Establishing & Planning an
LGU Command Center or Operation Center
(OpCen).
Under the DILG's updated and consolidated Disaster Preparedness Manual, the guideline clearly delineate the roles and functions of LGUs in the form of checklist which is divided into three parts.
The first Checklist Early Preparedness Actions (EPA) for Mayors contains proactive early preparedness protocols and actions. They are to be undertaken as preparatory and necessary measures prior to carrying out functions during a critical period. Under EPA there are General Actions.
Three General Actions for early preparation :
- Create and institutionalize structures, systems, policies and plans
- Build competencies
- Mobilize resources
The first general action " create and institutionalize structures, systems, policies and plans" refers to organization and facilities (structures). The mayor has to take proactive action as necessary measure by creating a list of organizations as mandated by law and implementing a disaster preparedness system in the LGU among others the Incident Command System (ICS).
Part of the LGU's task is the establishment and designation an Operation Center (OpCen). The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is the designated national govt agency partner of LGUs in establishing the OpCen.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) provides training to LGU participants in developing comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the duties, responsibilities and capabilities of an effective Incident Commander and the Command Staff as well as the Operations Section, the Logistics Section and Finance and Administration Section.
It is imperative that LGUs establish and designate an Emergency Operation Center (OpCen) also known as Command Center or Emergency Operation Center (EOC).
Under the guidance of OCD each LGUs shall establish an Emergency Operation Center operating under the 4Cs concept of Command, Control, Coordination and Communication. In public safety, police and military it is 4Ci adding "intelligence" to the 4Cs.
This page will attempt to discuss Command Center, OpCen or EOC technologies.
Rationale
- An Emergency Operation Center (EOC) or OpCen is a critical-component under the DILG's Disaster Preparedness Manual specifically LGUs EPA checklist.
- The Purpose of the EOC is to gather information, manage resources and employ effective communication. The EOC must receive, analyze, and display information about the incident to provide situational awareness as basis or reference for the Mayor to make informed decisions.
- The EOC must find, prioritize, deploy, keep track of people and critical resources. It is imperative to use advance, integrated and converged technology for decision making, communication with partner agencies, collaboration and coordination with responders on the ground and with all "national disaster-preparedness" stake-holders.
- EOC is about C4i or Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence. As a decision-support system it requires the use of reliable (rugged) communications equipment & devices, if possible military-grade disaster-resilient system to ensure its reliability and performance.
Putting up an OpCen require advance planning. Command Center Planners are concerned about the right technology to deliver/achieve the following capabilities:
Joint Information, Data Links, Communication Links, Physical Proximity, Information Priority, Filtering Capability, Control Over Resources, Shared Displays (visual), Multiple Displays (visual), Push and Pull Capabilities (obtain and send), Zoom-in / Zoom-out Capabilities, Optimizing Information Space, Keeping Information Load Manageable, etc..
Disaster-Help-Tools -for-LGUs Command Center Tips for Command Center Planners.
What is it About?
Command Center set-up is concerned about the structure, layout, staffing, system and technology platforms such as of software, servers, application programs, voice & data communication, networks, audio-video display and space design/planning all of these.....to make the OpCen truly functional, easy and convenient to operate;
Critical Facility
Considered a critical government facility function; establishing an EOC Facility entails meticulous planning that take considerations the following: back-up power, power quality & protection, data center cooling, safe & secure location, capacity and seating arrangement, computers, telephones, radio communications, video streaming and distribution (LAN/WAN), large screen display, meeting space, food, water and sufficient relaxing space for inside operators.
Information Management
An effective information management by ICS commanders need a robust command, control, and monitoring function. The OpCen device and consoles must be easy and efficient to operate (user-friendly), can collect information rapidly, able to coordinate and report activities, able to effectively allocate resources, able to track multiple incidents or developing situations, able to communicate activities across the organizations and facilitate easy documentation.
IP-Based Communication
EOC is best designed using IP (internet protocol) communication networking and adopting virtualization. The adopted technology should be able to support an effective information management, event tracking and command center process-flow...
Communication Convergence
Ideally, communication platform should support voice, data, SMS, video, GPS and internet under a converged communication and virtualization concept. OpCen should be able to achieve "any-to-any" connection regardless of physical location. Voice (radio, telephone, mobile cellular) communication should be easy to deploy and operate with room to integrate (combine) a disparate (dissimilar) 2-way radio systems into one seamless network. IP Communication links be it wired (copper/fiber), wireless (TDM, Wi-Fi, Cellular) and satellite should be transparent to support voice, data, internet and video transmission.
AV-over-IP over LAN/WAN/Internet
Audio-Visual IP Video-Communication (streaming) with ability to be shared/distributed and management over LAN/WAN/INTERNET/Satellite is considered one of the most important command center (EOC) component in delivering real-time and low-latency images in inside the OpCen.
C4s (Command, Control, Computer, Communication) technology is bringing Situational Awareness inside the OpCen. A high level of "Situational Awareness" is critical ingredient for an informed decision-making by respective LGUs in carrying out task of responding to local emergencies, disaster and natural-calamities.
Writer's Note:
The next sub-pages under "Command Center" will discuss heavily on AV-over-IP or video-communication (video streaming, distribution and management) one of the most important component inside the Command Center. AV-over-IP (Audio-Video over Internet Protocol) is something this writer has good knowledge, training and expertise. Other components will be discussed as well.....