California Office of Emergency Management (OEM) - Emergency Management Functionality

Subsystem Description

The Emergency Management (EM) Subsystem represents public safety, emergency management, and other allied agency systems that support incident management, disaster response and evacuation, security monitoring, and other security and public safety-oriented ITS applications. The subsystem includes the functions associated with fixed and mobile public safety communications centers including public safety call taker and dispatch centers operated by police (including transit police), fire, and emergency medical services. It includes the functions associated with Emergency Operations Centers that are activated at local, regional, state, and federal levels for emergencies and the portable and transportable systems that support Incident Command System operations at an incident. This subsystem also represents other allied systems including centers associated with towing and recovery, freeway service patrols, HAZMAT response teams, and mayday service providers.  

The subsystem manages sensor and surveillance equipment used to enhance transportation security of the roadway infrastructure (including bridges, tunnels, interchanges, and other key roadway segments) and the public transportation system (including transit vehicles, public areas such as transit stops and stations, facilities such as transit yards, and transit infrastructure such as rail, bridges, tunnels, or bus guideways). The subsystem provides security/surveillance services to improve traveler security in public areas not a part of the public transportation system.  

This subsystem monitors alerts, advisories, and other threat information and prepares for and responds to identified emergencies. It interfaces with other Emergency Management Subsystems to support coordinated emergency response involving multiple agencies. The subsystem stores, coordinates, and utilizes emergency response and evacuation plans to facilitate this coordinated response. As the response progresses, situation information including damage assessments, response status, evacuation information, and resource information are shared to keep all allied agencies appraised of the response. Interface with the Transit Management Subsystem allows coordinated use of transit vehicles to facilitate response to major emergencies and to support evacuation efforts. The Emergency Management Subsystem also provides a focal point for coordination of the emergency and evacuation information that is provided to the traveling public, including wide-area alerts when immediate public notification is warranted.  

The subsystem tracks and manages emergency vehicle fleets using real-time road network status and routing information from the other center subsystems to aide in selecting the emergency vehicle(s) and routes that will provide the most timely response. Interface with the Traffic Management Subsystem allows strategic coordination in tailoring traffic control to support emergency vehicle ingress and egress, implementation of special traffic restrictions and closures, evacuation traffic control plans, and other special strategies that adapt the transportation system to better meet the unique demands of an emergency.

Functional Area: Emergency Commercial Vehicle Response

Responds to commercial vehicle and freight equipment related emergencies. Includes incidents involving hazardous materials as well as the detection of non-permitted transport of security sensitive hazmat.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall receive emergency notification information from commercial vehicles, commercial vehicle check stations, or commercial fleet operators and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator. This may include detection of non-permitted transport of security sensitive hazmat, hazardous cargo spills, etc.Existing
2The center shall receive details of the cargo being carried by commercial vehicles from their commercial fleet manager for incidents involving potential hazardous materials.Existing
3The center shall forward the verified emergency information to the responding agency based on the location and nature of the emergency.Existing
4The center shall provide the capability to request Fleet and Freight Management to disable a specific vehicle in their fleet.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Data Collection

Collection and storage of information related to Emergency Management. For use by operations personnel or data archives in the region.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall collect emergency service data, emergency vehicle management data, emergency vehicle data, sensor and surveillance data, threat data, and incident data.Existing
2The center shall assign quality control metrics and meta-data to be stored along with the data. Meta-data may include attributes that describe the source and quality of the data and the conditions surrounding the collection of the data.Existing
3The center shall receive and respond to requests from ITS Archives for either a catalog of the emergency management data or for the data itself.Existing
4The center shall be able to produce sample products of the data available.Planned

Functional Area: Emergency Early Warning System

Monitors alerting and advisory systems, information collected by ITS surveillance and sensors, and reports from other agencies in order to identify potential, imminent, or in-progress major incidents or disasters. Notification is provided to other ITS centers to notify the traveling public.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall monitor information from Alerting and Advisory Systems such as the Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS), etc. The information may include assessments (general incident and vulnerability awareness information), advisories (identification of threats or recommendations to increase preparedness levels), or alerts (information on imminent or in-progress emergencies).Existing
2The center shall provide the capability to correlate alerts and advisories, incident information, and security sensor and surveillance data.Existing
3The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to traffic management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
4The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to transit management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
5The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to toll administration centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
6The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to traveler information service providers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
7The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to maintenance centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
8The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to other emergency management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
9The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to commercial vehicle administration centers and roadside check facilities for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
10The center shall process status information from each of the centers that have been sent the wide-area alert.Existing
11The center shall coordinate the broadcast of wide-area alerts and advisories with other emergency management centers.Existing
12The center shall receive incident information from other transportation management centers to support the early warning system.Existing
13The center shall present the alert and advisory information and the status of the actions taken in response to the alert by the other centers to the emergency system operator as received from other system inputs.Existing
14The center shall support the entry of alert and advisory information directly from the emergency system operator.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Evacuation Support

Evacuation planning and coordination to manage evacuation and reentry of a population in the vicinity of a disaster or other emergency that poses a risk to public safety.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall manage inter-agency coordination of evacuation operations, from initial planning through the evacuation process and reentry.Existing
2The center shall develop and exchange evacuation plans with allied agencies prior to the occurrence of a disaster.Existing
3The center shall provide an interface to the emergency system operator to enter evacuation plans and procedures and present the operator with other agencies� plans.Existing
4The center shall coordinate evacuation destinations and shelter needs with shelter providers (e.g., the American Red Cross) in the region.Existing
5The center shall provide evacuation information to traffic, transit, maintenance and construction, rail operations, and other emergency management centers as needed.Existing
6The center shall request resources from transit agencies as needed to support the evacuation.Existing
7The center shall request traffic management agencies to implement special traffic control strategies and to control evacuation traffic, including traffic on local streets and arterials as well as the major evacuation routes.Existing
8The center shall provide traveler information systems with evacuation guidance including basic information to assist potential evacuees in determining whether evacuation is necessary and when it is safe to return.Existing
9The center shall monitor the progress or status of the evacuation once it begins and exchange tactical plans, prepared during the incident, with allied agencies.Existing
10The center shall monitor the progress of the reentry process.Existing
11The center shall submit evacuation information to toll administration centers along with requests for changes in the toll services or fee collection during an evacuation.Existing
12The center shall retrieve information from public health systems to plan for and implement evacuations or in-place sheltering for biological, chemical, radiation, and other public health emergencies.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Response Management

Strategic emergency planning and response capabilities and broad inter-agency interfaces to support large-scale incidents and disasters, commonly associated with Emergency Operations Centers.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall provide strategic emergency response capabilities provided by an Emergency Operations Center for large-scale incidents and disasters.Existing
2The center shall manage coordinated inter-agency responses to and recovery from large-scale emergencies. Such agencies include traffic management, transit, maintenance and construction management, rail operations, and other emergency management agencies.Existing
3The center shall provide the capability to implement response plans and track progress through the incident by exchanging incident information and response status with allied agencies.Existing
4The center shall develop, coordinate with other agencies, and store emergency response plans.Existing
5The center shall track the availability of resources and coordinate resource sharing with allied agency centers including traffic, maintenance, or other emergency centers.Existing
6The center shall allocate the appropriate emergency services, resources, and vehicle (s) to respond to incidents, and shall provide the capability to override the current allocation to suit the special needs of a current incident.Existing
7The center shall receive event scheduling information from Event Promoters.Existing
8The center shall support remote control of field equipment normally under control of the traffic management center including traffic signals, dynamic message signs, gates, and barriers.Existing
9The center shall provide the capability to remotely control and monitor CCTV systems normally operated by a traffic management center.Planned
10The center shall provide the capability to request transit resource availability from transit centers for use during disaster and evacuation operations.Existing
11The center shall assimilate the damage assessment of the transit, traffic, rail, maintenance, and other emergency center services and systems to create an overall transportation system status, and disseminate to each of these centers and the traveling public via traveler information providers.Existing
12The center shall provide information to the media concerning the status of an emergency response.Existing
13The center shall provide the capability for digitized map data to act as the background to the information presented to the emergency system operator.Planned
14The center shall provide the capability for center personnel to provide inputs to the management of incidents, disasters and evacuations.Existing
15The center shall collect information about the status of the recovery efforts for the infrastructure during disasters.Existing
16The center shall provide the overall status of infrastructure recovery efforts to traveler information providers and media.Existing
17The center shall provide the capability to communicate information about emergency situations to local population through the Emergency Telecommunications System.Existing
18The center shall provide the capability to identify neighborhoods and businesses that should be informed of an emergency situation based on information collected about incidents including their severity, impacted locations, and recovery schedule.Existing
19The center shall retrieve information from public health systems to increase preparedness for, and implement a response to biological, chemical, radiation, and other public health emergencies.Existing
20The center shall manage coordinated inter-agency responses to incidents at an international border.Existing

Functional Area: Incident Command

Tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration among emergency management agencies for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall provide tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident.Existing
2The center shall provide incident command communications with public safety, emergency management, transportation, and other allied response agency centers.Existing
3The center shall track and maintain resource information and action plans pertaining to the incident command.Existing
4The center shall share incident command information with other public safety agencies including resource deployment status, hazardous material information, rail incident information, evacuation advice as well as traffic, road, and weather conditions.Existing
5The center shall assess the status of responding emergency vehicles as part of an incident command.Existing

Functional Area: Mayday Support

Collection and response to Mayday messages received from vehicles and drivers.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall collect mayday messages from vehicles and drivers.Existing
2The center shall collect mayday messages from travelers via personal handheld devices.Existing
3The center shall acknowledge the request for emergency assistance, whether originated by the driver, automatically by the vehicle's safety systems, or by a traveler via a personal handheld device.Existing
4After the mayday becomes a verified incident, the center shall determine the appropriate response to the mayday message.Existing
5The center shall determine whether the mayday message indicates an emergency that requires the attention of public safety agencies, and forward mayday emergency data to the appropriate agency as necessary.Existing
6The center shall support the activation of remote controlled functions requested by a vehicle, such as requests to unlock doors.Existing
7The center shall request additional emergency details from or issue commands to the vehicle's security systems or vehicle driver if needed.Existing
8The center shall maintain a log of all mayday signals received from vehicles.Existing
9The center shall provide all mayday data to center personnel and respond to the vehicle, driver, or traveler using the portable handheld device as directed by the personnel.Existing