Emergency Plan

Appendix 1: Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) / Incident Command System (ICS)

A. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY

1. Introduction
   The Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) is the group of principles developed for coordinating state and local emergency response in California. SEMS provides for a multiple level emergency response organization and is intended to structure and facilitate the flow of emergency information and resources within and between the organizational levels: the field response, local government, operational areas, regions and the state management level.
   
   
2. History
   As a result of the events occurring during the 1991 East Bay Hills (Oakland) fire, State Senator Petris introduced SB 1841. This statute directs the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), in coordination with all state agencies having designated response roles in the state emergency plan and local emergency management agencies, to establish SEMS, ICS, the Multi-Agency Coordination System (MACS), the Master Mutual Aid Agreement system, and the operational area concept.

B. INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM

The Incident Command System (ICS) was developed by the fire fighting agencies of California for the purpose of streamlining and integrating response to major fires. ICS provides standardized procedures and terminology, a unified command structure, a manageable span-of-control, and an action planning process that identifies response strategies and tactical actions. Other disciplines, such as law enforcement and medical services, have adopted the ICS and emergency planning concepts as well as local jurisdictions throughout the state.

C. SEMS ESSENTIAL FEATURES

SEMS contains several essential features that have been adapted from ICS. They are:

• Essential Management
  Functions: At the field response level, the five primary ICS functions of command, operations, planning and intelligence, logistics and finance are used. At the local government, operational area, regional, and state levels, the term "management" is used instead of command and the titles of the other functions remain the same.
  
  
• Management by Objectives
  As applied to SEMS, management by objectives means that each SEMS level of operation establishes measurable and attainable objectives to be accomplished for each established operational time period. Each objective may have one or more strategies and performance actions. The operational period is the time period set by management for the completion of the objectives. It may vary from a few hours to days, as determined by the situation.
  
  
• Action Planning
  There are two variations of action planning under SEMS:
  1. Incident Action Plans, written or verbal action plans at the field response level, which reflect the overall strategy and specific tactical action and support information for the next specified operational period?
  2. Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Action Plans are developed at the local, operational area, regional, and state levels to provide designated personnel with knowledge of the objectives to be achieved and the steps required.
     Action plans provide a basis for measuring achievement of objectives and overall performance, in addition to providing direction.
     
     
• Modular Organization
  Modular organization provides for only those elements of the organization required to meet the current objectives to be activated and provide that all organizational elements can be arranged in various ways under SEMS essential functions (Management, Operations, Planning and Intelligence, Resources and Logistics, and Finance and Administration). Each activated element must have a person in charge. A supervisor may be in charge of more than one element.
  
  
• Organizational Unity
  Every individual within the organization has a designated supervisor and hierarchy of command or management under the concept of organizational unity. Also, all organizational elements within each activated level are linked together to form a single overall organization within acceptable span-of-control limits.

• Span of Control
  Maintenance of an acceptable span-of-control is the responsibility of every supervisor. The optimum span-of-control is one to five, meaning one supervisor with supervisory authority over five subordinates. The recommended span-of-control at all levels is one to three through one to seven. A larger span-of-control can be acceptable if the supervised positions are all performing a similar function.
  
  
• Personnel Accountability
  The intent of personnel accountability is to ensure that there are proper safeguards in place so that all personnel are accounted for at any time. This is accomplished through organizational unity and hierarchy of management using check-in forms, position logs and other status keeping systems.
  
  
• Common Terminology
  Common terms are used for all organizational elements, position titles, facility designations and resources, ensuring consistency and standardization within and between all SEMS levels. It enables multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction organizations and resources to work together rapidly and effectively.
  
  
• Resource Management
  In SEMS, there are functional activities related to managing resources at all levels. Resource management describes the ways in which field resources are managed and how status is maintained. The management activity varies from level to level, from directing to controlling, to coordination, to inventorying and the procedures vary accordingly.
  
  
• Integrated Communications
  At the field level, integrated communications are used in any emergency. Throughout Command Centers and among SEMS levels, communications systems must be compatible and planning and information flow must occur in an effective manner. Integrated communications refers to hardware systems, planning for system selection and linking, and the procedures and processes for transferring information.
  
  

D. SEMS ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS

SEMS consists of five organizational or response levels, which are activated as needed to respond to an emergency. They are the Field Response Level, the Local Government Level, the Operational Area, the Regional Level and the State Level:

• Field Response Level
  The Field Response Level consists of emergency response personnel and resources carrying out tactical decisions and activities in direct response to an incident or threat.
  
  
• Local Government Level
  The definition of local government includes cities, counties, and special districts. They manage and coordinate the overall emergency response and recovery activities within their jurisdictions. Local governments are required to use SEMS when their Emergency Operations Centers are activated or when there has been a proclamation of Local Emergency.
  
  
• Operational Area
  The Operational Area is an intermediate level of SEMS, which consists of a county and all political subdivisions within the county, including special districts. The Operational Area staff manages and/or coordinates information, resources, and priorities among local governments within the operational area and serves as the communication link between the Local Government Level and the Regional Level.
  
  
• Regional Level
  The SEMS regions are also known as mutual aid regions. There are six regions and their purpose is to provide for more effective application and coordination of mutual aid and other emergency related activities. At the Regional Level, information and resources are managed and coordinated among Operational Areas within the Region and between the Operational Areas and the State Level. In addition, coordination of state agency support for emergency response activities within the Region occurs at this level. The State Office of Emergency Services regional office at Los Alamitos serves as the Regional Level for Southern California.
  
  
• State Level
  At the State Level (State Operations Center in Sacramento), state resources are assigned in response to the needs of other levels and mutual aid is coordinated among the mutual aid regions and between the Regional Level and the State Level. The coordination and communication link between the state and federal disaster response systems also occurs at this level.