TRAINING FOR THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER STAFf

摘要

When a disaster strikes a community and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated, nonemergency personnel fill some key positions. Librarians, finance officers, park maintenance personnel, and custodians, just to name a few, are included in the list. I refer to these participants as "generalists" in this article. Much like the militia of American history when farmers and silversmiths dropped the tools of their trade to take up arms, this modern militia stands ready to drop regular assignments to work alongside the regular army of firefighters, paramedics, and police officers. Like firefighters, the generalists also want to perform well. This modern militia needs proper training to successfully perform vital tasks. The training covers many areas that are second nature to firefighters, such as what to do with their families during a disaster, how to behave in the EOC, and what is expected of them in the emergency environment. There are also individual training needs that pertain to specific assignments and working relationships with other components of the emergency organization. Most often, these people are assigned to supporting roles such as logistics and finance, although public works personnel often have operational assignments. These personnel bring to the EOC lots of talent from their regular assignments. Their general enthusiasm and natural intelligence make them top performers in the EOC.