An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is the backbone of crisis management. It brings together experts from different emergency response departments to coordinate their resources share information and experience in responding to emergencies. Its location is integral considering the fact that if targeted by criminals, the impact may be tragic to a country, especially during a crisis (Bryant et al., 2019). Therefore, it should maintain an excellent design to enhance survivability and redundancy. The EOC play an integral role in coordinating various practices and creating policies to ensure that disaster response is enhanced. The executive functions of EOC, the impact of strategic location, and recommendations on better EOC design are elaborated.
Various operations done in the EOCs define its functions, including planning and monitoring events. According to Kendra & Wachtendorf (2003), the functions of EOC include coordination, policy-making, operations management, information access, public information, and hosting defense specialists for forums and conferences about security. The EOC must also be constituted by pre-designated employees who appreciate the roles and responsibilities (Cavaliere et al., 2020). The EOC officials may engage delegates from the community-based disaster organizations, contractors, non-profit groups, and any other organization having significant response functions to support EOC with disaster management. Each of these members can participate in specific functions such as coordinating a disaster response when they arise. Coordination is whereby teams work together for a common goal to ensure that they achieve the set goals.
Defense experts must head the EOC to ensure that they execute the command by ensuring that they are responsive when problems arise. Furthermore, the EOC leadership ensures that operation management, such as procuring facilities, services, personnel, and disseminating information among all these personnel, is enhanced to ensure that the operational process is enhanced (Kendra & Wachtendorf, 2003). The leadership is also responsible for suggesting policies to ensure that the operational processes are governed by laws supporting better execution of plans. The EOC also hosts visitors to ensure they share expertise and experience in the defense field to enable better coordination among experts during a crisis (Cavaliere et al., 2020). The EOC is an important centralized location that enables emergency respondents to establish strategies, practice the interventions, and plan for future operations.
The EOC is prone to attacks considering its various functions, including counteracting criminal activities, which indicates that it should be located in a safe environment. Therefore, placing the EOC in the World trade center complex may be important since it is a strategic location. The EOC can monitor the entire city at an angle to ensure protection is enhanced (Cavaliere et al., 2020). The reason is that the building is among the tallest building worldwide, making it a good viewpoint for defense missions. This height will also enable the EOC experts to maintain surveillance of the city to help devise interventions that would ensure security. As Neal (2003) mentions, the EOC internal design should perform better than the other designs created around it. This factor indicates that an EOC building should be structurally and geographically enhanced or equipped to ensure that it helps attain the set objectives.
The EOC serves as a latent location for storing resources used when disaster strikes. Navigating the World Trade Center building may be difficult for people unfamiliar with the environs. This privacy enables the team to coordinate and team up their efforts to ensure that emergency responses are enhanced (Kendra & Wachtendorf, 2003). The elevated and spacious environment also reduces noise and other distractions which may originate from various sources, including the buzzing cars in the city and the loud music. The tower also provides a great environment for crisis management interventions to be devised since the team can focus on the tasks ahead to ensure that they respond effectively.
Another professional suggestion for an EOC office is that they should be located in a place that does not change or affect the historic sites or buildings in the country (Bryant et al., 2019). They should also be close to other government offices to enhance communication and security teamwork. Considering these factors, the World Trade Center is a strategic location since it is big enough to accommodate the team without having to alter many things (Bryant et al., 2019). Similarly, the building is near various government offices such as the New York government agencies and various defense, environmental protection, and finance departments.
Despite the various advantages of placing the EOC at the tower, it also serves as a threat to emergency response since they become easy targets. For instance, the New York City office of Emergency Management experienced a response disaster when criminals invaded the place due to poor technological imbalance forcing them to vacate to another site to maintain operations (Bryant et al., 2019). In addition, the world trade center tower has previously sustained major terrorist attacks, targeting building terrorism activities. This act of terrorism reveals that this building is not a safe environment for an EOC office.
The tall and centrally located tower is easily identifiable due to its height, making it prone to attacks. Furthermore, placing the EOC in the building may compromise the process since all their machinery and resources are stored in a warehouse, putting them at risk of being overpowered (Bryant et al., 2019). Once the building is invaded, they could lose everything, including their resources rendering the team weak and unable to defend themselves (Neal, 2003). Another disadvantage is that the complexity of the building due to its structure could limit escape when the need arises. For instance, the building is a flat with only one exit meaning that the defense team could have limited options for escape in case of an attack.
One recommendation for an EOC is that it should not be based in hazard areas where other businesses operate (Kendra & Wachtendorf, 2003). This factor will ensure that they do not expose civilians to danger in case of an attack considering most people have little knowledge on defense against attacks and escape. Therefore, the organization should be established on an open base, independently operational to ensure that they can maintain privacy in their operation. An army base structure is recommended since it will give enough space for their operations and plans without any interference (Cavaliere et al., 2020). Another consideration to enhance survivability is maintaining a high technological capacity to enhance response operation processes such as communication. The team should consider installing redundant systems that support the same course to ensure that functionality is enhanced even during attacks.
The EOC is integral in disaster management, including terrorism, natural disasters, medical outbreaks, and war. They are accredited to respond to various disasters to ensure that lives are saved. Therefore, leaders should prioritize the geographical location and excellence of the agency’s design to ensure that the team is ready to counter any emergencies. Therefore, placing the organization in the central business district is not advisable, considering that it reduces survivability and redundancy. In addition, maintaining an operational system during emergency response is critical to ensure that they do not limit emergency operations.
References
Bryant, J. L., Sosin, D. M., Wiedrich, T. W., & Redd, S. C. (2019). Emergency operations centers and incident management structure. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Cavaliere, P., Cox, Z., Kendra, J., Mankins, A., Michaud, M., Nibbs, F., & Woody, M. (2020). A research agenda to explore the emergency operations center. Journal of Emergency Management (Weston, Mass.), 18(6), 525-534. Web.
Kendra, J. M., & Wachtendorf, T. (2003). Elements of resilience after the world trade center disaster: reconstituting New York City’s Emergency Operations Centre. Disasters, 27(1), 37-53. Web.
Neal, D. M. (2003). Design characteristics of emergency operating centers: What we know and don’t know. Journal of Emergency Management, 1(2), 35-38. Web.