read each paragraph and give me your opinion on each paragraph if you agree or disagree with it

1.

Functions of An EOC and An ICS

Incident Command System (ICS)

Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

National Incident Management Systems (NIMS)

The Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) acquires resources and directs them to Incident Commanders at scenes. The EOC is also organizes elected officials and policy makers to develop community-based disaster response measures. Along with coordinating and assembling management strategies to disaster recovery measures, the EOC is also the focus on the emergency management and senior policy makers (Perry & Lindell, 2007) .

The Incident Command System (ICS) along with incident management systems (IMS) are directly responsible for communication between responders and commanding emergency response teams and analyze concerns and awareness of potential emergency conditions (Perry & Lindell, 2007) .

In a hypothetical emergency situation such as an earthquake where a city population or large community would be at risk, an EOC would be necessary in giving command teams and ground units information that can assist with coordination and recovery efforts. An ICS’s main focus would be to direct coordinations with emergency response and command. Differences with EOC and ICS is that one commands and one coordinates. In the scenario, the EOC would be assigned preparedness operations designed to respond to an earthquake emergency (Perry & Lindell, 2007).

The ICS would be tasks with communication with coordination efforts with ground units for a more effective response by several response teams. The National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) follow emergency planning guidelines from federal agencies and state and local organizations. These guidelines are conditions used for preparedness funding within disaster response capabilities (Perry & Lindell, 2007).

In the event of an emergency situation, such as an earthquake, the NIMS would utilize the six components and command and manage the ICS, address preparedness and standards, manage resources, communicate information, support technologies, and assessments of ongoing management and maintenance (Perry & Lindell, 2007).

2.

The application of an ICS and EOC can be applied to any emergency incident in the community. They both address and deal with extreme hazards through the phases of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. However, one deals with command and the other with coordination. This is where they differ (Perry & Lindell, 2007).

ICS basically establishes the chain of command and authority at an incident. This starts with the incident commander. The use of this function provides direction for organizing and managing response assets at an incident (Lutz & Lindell, 2008). Using a terrorist attack (bomb) at a government building for example, the ICS will determine among other things, immediate urgencies at the scene and strategies to manage those priorities. If a state fire department had established incident command, they would probably determine that stopping the fire, search and rescue efforts, and the threat of building collapsing would all be immediate priorities. Without the ICS to communicate guidance, nobody would know what had been done, what needed to be done, and how to do it.

The EOC is responsible for coordinating response efforts. Unlike the ICS, the EOC does not take command of a scene. The response efforts are headed by emergency managers and work in conjunction with other emergency agencies and partners. The EOC works very closely with the ICS in coordination efforts by sharing information and managing resources. Using the same scenario, EOC may be called upon to provide additional resources. Other fire agencies may be required to meet the incident objectives such as suppressing the fire. Police officers may be needed to manage the disruption of traffic or other complications from the scene (Perry & Lindell, 2007).

NIMS is essentially the blueprint that all agencies on all levels follow in all hazard phases, no matter the size. NIMS has many key features. One of those features recognizes ICS as the standard incident management organization and the other emphasizes the importance of communication between agencies and responders by setting guidelines for them to follow to have the most efficient and effective incident response (SCEMD, 2010). In a scenario like the bomb attack, communication and the relationships between agencies and responders is vital.