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4 Purpose This section defines the various roles and responsibilities of staff in both the planning pro- cess and as players within the EOC. This section encourages airport managers to use a sound organization business model such as the NIMS and ICS or similar organizational system such as Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS). ICS will serve as the common nomenclature for this Guidebook. Using an ICS-type structure for managing an event influences the size and flow of the EOC facility. That, in turn, influences the planning process described in Section 4 of the Guidebook. Roles and Responsibilities Airport Staff Roles and Responsibilities There are various players within airport staff who should be involved in the planning and design of the EOC. They include, but are not limited to, representatives from airfield and land- side operations, maintenance and facilities, security, airport law enforcement officers (LEOs), ARFF, media relations, planning and engineering, IT, finance, and executive management. At a minimum, these are the people who would respond to the EOC and therefore should be part of the planning. Airport Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities There are various stakeholders who have a role and responsibility to assist airport manage- ment and staff in the planning and design of the airport EOC to ensure their needs are met when they assist in the EOC. These stakeholders include, but are not limited to, airlines, tenants, FAA Air Traffic Control, FBI, TSA, Customs and Border Control (CBP), mutual aid responders, the American Red Cross (ARC), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The process guideline for involving these entities is mapped out in Section 4 of the Guidebook. The Use of ICS Within the EOC As mentioned earlier, most airports are familiar with NIMS and ICS. It is generally agreed that because airports rely upon outside resources when an incident or event outstrips their ability to manage the incident or event on their own, it is valuable for airports and their regional disaster response partners to share a similar preparedness platform. Assets such as hazardous materials (HAZMATs) response teams, bomb squads, hostage negotiation units, S E C T I O N 3 Roles and Responsibilities
Roles and Responsibilities 5 decontamination units, volunteer organizations, and other specialists typically are brought in from outside the airport when needed during an incident. Those assets and others exist within government structures such as counties, states, or federal agencies. Typically, these agencies follow NIMS, so it is important that all responders utilize a common structure and terminology. The structure of choice should be communicated and training provided for all responders. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has oversight of NIMS and ICS as far as structure, training, and the supplemental event forms that are used for reimbursements. A federally declared event, such as a tornado, hurricane, and flood usually encompasses a large geographic area. During these types of events, an airport operator is usually supporting the local or state emergency management agency as another resource and is not the lead agency. The ICS structure for large-scale disasters can be a bit overwhelming to an airport operator. Airports should construct an ICS response system and supporting EOC in a way that reflects the needs of typical airport emergencies. Airports usually rely on immediate resources and mutual aid from the nearby community. Airport emergencies are relatively short term, from less than a day to maybe a few days as in the case of an aircraft accident. The ICS originally utilized the Command Post (CP) as the main location where all major decisions concerning an event took place. Today, the CP for airports is regarded as the gather- ing place to coordinate tactical operations. Usually, when an airport experiences an event the Incident Commander (IC) manages tactical operations at the CP, but the airport is still open and operating or working toward recovery to resume operations. The IC is focused on life, safety, and protection of property and the environment. Some airport managers use the ICS nomenclature of âICâ for both the field commander and the EOC manager. There are many titles employed for the lead manager of the EOC, and they include, but are not limited to, IC, EOC manager, EOC Commander, and EOC Director, to name a few. It is not important what the name is, but it is important that communication and training take place, so all responders understand who is in what role and what their responsibilities are. The Guidebook gives several naming convention options for airports to consider based on research. For most organizations like airports, the EOC provides a functional area away from the incident scene, but with the communications capabilities to monitor what is evolving on site. The airport EOC is usually seen as the part of the organization that is looking out airport-wide and maybe community-wide. They keep the big picture and support the needs of the IC at the CP. This inclusion of an EOC into the ICS structure has led to various approaches on how to mesh the two so that each provides the other with that they need to do their job. This Guidebook provides scenarios based on the survey outcomes of various ways to integrate an EOC and CP in the field. Communication is key. Airports sometimes try to stay as close to the formal ICS organization chart as possible. This Guidebook incorporates suggestions to help airports make ICS fit into their structure rather than the airport fitting into ICS. Some of these issues include naming the top person in the EOC, as discussed above, and what positions are filled within the formal ICS structure. Some airports have added a Day-to-Day Section Chief to help manage resources that are dedicated to keeping airport operations flowing. Flexibility of the ICS is key to helping personnel embrace the concept. Many airports are not comfortable with the ICS or the use of their EOC because they feel ICS protocols are intransigent. This Guidebook provides some flexible options airports may adopt to tailor the ICS to their own needs. Another variance may be what airports call their EOC. Some airports do not call their designated response facility an EOC, often because that is the term used for city, county, or state EOCs. Governments and their EOCs represent a larger geographic area than the airport. In a regional
6 Design Considerations for Airport EOCs emergency, the city or county EOC is often the main point of communication and logistics management. So as not to confuse organizations, some states have mandated that only certain organizations may call their coordination center an EOC. California is an example of a state that restricts the use of the title âEOC.â They call other organizations, such as airports, Department Operations Centers (DOCs). Other airports such as Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX) are referred to as the Airport Emergency Operations Center (AEOC) so as not to be confused with City of Phoenix EOC. It is not so important what an airport names its EOC if it is communicated to stakeholders and mutual aid responders. For the purposes of this Guidebook, the terms ICS and EOC are used as the generic names for organization structure and the designated facility to support and provide oversight of an event. It is critical for airport management to understand how they plan to incorporate ICS into their emergency operations on a regular basis as this drives the amount of space an EOC requires. The flow of the floor plan and furniture arrangements are all conducive to the management of events of various sizes, impacts, and length of time the EOC is in operation. In October of 2017, FEMA published a revision of NIMS, which outlines three possible EOC structures: ⢠ICS or ICS-like (Figure 3-1), ⢠Incident Support Model (Figure 3-2), and ⢠Departmental Structure (Figure 3-3). Each of these variations are described on the next pages. This Guidebook acknowledges there are several incident management models. The important consideration is planning an EOC layout based on an airportâs model of choice and communi- cating that model to all applicable stakeholders. This Guidebook references the ICS or ICS-like modeling because these are likely the most familiar for airports. Figures 3-4 through 3-6 are ICS charts showing examples for the EOC staffing and inter- action with tactical FC operations. EOC Director Operations Coordination Section Planning Coordination Section Logistics Coordination Section Public Information Officer Finance/ Administration Coordination Section Source: Faith Group, LLC. Figure 3-1. ICS or ICS-like. The ICS structure is probably the most familiar to organizations and aligns with the tactical response in the field.
Roles and Responsibilities 7 EOC Director Public Information Officer Situational Awareness Section Planning Support Section Resources Support Section Center Support Section Source: Faith Group, LLC. Figure 3-2. Incident support model (ISM). The ISM Model may be used by organizations that focus their EOC teamâs efforts on information, planning, and resource support, and that separate out the situational awareness function from planning and combine operations and logistics functions into an incident support structure. Emergency Manager Department of Natural Resources Department of Health & Human Services Department of Public Works Department of Public Safety Department of Administration Department of Education Source: Faith Group, LLC. Figure 3-3. Departmental structure. The Department structure utilizes the day-to-day organization structure and titles in the EOC. Utilizing the day-to-day titles and organization, individuals can function with minimal preparation and start-up time.
INCIDENT COMMANDER COMMAND POST Planning Section Chief Liaison Officer Safety Officer Logistics Section Chief Operations Section Chief Airline Liaison TSA Liaison Fire Fighting Branch Law Enforcement Branch Emergency Medical Services BranchStaging Area Airfield Branch GENERAL STAFF COMMAND STAFF Source: Faith Group, LLC. Figure 3-4. Basic ICS chart. EOC SUPPORT OPERATIONS SECTION CHIEF PLANNING SECTION CHIEF LOGISTICS SECTION CHIEF FINANCIAL ADMIN SECTION CHIEF Liaison Officer TSA Liaison Airline Liaison Public Information Officer DAY TO DAY SECTION CHIEF COMMAND STAFF GENERAL STAFF Source: Faith Group, LLC. Figure 3-5. EOC ICS organization.
EOC Support Operations Section Planning Section Finance Section Logistics Section TSA Liaison Airline Liaison Public Information Officer On-Site Incident Commander Or Unified Command Post Branch Director Branch Director Branch Director Branch Director Branch Director Day to Day Section Strike Team/Task Force Strike Team/Task Force Strike Team/Task Force Strike Team/Task Force Strike Team/Task Force Service Support Command Staff Airline Liaison Safety Officer PIO Logistics Deputy Operations Deputy Liaison Officer RESTAT SITSTAT Documentation Demobilization Technical Specialists Time Procurement Comps Claims Deputy OperationsDeputy Logistics Airfield Landside Maintenance Police FireTSA Liaison Staging Public Safety & Security < Line of Communication Groups/DivisionsGroups/Divisions Groups/Divisions Groups/Divisions Groups/Divisions Single Resource Single Resource Single Resource Single ResourceSingle Resource Source: Faith Group, LLC. Figure 3-6. Full ICS chart with EOC and FC best practices and lessons learned.
10 Design Considerations for Airport EOCs ICS Structure Figure 3-4 reflects the ICS structure in its purest form indicating the IC in charge of the field CP supported by the Command Staff and the general staff. The general staff represents what is commonly seen in airports. In the field, the IC usually works directly with the specific depart- ments or SMEs and often they are considered âbranches.â The Section Chief positions are not normally staffed, per se, but their functionality is retained by the IC unless otherwise assigned. When the IC finds they are managing outside a reasonable span of control (five to seven personnel or resources) in the field or they require long-term support and resources, this is typically an indication that an EOC should be activated. When the EOC is activated, it may be up to the IC as to whether the Section Chiefsâ roles remain in the field or are run through the EOC. Either the EOC or IC may utilize deputies for any of these positions. EOC Structure Figure 3-5 is representative of staffing for the EOC for airports. What an airport calls the person in charge of the EOC may vary as discussed previously in this section. EOC and FC Structure Figure 3-6 shows an example of an ICS inclusive of the EOC and FC. This is an example of how the EOC and FC could be organized. The hierarchy of the structure from EOC to FC is not so much lines of authority, but rather, lines of communication between the FC and the EOC.
