Appendix 3 to the Basic Plan
EMERGENCY (DISASTER) CLASSIFICATION & CONTROL PROCEDURES
PURPOSE
To establish emergency/disaster classification and control procedures for county and/or city officials and emergency response personnel during periods of emergency/disaster.
EMERGENCY CLASSIFICATION
• Level III Emergency is an occurrence that can be handled routinely by one or more departments within the County and / or Cities. It has the potential to require resources in excess of those available to the responding agency(ies) through mutual aid agreements, etc., to bring the situation under control.
• Level II Emergency is an occurrence that requires a major response and the significant commitment of resources from several governmental agencies, but will still be within the capabilities of local resources to control. (Example: localized flooding, isolated tornado damage, etc.)
• Level I Emergency is an occurrence that requires an extensive response and commitment of resources from all departments / agencies and could necessitate requesting outside assistance from state and federal agencies. (Example: earthquake, major tornado damage over large areas with extensive casualties, extensive flooding or any incident requiring an evacuation of a significant sized area.)
(Note: classification updated September, 2015)
RESPONSE PROCEDURES
• The dispatcher, upon notification of an emergency, shall notify the officer on duty to respond. (The term dispatcher when used in these procedures applies to the E-9-1-1 Center Dispatcher for Saline County.)
• The dispatching agency, upon notification of an incident involving hazardous materials (fixed facilities or transportation) the dispatcher shall immediately notify the fire department, ambulance service, police department, and the community emergency coordinator of the jurisdiction having authority. The dispatcher shall complete the accident notification form found in Appendix 5 to Hazardous Materials Annex for each incident involving hazardous materials.
• On-scene command and control of the affected area will be established by the first ranking officer of the responding agency at the scene of the incident.
• The on-scene commanding officer will maintain radio contact with the dispatcher to advise of the situation and to alert additional response agencies as necessary.
• When it becomes apparent to the commanding officer at the scene that control of the incident is beyond the response capabilities of the initial responding agency(ies) and the emergency has escalated from Level I to Level II or higher, the officer will instruct the dispatcher to notify the next in command {i.e., Sheriff, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Emergency Management Director, etc.) of the seriousness of the disaster.
• The next in command will in turn, advise the chief elected official (i.e.. Presiding Commissioner for Saline County, or Mayor of the involved municipality) of the situation, at which time a determination will be made as to whether or not the EOC should be activated and personnel should be assembled.
• Should it be decided to assemble the EOC staff, each member of the EOC staff will be contacted by the dispatcher and advised to report to the EOC. The dispatcher will be assisted by the on-duty personnel at the department and / or the Emergency Management Coordinator to make the notifications if necessary (See Appendix 2 to Annex A for EOC Staffing Roster / Call-Up List).
• After the EOC staff has assembled, it will be determined what personnel will be required to control operations. This determination will be made by the officials present.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES
• It will be the responsibility of the dispatcher on duty to notify key government officials and emergency response organizations / departments. The primary methods of communications will be through radio, telephone and / or pagers / plectrons.
• The dispatcher will have available at the communications center the necessary call-up/notification lists which include names and telephone numbers of individuals and organizations to contact. It is the responsibility of the dispatcher along with each organization/department to see that these lists are kept current.
• In some cases it will be the responsibility of the first organization member contacted to notify and / or recall the necessary personnel within that organization to respond to the incident. Therefore, each organization must maintain current internal personnel notification / recall rosters and a means to implement them.
• Depending upon the type of emergency, the dispatcher will notify/warn special locations such as schools, nursing homes and business / industry. (Many of these facilities have plectrons which are activated during severe weather.) A list of names and telephone numbers to contact is available with the dispatcher. On-duty personnel at the department and/or the Emergency Management Coordinator will assist with this notification.
• It is the responsibility of the dispatcher to keep a log of all messages received and sent (See Annex A for copies of message and communication log forms).
• Operational procedures / checklists will be established and utilized in so far as possible.
• Situations requiring notification that are not covered by these checklists will be handled on a case by case basis by the Emergency Management Coordinator and his staff.