When emergencies and disasters collide: Lessons from the response to the Magna, Utah earthquake during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 19-37
Author(s):  
David A. McEntire, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Emergency Operations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emergency Operations Center ◽  
Complex Disasters ◽  
Operations Center

The following article addresses the complexities of responding to the Magna, Utah earthquake under conditions of the global corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The article begins with a brief mention of the literature on complex disasters along with the research methods employed for the study. Contextual information about COVID-19 and the Magna earthquake are then provided along with general issues that had to be addressed in the public health emergency and after the seismic hazard occurred. The following two sections identify how COVID-19 benefited the response to the earthquake as well as how the virus complicated operations after the tremor. The article then discusses major lessons of this research and provides recommendations for future study and practice. Overall, this research reveals that the responses to these two simultaneous events witnessed successes as well as significant challenges. The appearance of COVID-19 may have limited injuries or the loss of life during the Magna earthquake, and it also enabled an early activation of the emergency operations center (EOC). However, COVID-19 presented unique challenges for evacuation, sheltering, and damage assessment functions. The pandemic also altered the nature of EOC operations, created the need for a virtual response, and had distinct implications for financial accounting and personnel workload.

A research agenda to explore the emergency operations center

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 525-534
Author(s):  
Paolo Cavaliere, PhD ◽  
Zachary Cox, MA ◽  
James Kendra, PhD ◽  
Aimee Mankins, BA ◽  
Michael Michaud, MEd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Emergency Operations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emergency Managers ◽  
Emergency Operations Center ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Operations Center

Objective: The emergency operations center (EOC) is an essential component of modern emergency management. Traditionally understood as a place where officials communicate with the public, support coordination, manage operations, craft policy, gather information, and host visitors; there has been little recent research on their structure, operations, or work procedures. EOCs may in fact be, as we argue here, places where emergency managers come to find workarounds, delegate tasks, and find new sources of expertise in order to make sense, make meaning, and make decisions. However, despite their status as a symbol of emergency management and recipients of large amounts of funding, there has been relatively little scientific research into the EOC. With this paper, we synthesize the existing research and propose a variety of research questions to accelerate the process of inquiry into the EOC.Design: Informed by an extensive literature review, this article presents a comprehensive look at the existing state of knowledge surrounding EOCs.Interventions: Research questions to support investigation of the EOC are suggested.Conclusions: The EOC is an underexplored setting ripe for development and discovery by researchers and emergency managers seeking to influence the field of emergency management.

More than technology: Experiences of Virtual Emergency Operations Centers (VEOCs) during the COVID-19 pandemic response in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 109-126
Author(s):  
Sarah Delisle, MA ◽  
Carolyn Dumbeck, MEmergMgt ◽  
Alison Poste, BA ◽  
Amy Romanas, BDEM
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Emergency Operations ◽  
Emergency Operations Center ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Pandemic Response ◽  
Management Professionals ◽  
Technology Processes ◽  
Operations Center

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated emergency management offices and organizations across Canada to activate their Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in a virtual capacity due to government restrictions limiting in-person activities and with the goal of reducing the spread of the virus. The aim of this exploratory research paper is to document the personal experiences of Canadian emergency management professionals working in a Virtual EOC (VEOC) environment during the COVID-19 response, including challenges and benefits they experienced, as well as lessons identified. Based on a sample of 81 emergency management professionals and using an inductive coding approach, the survey results illustrate both technological and nontechnological challenges and benefits. The findings highlight the need to incorporate three main elements into VEOC planning and operations: technology, processes, and people.

MOBILE CENTER FOR PREVENTION AND REDUCTION OF EMERGENCY SITUATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-175
Author(s):  
Serghei Peancovschii ◽  
Sergey Ohrimenko
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Emergency Operations ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Emergency Operations Center ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Operations Center

The article covers the problem issues of the formation of Mobile Emergency Operations Center of the General Inspectorate of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Moldova. In the paper determined the key objectives assigned to the Situational Center, as well as the peculiarities of the developing organizational structure of the information interoperability of the Center’s employees, the providing subsystems’ composition, and the directions aimed enhancing efficiency.

scholarly journals A Rare Ice Storm in the Colorado Rockies

2020 ◽  
pp. 133-145
Author(s):  
Megan M. Stackhouse ◽  
Jeffrey D. Colton ◽  
Dennis D. Phillips ◽  
Kristopher J. Sanders ◽  
Michael A. Charnick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Morning ◽  
Ice Storm ◽  
Volume Increase ◽  
Emergency Operations ◽  
Vehicle Accidents ◽  
Ice Accumulation ◽  
Emergency Operations Center ◽  
Western Colorado ◽  
Colorado Rockies ◽  
Operations Center

During the early morning hours of 9 January 2017, freezing rain developed across several valley locations in western Colorado. The resultant ice accumulation led to extremely treacherous travel conditions with hundreds of vehicle accidents reported in the vicinity of Grand Junction, Colorado and near Durango, Colorado. Additionally, widespread power outages were reported in Durango and near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. First responders were overwhelmed by the volume increase of emergency calls, and secondary services were requested from nearby municipalities to help with the increased workload. The emergency operations center in Mesa County, Colorado (Grand Junction) was activated as a result of the numerous accidents and injuries across the region. An ice storm of this magnitude has not been experienced in Grand Junction’s period of record, which dates back to 1893. A detailed investigation explores the physical processes responsible for this ice storm over the complex terrain of the Intermountain West.

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