Introduction
Emergency management has emerged as one of the areas of managerial focus of the contemporary corporate world. The importance of emergency management is founded in the need for organizations and governments to have the capacities to deal with challenges that might affect the smoothness of their activities through such issues as the occurrence of natural disasters harm to the human resources, and others. The term refers to organization and subsequent management of responsibilities and resources used in dealing with the humanitarian elements of an emergency. Such elements of an emergency include the state of preparedness, the mode of response to the emergency, and the recovery process. The objective of emergency management, therefore, is to minimize the adverse effects that result from all hazards within an operations area, which includes disasters, both manmade and natural.
However, while this concept has a connection with disaster management, it should not be confused with it since it is emergency management is an umbrella term that may or may not include disaster management. In this line of thought, an emergency operations center is a unit within a corporate or governmental unit that deals with the management of emergencies. The primary activities of the emergency operations centers, consequently, rank within the three fields of emergency management identified above. This essay analyzes the County of Riverside Emergency Operations Center that the Riverside County Board of Supervisors established in 2015. In specificity, the writing reports on three issues related to the emergency operations center, the type of disasters, the operational region, and vulnerable populations that the department serves, the design and location of the center, and the manner in which communications are managed with the public.
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Disasters, the Operational Region, and Vulnerable Populations That the Department Serves
The mission statement of the County of Riverside Emergency Operations Center defines the operational region, the populations served, and the types of disaster that the department deals with. The location of Riverside County in California makes it one of the most populous of all the counties in the US. In fact, according to the census report of 2010, the County of Riverside is home to over 2 million residents, which makes it the eleventh most populous around the nation and the fourth most populous in the State of California (Statistical Atlas, 2017). For such reasons, the organization deals with one of the largest populations that an emergency operations center can ever deal with in the US. Precisely, the County of Riverside Emergency Operations Center offers its services to all the residents of the county as well as the visitors that tour it (Statistical Atlas, 2017). Among the most vulnerable groups of people that the institution serves are children, women and the poor households that reside in the county (Statistical Atlas, 2017). Demographic statistics of the county indicate that children and women make up more than half of the entire population (Statistical Atlas, 2017). It means that the program’s focus based on the vulnerability of the served population covers slightly over one million individuals. However, it is critical noting that as much as the emergency operations center focus on the vulnerable groups identified above, its approach is non-discriminate since it incorporates people from all the age brackets as well as racial, economic, and other backgrounds.
The county of Riverside Emergency Operations Center’s commitment is on both the natural and man-made hazards. Specifically, the natural disasters that the department has a commitment to dealing with include the possibilities of an occurrence of fires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes among others (CREMD, 2017). In this case, the department ensures that it keeps its staff prepared and equipped to handle the challenges that might result from the occurrence of such disasters. When the natural disasters strike, they overlap with what the institution terms as man-made disaster, which might include the incidences of fire outbreaks and disease that might cause the affected individuals to suffer psychologically, physically, and economically.
Therefore, the all-inclusive approach to emergency management that the institution adopts includes three major sub-departments. One of such sub-departments is the Riverside Emergency Medical Services Agency, which deals with issues related to the health of the people served. The provisioning of such services occurs thru an immediate emergency response through the 911 service that results in the medical transportation of affected individuals to hospitals within the county (CREMD, 2017). Another service offered through this sub-department of the emergency center is the active emergency medical system credentials, which ensures the availability of mobile intense caregivers, including nurses, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians who offer medical services to affected individuals on the spot of the occurrence of the disasters. The last service offered under the same sub-department is the ambulance provision one, which obtains permits for people to operate ambulances within the Riverside County.
The second sub-department of the emergency department is that of business and finance, which serves two major roles. The first of such roles of the sub-department is ensuring a partial compensation for the services that are offered to people who have indigent and those who might not afford the cost of care given to them (CREMD, 2017). The center offers this service through its EMS Fund, the Richie’s Fund, and the Maddy Fund, which ensure that the residents of the county receive the intended services regardless of whether or not they can afford such care. The second role that this sub-department serves is ensuring a continued support to the community through the provision of training services for people who may volunteer to help the movement grow and reach its goal of serving as many people as possible. The last department is that of local hazard mitigation plan, which is concerned with dealing with physical and chemical hazards that could expose people within the county to risks of any type. The objective of this sub-department is to reduce the possibilities of the need for emergency services that would arise from an exposure to hazards.
The Design and Location of the County of Riverside Emergency Operations Center
The emergency center is located in the City of Riverside, California along the Riverwalk Parkway, Suite 300. The headquarter offices of the center houses all the departments. The center has four different departments whose activities are coordinated to attain the goals and objectives set by its management. specifically, the administration, business and finance division of the institution deals with such issues as the coordination of the activities of the organization, the development of creative approaches to operations, grants and budgets, the credentials of employees, the perpetuation of the federal emergency management plan, and other programs. The coordination section of this department has a commitment of coordinating with each of the levels of government in ensuring that the programs of emergency management are successful within its region of operation (CREMD, 2017). Additionally, the administration, business, and finance division of the emergency center deals with the formulation of a creative structure, which is charged with ensuring that the programs of the center correspond with those set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (CREMD, 2017). The grants and budget section deals with the management of over seventeen grant allocations from both federal and state agencies as well as the providers of medical services. The department also deals with ensuring that the operations of the emergency center are as cost effective as possible for a sustainable existence. Other duties of the same departments include ensuring that the center staff have enough office space for an efficient operation as well as the execution of projects within the stipulated times.
On the employee credentials, the emergency operations center is committed to ensuring a capable and committed team of employees whose focus is on the provision of quality services to the stakeholders as well as the production of products that meet the highest professional standards. Therefore, one of the approaches to retain the brightest and best talents is to ensure a continued training and provision of chances for professional development for the employees (CREMD, 2017). Such efforts entail offering guidance to the employees using an approved program of emergency management credentialing that the California Specialized Institute offers. Lastly, the continuity of operations and government plan department deals with capacity of the emergency operations center to offer essential functions to the residents of Riverside County, their business, as well as the stakeholders at the time of any forms of disruption.
Therefore, the organization of the County of Riverside Emergency Operations Center is such that it ensures a smooth coordination of internal activities as well as a link-up with the federal regulations and guidelines on the purpose of the emergency management programs throughout the country. The management of the center, through the executive office has a task of managing communications both internally and externally, which is why the next section evaluates the manner in which the center deals with communications.
The Modes of Communication within the EOC and between the Public and Private Sectors
The coordination department of the emergency operations center in Riverside County deals with the communications between the institution and outside. First, the organization manages communications between itself and the government. The departments, agencies and jurisdictions of the operational area engage in the different meetings such as those organized by the county and others (CREMD, 2017). Such meetings, according to the organization, offer opportunities for effective collaboration, plan and project development, and lessons from the industry that the organization can emulate best practices in emergency operations management. the regular meetings that the institution engages in provides a useful avenue thru which it is able to update the employees, the government and other stakeholders concerning the steps that have and should be taken to realize the overall goal of effective emergency management. additionally, the institution works in partnership with the Office of Emergency Services in California to keep in touch with other organizations that deal with emergency management in the county and elsewhere. Therefore, the approach to communications that the organization has adopted entails conferences that assemble employees and stakeholders to discuss the issues pertinent to an affective operation of the center. in fact, as do many other organizations, the emergency operations center in Riverside County organizes annual stakeholder meetings during which the public is informed on the progress and the plans of the institution going forward (CREMD, 2017). For such a reason, the annual reports of the institutions are always availed to the public through the organizational website, which gives them a chance of understanding the strategic direction that the organization takes.
Apart from the organizational website and the meetings that the Riverside County Emergency Operations Center manages, it also uses social media such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with the public. The social media channels are specifically used in the provision of short updates on the progress of some issues that require an emergency response such as the restoration of power following a power outage and others (CREMD, 2017). The center also has a hotline number through which residents of the county can reach the head office toll free in the event of an issue requiring and emergency response such as an accident and others.
Conclusion
The Riverside Country Emergency Operations Center serves one of the largest populations of US citizens in the country. The commitment of the institution is to provision support for the widest population possible for the widest range of disasters, both natural and artificial, as possible. The organizational structure of the center is such that it has different departments that coordinate their activities through the head office located in the City or Riverside. The head office, through the department of coordination, deals with the management of communications between the center and the outside, especially with the deferral government and the public. Such communications occur through the organizational website on which the annual reports are posted, social media over which short updates on current events are posted and a toll free line that the public can call for help.
References
Statistical Atlas (2017). Population of Riverside County, California . Retrieved 24 December 2017, from https://statisticalatlas.com/county/California/Riverside-County/Population
The County of Riverside Emergency Management Department (CREMD) (2017). Annual Report: 2017 Accomplishments, Highlights, and Goals. Retrieved December 24, 2017 from http://www.rivcoemd.org/Portals/0/Annual%20report%20-%20FINAL%209.11.pdf?ver=2017-09-11-142155-797
