County Emergency Management and other County Agencies organize and control the response to disasters under the authority of the Mayor. The County EMA is responsible for standing up the Emergency Operations Center. (EOC) EMAs define and execute the incident action plan (IAP) for each operational period during an EOC activation.
The County EMA is responsible for establishing an EOC where all agencies work together to preserve continuity of governmental operations and protect public safety and property. This is relevant when a single agency cannot handle the situation within the scope of their normal operations.
The EOC may include a representative from agencies such as fire, police, public works, and others. Key commercial partners such as providers of electrical and communications services may be invited. Other organizations, such as Hawaii VOAD may or may not be represented, depending upon the type of emergency. Your organization must be invited by appropriate County staff to be allowed at the EOC. Since many non-governmental organizations may not have the option of having a seat at the EOC, your organization might be able to coordinate through another organization that does.
The EOC may include a representative from agencies such as fire, police, public works, and others. Key commercial partners such as providers of electrical power and communications services may be invited. Other organizations, such as Hawaii VOAD may or may not be represented, depending upon the type of emergency. Your organization must be invited by the appropriate County staff to be allowed to be present. Since many non-governmental organizations may not have the option of having a seat at the EOC, your organization may have to coordinate through another organization who does.
Who do I report to?
Most often, volunteers are officially included in an incident response, only when they are a part of a larger non-governmental organization. (NGO) The NGO typically make sure that the volunteer has appropriate qualifications and training to handle a specific set of responsibilities. Sometimes this could involve certain orientation and training classes, and a possibly a criminal or other type of background check.
It is possible that in larger disasters, certain NGOs or working groups may be created or designated by the County for the purpose of bringing in new volunteers. The Incident Command System his the flexibility to incorporate subject management experts, amateur radio operators, and others with specific skill sets. Hawaii VOAD maintains a volunteer management working group, which can help new volunteers determine whether they might be incorporated into a response or recovery effort, and may be able to refer volunteers to other organizations that can get them started in an appropriate way. Volunteers must not simply show up at a disaster scene. This is usually unsafe, the the volunteer is likely to unintentionally interfere with the response, or distract other responders. The County EMA may not have the capacity of accepting new volunteers, especially at the beginning of a disaster when the situation is changing rapidly.
In a large scale disaster, coordination may be handled through your affiliation with Hawaii VOAD, a working group created by the County, or through some other means. Based on prior arrangements, a county may assign certain groups, such as American Red Cross, or possibly another large NGO to handle certain specific functions. When your organization become a part of an incident response, it is important to make sure everyone knows who is immediately above them in the chain of command. This does not mean that your organization is necessarily obligated to respond to any particular Request For Assistance. (RFA) Instead, it means that if you do agree to a specific RFA, you know who to coordinate with.