Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
A description of each item on the Checklist is included on the following pages.
Notified by—
For legal reasons, it is important to document who first noti-
fied you about the incident. Obviously, it is important to validate the authen-
ticity of the call by password or other means.
Time—
Be sure to note exactly when you were first notified of the incident.
Use the space on the Checklist to note the time of notification. Liability
judgments may well rest on how you respond based on information you were
given in this first call.
Type of Emergency—
Understand the type of emergency scenario you are
dealing with and the actual or, if unknown, potential scale of it.
Location—
Get the best description of the location and extent of the incident
as possible.
CEO Reporting Point—
Clarify whether to go to the Emergency Operations
Center (EOC), and alternate EOC, or another reporting point.
Open Routes—
Determine the best available travel route and type of trans-
portation required.
Available Communication—
Conirm the availability of primary and
backup communication channels and frequencies available to you. Remaining
in communication at all times is critical to effective leadership during an
emergency.
Damage—
he scope of damage is often unreliable in the initial reports.
Despite this reality, try to document what you can. The information may
prove crucial in how soon a state or federal disaster declaration is made. Be
sure to gather information about
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Injuries and deaths
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Property damage
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Other impacts (e.g., damage to critical facilities or the infrastructure)
Resources—
You need to gather information about resources to get an imme-
diate sense of the resources committed, the resources required, and the possi-
bility of the need for outside resources. Often, mutual aid agreements require
the CEO or a designee to formally request the assistance.
Even if no immediate action is required from you to summon additional resources,
it is important to know what resource requirements exist or might be needed later.
This information allows the CEO to give immediate direction to authorize the use
of additional resources.
Gather the information below as a minimum:
◾
Incident command status.
Under the requirements of NIMS, your commu-
nity is required to adopt ICS as its incident management system. One of the
key aspects of successful emergency management is knowing who is in overall
command at the incident and at the EOC.
