Emergency Incident Management Systems. Louis N. Molino, Sr.
Funeral Director Association and a military Graves Registration Unit.
The Oklahoma Health Department is assisted by the Center for Disease Control in starting the Emergency Survivor Injury Registry. The registry allows the responsible agencies to identify victims, as well as document any injuries or continuing medical needs.
An In‐Kind Donations Coordination Team is created at the Disaster Field Office. One of the tasks they undertake is to create an “unmet needs” registry.
A specialized Risk Assessment Team is requested and received. They evaluate the site for biological and chemical hazards. Instructions are given to rescuers on how to better protect themselves from environmental factors and decontamination procedures are developed. Four firefighters from a mutual aid fire department and six firefighters from Tinker Air Force Base will be responsible for decontamination.
A joint Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) of the affected area is undertaken and completed by FEMA and Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management.
U.S Army Corps of Engineers sends requested specialists to provide input concerning structural integrity and blast damage distribution. They provide substantial input in the safest way to proceed with rescue and recovery missions.
In an effort to restore federal services housed in the Murrah Building, the General Services Administration (GSA) conducts surveys to find temporary and permanent office space nearby.
AmeriCorps is activated to assist with donations management. Their primary task is to keep inventory of all donations.
A Recovery Service Center (RSC) is opened where applicants can personally meet with representatives of various aid programs. The Oklahoma Baptists provide daycare for those who come to the Recovery Service Center (RSC) to discuss aid assistance. Agencies involved include the following:– FEMA Disaster Housing– FEMA/State Individual and Family Grants– Oklahoma Division of Civil Emergency Management– Oklahoma Employment Security Commission– American Red Cross– Oklahoma Department of Human Services/Aging– Salvation Army– Department of Area‐wide Aging– Small Business Administration– Federal Employees Education and Assistance Fund– Social Security Administration– Veterans Administration– Internal Revenue Service– Oklahoma County– FEMA/State Public Affairs– Oklahoma State Insurance Commission
It is important to note that this is a brief synopsis of the overall effort. Through utilizing an IMS method, more specifically the ICS method, those managing the incident helped to assure that everyone was on the same page and were effectively working toward the same end goal.
2.4.2.2 At the State Emergency Operations Center
As was described earlier, the blast occurred at 9:02 a.m., and agencies on scene immediately began requesting additional resources. Documentation by the State Emergency Operation Center (EOC) revealed that the full activation of the EOC was requested at 9:04 a.m., only two minutes after the explosion. Within 25 minutes, the EOC was fully staffed and a representative was onsite of the explosion to be a liaison between the Incident Commander (IC) and the EOC.
The purpose of an EOC was to establish a centralized site where government (at any level) can provide interagency coordination and execute decision‐making to support an incident response. In the EOC, there may be a multitude of experts in specific areas that can provide expertise and/or resources to the Incident Commander (IC) and the General Staff that are commanding the incident. As an example, when the state EOC was activated, the agencies that staffed it included the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, the Oklahoma Military Department, the Oklahoma Department of Health and the Oklahoma Department of Education. Not long thereafter, the National Weather Service, the Civil Air Patrol, and the American Red Cross were brought in to staff the EOC for their specialization.
On the ground, roles and responsibilities were quickly assigned by the Incident Commander (IC) with the majority of support being ordered by the EOC. While the search and rescue operations were initially managed by the Oklahoma City Fire Department, the outer security perimeter was initially managed by Oklahoma City Police Department and the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department. Later, other Oklahoma State law enforcement officers and National Guard were integrated into security.
Eventually, the rescue operation included 11 federalized Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Teams from local agencies across the nation. Firefighters from more than 75 Oklahoma communities and more than 35 departments from Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, and other states participated. In all, FEMA deployed more than 1000 of its own employees and hundreds from other federal agencies. The American Red Cross provided food and shelter for emergency personnel and support for victims and their families. Private firms ranging from building supply companies to funeral homes to restaurants supported the responders. The scale of the operation required resources from all levels of government and a wide variety of nongovernmental organizations.
The bombing was a federal crime involving a federal facility that resulted in the deaths of federal officers and employees. The legal jurisdiction for the investigation resided with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal law enforcement agencies, who integrated local agencies. While the response had a few issues, they were relatively minor when compared to other incidents of similar size.
2.5 Comparing and Contrasting These Incidents
While neither the Tokyo sarin attack response (and recovery) or the Oklahoma City Bombing was incidents that went without problems, it is easy to see that the Oklahoma City Bombing was substantially more organized. While much speculation could be made about the reason behind the significant differences, there is no doubt that the IMS method being used in the Oklahoma City Bombing played a significant role in creating a better, more organized response. Understanding the positive role that ICS played is imperative to comprehending how much IMS is needed for managing any incident.
2.5.1 Command
The act of commanding an incident means that an individual or a group of individuals working together have the authority to direct operations, and they do so. In the Tokyo attack, there was not anyone commanding the incident. Each agency was working independently of other responding agencies. Due to the lack of command, the incident had no specified direction, security was lax or almost nonexistent, and each agency operated under their own authority. This equated to each agency making decisions and addressing issues as they saw fit, based on their view of the incident. Even after the realization that the Tokyo incident was a terrorist attack, there was no overall command presence to guide and direct these response and recovery efforts.
An overarching presence that provided direction for all personnel was not present during the Tokyo response. The lack of organization for the resources that responded to this attack caused each to work independently of other organization. Each entity managed the incident based on what their individual agencies priorities were, and there was little to no regard for what other entities were doing, or how they could approach the response and recovery in a unified effort.
In Oklahoma City, there was a command presence, and command direction from the onset. When Oklahoma City Fire Department arrived at the Murrah Building, a senior officer in the fire department immediately established command. While the command of the incident was initially chaotic, this was primarily because good Samaritans were interjecting themselves into the incident. In most major incidents, the general public does not realize that their efforts can cause issues with commanding an incident.
The Oklahoma City Fire Department commanded the incident until it was no longer safe to search for bodies. For a little more than a month, the fire department commanded the incident. This is not to say that the fire department did all of the work because they did not. The fire department organized and planned every detail, usually in cooperation with other agencies. Everything that was accomplished during this response was done so with the overarching goal of recovering all of the victims to be accomplished. In fact, each agency had specific tasks, but those tasks were either directed by, or requested and approved