas, such as crash
investigation sites,
· Set traffic incident clearance performance goals,
· Coordinate incident management and responder
training,
· Assume a leadership role in traffic incident
management in general and quick clearance in
particular, and
· Work with emergency management departments to
provide transportation services in ER.
Department of The DEM (often called by other names) has the statutory
Emergency responsibility for overall emergency management at the
Management (DEM) state level. The State DEM ensures that the state is
prepared to respond to emergencies, recover from
them, and mitigate their impacts. It typically operates a
State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), which is
activated for Governor-declared emergencies (GDE) in
response to any major hazard. A number of other state
agencies take part in both developing State Emergency
Operations Plans (EOPs) and helping staff the SEOC
when it is activated.
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142 A Guide to Emergency Response Planning at State Transportation Agencies
Stakeholder Emergency Management Responsibilities
State Patrol (SP) The State Patrol is generally the state's largest traffic
law enforcement agency, except for large metropolitan
police forces. SPs are typically responsible for
managing the majority of incidents on all state routes.
They are involved in all aspects of TIM from incident
detection to clearance and in ER from response to
recovery.
Department of Military The National Guard is generally called up by the
(DM) or National governor to keep order, protect life and property, and
Guard otherwise assist in emergencies, particularly in
evacuations and recovery operations. In some very
serious catastrophes, the DM or National Guard may be
federalized and operate under the U.S. Department of
Defense.
Department of Law DLE's role in TIM/ER is generally confined to criminal
Enforcement (DLE) investigations.
Department of The state DEP is the state's lead agency for
Environmental environmental management. The department
Protection (DEP) administers regulatory programs and issues permits for
air, water, and waste management.
Emergency EOCs are the organizations primarily charged with
Operations Center managing emergencies. They are typically operated at
(EOC) the state level (SEOC) for major disasters, as well as at
the regional (usually county) level (LEOC) for more
locally focused incidents or to coordinate with other
EOCs for larger incidents. EOCs may be organized in a
number of ways, but most tend to follow the guideline
outlined in the National Response Framework and CPG
101, namely the 15 Emergency Support Functions, or
ESFs.
Typically, the SEOC is only activated for a GDE.
Regional EOCs may be partially or fully activated by
designated local authorities, generally the board of
county commissioners (for a general state of
emergency), mayor or county administrator (for local
emergencies), and so forth. Each EOP should make
clear what the activation levels are, who is activated for
each level, and who has the authority to direct the
activation.
Intelligence Fusion Fusion Centers are fairly new players on the national
Center (FC) scene. Following 9/11, it was realized that better
collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence
data and information was needed. At this writing, there
are 43 FCs nationwide (see Appendix F for the current
locations), some at the state level, but most actually
acting as regional centers. The FCs were already linked
to (primarily) security organizations. Indeed, some are
co-located with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
offices, while others are in EOCs or in standalone
locations, The U.S.DOT has realized that this resource
is valuable to TIM and ER as well, and a study was
under way at this writing to define how best FCs, as well
as EOCs, can be linked to TMCs. Appendix F also
illustrates these linkages graphically.
In Kentucky, the FC is co-located with the TMC.
Joint Many states have joint communications groups that
Telecommunications operate the state law enforcement radio system or some
Centers common telecommunications system. In some states,
this group participates in the state law enforcement
dispatch centers. Ideally, these should be linked to
TMCs as well. In Florida, and probably elsewhere,
several are co-located with TMCs.
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Emergency Response Stakeholder Responsibilities 143
Stakeholder Emergency Management Responsibilities
Authorities Transportation authorities operate much like states or
territories and perform similar functions; however, they
are semi-autonomous.
Local Agencies
Law Enforcement Generally, limited-access and state highways are part of
(Police and Sheriffs) the national transportation system and are primarily
patrolled and responded to by the State Patrol; however,
some limited-access routes and most state roads within
local municipality city limits are the responsibility of the
city police. General law enforcement TIM/ER
responsibilities are
· Assist in incident detection;
· Secure the incident scene;
· Serve as incident commander;
· Clear minor incidents quickly;
· Assist disabled motorists;
· Provide emergency medical assistance until help
arrives;
· Direct traffic through/around the incident;
· Conduct crash investigations;
· Maintain private towing contracts;
· Ensure rapid response of recovery and towing
contractors;
· Safeguard personal property in all emergencies; and
· Promote laws, policies, practices, and public
awareness campaigns to promote quick clearance
and recovery.
Fire Rescue Fire and rescue services are provided by local fire
departments and by surrounding fire departments
through mutual-aid agreements. The fire department is
the primary emergency response incident command
agency for fire suppression, hazardous materials spills,
rescue, and extrication of trapped crash victims. Typical
fire department TIM/ER responsibilities include
· Protect the incident scene,
· Serve as incident commander during fire-related
stages,
· Provide traffic control until police or state
transportation agency arrival,
· Provide emergency medical care,
· Provide initial HAZMAT response and containment,
· Fire suppression,
· Rescue crash victims from wrecked vehicles,
· Rescue crash victims from contaminated
environments,
· Arrange transportation for the injured, and
· Assist in incident clearance and emergency
recovery.
Emergency Medical The primary responsibility of EMS is the triage,
Services (EMS) treatment, and transport of crash victims. Private
companies often provide patient transport under
contract. Typical TIM/ER roles and responsibilities
assumed by EMS can include
· Provide emergency medical care;
· Serve as incident commander for medical
emergencies;
· Determine destination and transportation
requirements for the injured;
· Coordinate victim evacuation with fire, police, and
ambulance or airlift;
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144 A Guide to Emergency Response Planning at State Transportation Agencies
Stakeholder Emergency Management Responsibilities
· Determine approximate cause of injuries for the
trauma center; and
· Remove medical waste from incident scenes.
In some locations, EMS is an integral part of Fire
Departments; indeed, some fire fighters are dual
certified as fire fighters and EMS paramedics.
Medical Examiner/ By law, Medical Examiners (or Coroners) are
Coroner responsible for investigating deaths that result from
anything other than natural causes. As such, they play
an important role in investigating fatal accidents that
occur on roadways and in other emergencies. They can
cooperate with other responders by enabling those
responders to remove deceased persons from the
roadway, and even from the scene--under mutually
agreeable circumstances, of course.
City and County City and county transportation agencies have roles
Public Works and similar to the state transportation agencies, but at the
Traffic Engineering local level. They are responsible for the highways not
included under the state's highway system.
Transit Agencies Transit vehicles are a critical component for moving
(public or private, large groups of people to be evacuated, sheltered-in-
including school place, or quarantined. It is important to have
buses) agreements in place to activate fleets to carry out this
function. Operators need to be trained in fundamental
care for disabled and transportation-disadvantaged
persons.
Private Partners
Towing and Recovery Towing and recovery service providers are responsible
Operators for the safe and efficient removal of wrecked or disabled
vehicles and debris from the incident scene. Their
typical responsibilities include
· Remove vehicles from incident scene,
· Protect victims' property and vehicles,
· Remove debris from the roadway, and
· Provide transportation for uninjured vehicle occupants.
Towing and recovery companies that respond to
highway incidents are indispensable components of all
traffic incident management programs. Even programs
that include incident response patrols with relocation
capability depend on towing and recovery service
providers. Challenges facing the towing and recovery
industry are unique.
A recent state-of-the-practice scanning tour offers some
good ideas for innovative towing and wrecker operations
(I-95CC, 2007b).26
HAZMAT Contractors Hazardous materials contractors are hired by
emergency or transportation authorities to clean up and
dispose of toxic or hazardous materials. Their traffic
incident management role and responsibilities include
· Determine proper/prudent method of hazardous
material cleanup and disposal,
· Dispose of hazardous materials or provide on-site
cleanup, and
· Participate in the unified command at HAZMAT
scenes.
Asset Maintenance/ When used by the state transportation agency, these
Management contractors serve in the same role as the agency's
Contractors maintenance forces. It is important in drafting these
contracts to clearly define contractor responsibilities for
ER and TIM.
26
Visit http://www.i95coalition.org/i95/Projects/ProjectDatabase/tabid/120/agentType/View/PropertyID/109/
Default.aspx
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Emergency Response Stakeholder Responsibilities 145
Stakeholder Emergency Management Responsibilities
Motor Carrier Motor carriers, particularly through their professional
Companies and trade associations, can improve awareness of good
TIM practices to their drivers, such as assisting in quick
clearance, which can lead to better incident
management overall.
Insurance Companies These insure people, vehicles, and property, but they
can also promote safe practices in incident response.
Traffic Media The media report on incidents, alert motorists, provide
alternate route information, and provide other critical
information. They are a close partner, and the
relationships with incident and emergency management
officials must be based on mutual trust.
Associations
Volunteer The American Red Cross and many other associations
Organizations are vital partners in emergency response. Their specific
role and responsibilities should be well defined in the
EOPs.
Automobile These organizations assist agencies, support TIM/EM
Associations programs, and inform motorists of good practices.
Technical Societies These assist agencies, support (mainly) TIM programs,
(e.g., ITS State and provide training.
Chapter, State
Section ITE)
Associations of Cities, Same as the foregoing, but more generally involved in
Counties, Sheriffs, EM.
Police, EMS, etc.
Community/Corridor While only present in a few states, CTSTs assist
Traffic Safety Teams agencies, support TIM programs, and provide safety
(CTSTs) programs. They could be useful in ER as well.
Chambers of These could assist agencies by supporting TIM/EM
Commerce programs and engaging businesses in good
preparedness practices.
Other Organizations and People
Citizens for Better These groups can assist agencies, support TIM/EM
Transportation programs, and, most importantly, lobby for favorable
(state-by-state) legislation.
Citizens Groups These could be useful channels for outreach, both
through speaking engagements as well as
programmatic undertakings by the organizations.
Individuals and All should be encouraged to practice good
Families preparedness, such as having generators, adequate
emergency supplies and equipment; making escape and
evacuation plans and arrangements for pets; stocking up
on fuel and food and medicines; and identifying vital
papers in advance of impending emergencies.
