SEMS Part 1 System Decription

Part I System Description A-General System Description 1

Standardized Emergency

Management System (SEMS)

Guidelines

Part I. System Description

Section A

General System Description

Part I System Description A-General System Description 2

The contents of this guideline have not been changed from the original document,

however, the guideline has been reformatted to meet

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 508 standards.

Part I System Description A-General System Description 3

1. What Is SEMS?

The Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) is the system required by

Government Code Section 8607(a) for managing emergencies involving multiple

jurisdictions and agencies. SEMS consists of five organizational levels, which are

activated as necessary:

• Field Response

• Local Government

• Operational Area

• Regional

• State

SEMS incorporates the functions and principles of the Incident Command System (ICS),

the Master Mutual Aid Agreement (MMAA), existing mutual aid systems, the operational

area concept, and multi-agency or inter-agency coordination.

Local governments must use SEMS to be eligible for funding of their response-related

personnel costs under state disaster assistance programs.

2. Purpose of SEMS

SEMS has been established to provide effective management of multi-agency and

multijurisdictional emergencies in California. By standardizing key elements of the

emergency management system, SEMS is intended to:

• Facilitate the flow of information within and between levels of the system, and

• Facilitate coordination among all responding agencies.

Use of SEMS will improve the mobilization, deployment, utilization, tracking, and

demobilization of needed mutual aid resources. Use of SEMS will reduce the incidence

of poor coordination and communications, and reduce resource ordering duplication on

multi-agency and multijurisdictional responses. SEMS is designed to be flexible and

adaptable to the varied disasters that occur in California and to the needs of all

emergency responders.

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3. Organizational Levels and Activation Requirements

The five SEMS organizational levels are described briefly below. Each level is

discussed in detail in Guidelines sections I.B through I.F. The levels are activated as

needed for an emergency. Minimum activation requirements from SEMS regulations are

shown in the matrix on the following page.

Field Response Level

The field response level is where emergency response personnel and resources, under

the command of an appropriate authority, carry out tactical decisions and activities in

direct response to an incident or threat. SEMS regulations require the use of ICS at the

field response level of an incident.

Local Government Level

Local governments include cities, counties, and special districts. Local governments

manage and coordinate the overall emergency response and recovery activities within

their jurisdiction. Local governments are required to use SEMS when their emergency

operations center is activated or a local emergency is declared or proclaimed in order to

be eligible for state funding of response-related personnel costs. In SEMS, the local

government emergency management organization and its relationship to the field

response level may vary depending upon factors related to geographical size,

population, function, and complexity.

There also exists state (e.g., CDF, CHP, State Colleges and Universities) and federal

jurisdictions at the Local Government organizational level of SEMS with responsibility to

manage and coordinate the overall emergency response and recovery activities within

their jurisdictions. State agencies are required to use SEMS at this level and should be

incorporated (or at least coordinated), as appropriate, at the SEMS Local Government

or Operational Area organizational level.

Federal agencies are not required to participate in the SEMS organization. However,

many federal agencies also have responsibility to manage and coordinate the overall

emergency response and recovery activities within their jurisdictions and often must

coordinate with other local and state jurisdictions (e.g., the USDA, Forest Service, the

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and local fire agencies coordinate

wildfire suppression activities utilizing the SEMS Field level ICS Unified Command

concept).

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Operational Area

Under SEMS, the operational area means and intermediate level of the state's

emergency management organization which encompasses the county and all political

subdivisions located within the county including special districts. The operational area

manages and/or coordinates information, resources, and priorities among local

governments within the operational area, and serves as the coordination and

communication link between the local government level and regional level.

It is important to note, that while an operational area always encompasses the

entire county area, it does not necessarily mean that the county government

manages and coordinates the response and recovery activities within the county.

The governing bodies of the county and the political subdivisions within the

county make the decision on organization and structure within the operational

area.

Region

Because of its size and geography, the state has been divided into six mutual aid

regions. The purpose of a mutual aid region is to provide for the more effective

application and coordination of mutual aid and other emergency related activities.

In SEMS, the regional level manages and coordinates information and resources

among operational areas within the mutual aid region, and also between the operational

areas and the state level. The regional level also coordinates overall state agency

support for emergency response activities within the region.

State

The state level of SEMS tasks and coordinates state resources in response to the

requests from the REOCs and coordinates mutual aid among the mutual aid regions

and between the regional level and state level. The state level also serves as the

coordination and communication link between the state and the federal disaster

response system.

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Notes: This matrix highlights the flow-through nature of SEMS activation requirements.

Activation of an operational area EOC triggers activation of the regional EOC which, in

turn, triggers activation of the state level EOC.

*The EOC is usually activated, but in some circumstances, such as agricultural

emergencies or drought, a local emergency may be declared or proclaimed without the

need for EOC activation.

** Does not apply to requests for resources used in normal day-to-day operations which

are obtained through existing mutual aid agreements providing for the exchange of

furnishing of certain types of facilities and services as provided for under the Master

Mutual Aid Agreement.

§ Indicates sections in the California Code of Regulations, Title 19, Division 2, Chapter

1 (SEMS)

• Situation is not applicable to the SEMS level.

4. Features Common to all Organizational/ Response Levels

SEMS has several features based on the Incident Command System (ICS). The field

response level uses functions, principals, and components of ICS as required in SEMS

regulations. Many of these field response level features are also applicable at local

government, operational area, regional and state levels. In addition, there are other ICS

features that have application to all SEMS levels.

Described below are features of ICS that are applicable to all SEMS levels. Their

application at each SEMS level is discussed further in Guidelines sections I.B-F.

Essential Management Functions

SEMS has five essential functions adapted from ICS. The field response level uses the

five primary ICS functions: command, operations, planning/intelligence, logistics and

finance/administration. At the local government, operational area, regional and state

levels, the term management is used instead of command. The titles of the other

functions remain the same at all levels where applicable.

Management by Objectives

The Management by Objectives feature of ICS as applied to SEMS, means that each

SEMS level establishes for a given operational period, measurable and attainable

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objectives to be achieved. An objective is an aim or end of an action to be performed.

Each objective may have one or more strategies and performance actions needed to

achieve the objective. The operational period is the length of time set by command at

the field level, and by management at other levels to achieve a given set of objectives.

The operational period may vary in length from a few hours to days, and will be

determined by the situation.

Action Planning

Action planning should be used at all SEMS levels. There are two types of action plans

in SEMS:

• Incident Action Plans: At the field response level, written or verbal incident action

plans contain objectives reflecting the overall incident strategy and specific

tactical action and supporting information for the next operational period. Incident

action plans are essential and required element in achieving objectives under

ICS.

• EOC Action Plans: At local, operational area, regional and state levels, the use of

EOC action plans provide designated personnel with knowledge of the objectives

to be achieved and the steps required for achievement. Action plans not only

provide direction, but they also serve to provide a basis for measuring

achievement of objectives and overall system performance. Action plans can be

extremely effective tools during all phases of a disaster.

The action planning process and action plan contents are discussed further in

Guidelines Part III.

Organizational Flexibility-- Modular Organization

The intent of this SEMS feature is that at each SEMS level:

1.) Only those functional elements that are required to meet current objectives need

to be activated, and 2.) That all elements of the organization can be arranged in

various ways within or under the five SEMS essential functions.

The function of any non-activated element will be the responsibility of the next highest

element of the organization. Each activated element must have a person in charge of it;

however, one supervisor may be in charge of more than one functional element.

For example, to establish a "Planning/Intelligence and Logistics Section," it is better to

initially create the two separate functions. If necessary, for a short time it is acceptable

Part I System Description A-General System Description 9

to place one person in charge of both functions. That way, the transfer of responsibility

can be made easier.

The reasons not to combine positions are:

• If they need to be separated at a later time, this could cause confusion due to the

mix of assignments, staffing, etc.

• This creates a "non-standard" organization, which would be confusing to

incoming agencies.

Also, General Staff, those functions directly under Management, such as liaison, safety,

public information, should not be combined due to the importance and specific nature of

these functions.

Span of Control

Maintaining a reasonable span of control is the responsibility of every supervisor at all

SEMS levels. The optimum span of control is one-to-five, meaning that one supervisor

has direct supervisory authority over five positions or resources. The recommended

span of control for supervisory personnel at the field response level and all EOC levels

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should be in the one-to-three to one-to-seven range. A larger span of control may be

acceptable when the supervised positions or resources are all performing a similar

activity.

Personnel Accountability

An important feature of ICS applicable to all SEMS levels is personnel accountability.

This is accomplished through the Organizational Unity and Hierarchy of Command or

Management feature along with the use of check-in forms, position logs and various

status keeping systems. The intent in bringing this ICS feature into SEMS is to ensure

that there are proper safeguards in place so all personnel at any SEMS level can be

accounted for at any time.

Common Terminology

In ICS, common terminology is applied to functional elements, position titles, facility

designations and resources. The purpose of having common terminology is to rapidly

enable multi-agency, multijurisdiction organizations and resources to work together

effectively. This feature, as applied to all SEMS levels, would ensure that there is

consistency and standardization in the use of terminology within and between all five

SEMS levels.

Resources Management

In ICS, resources management describes the ways in which field level resources are

managed and how status is maintained. At all SEMS levels, there will be some

functional activity related to managing resources. This will vary from level to level in

terms of directing and controlling, to coordination, to resource inventorying. Procedures

for effective resources management must be geared to the function and the level at

which the function is performed.

Integrated Communications

This feature of ICS relates to: hardware systems; planning for system selection and

linking; and the procedures and processes for transferring information. At the field

response level, integrated communications is used on any emergency. At all EOC

levels, and between all SEMS levels, there must be a dedicated effort to ensure that

communications systems, planning, and information flow are being accomplished in an

effective manner. The specifics of how this is accomplished at EOC levels will be

different than at the field response level.

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Response Information Management System (RIMS)

To achieve integrated communications between all EOC levels of SEMS, the Response

Information Management System (RIMS) was developed. RIMS is an internet-based

system used to coordinate and manage the State's response to disasters and

emergencies. RIMS automates reporting of information and tracking resources. RIMS

was developed by OES in 1995 and now over 2,000 internal and external clients access

RIMS via the Internet. RIMS is available to all cities, special districts, and state agencies

within California that have a computer with access to the Internet. Web access to RIMS

is controlled by user identifications and passwords. Web browser clients and Internet

access are standard and supported in nearly every government agency. RIMS user

base has expanded from 137 agencies to 2,500 by developing the Internet-based

system.

5. Mutual Aid

What Is Mutual Aid?

Incidents frequently require responses that exceed the resource capabilities of the

affected response agencies and jurisdictions. When this occurs, mutual aid is provided

by other jurisdictions. Mutual aid is voluntary aid and assistance by the provision of

services and facilities including, but not limited to: fire, police, medical and health,

communications, transportation, and utilities. Mutual aid is intended to provide adequate

resources, facilities, and other support to jurisdictions whenever their own resources

prove to be inadequate to cope with a given situation.

Mutual aid exists among the State and local government under the terms of the

California Disaster and Civil Defense Master Mutual Aid Agreement (MMAA). This

agreement was developed in 1950 and has been adopted by California's incorporated

cities, all 58 counties and the State.

Mutual Aid Systems

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The mutual aid program in California has developed statewide mutual aid systems.

These systems, operating within the framework of the MMAA, allow for the progressive

mobilization of resources to and from emergency response agencies, local

governments, operational areas, regions, and the State with the intent to provide

requesting agencies with adequate resources. The general flow of mutual aid resource

requests systems within mutual aid are depicted in Exhibit A-2, located on page 11.

Several discipline-specific mutual aid systems have been developed, including fire and

rescue, law enforcement, medical, and public works. The adoption of SEMS does not

alter existing mutual aid systems. These systems work through local government,

operational area, regional and state levels consistent with SEMS.

Mutual aid may also be obtained from other states. Inter-state mutual aid may be

obtained through direct state-to-state contacts, pursuant to inter-state agreements and

compacts, or may be coordinated through federal agencies.

Mutual Aid Coordinators

To facilitate mutual aid, discipline-specific mutual aid systems work through designated

mutual aid coordinators at the operational area, regional, and state levels. The basic

role of a mutual aid coordinator is to receive mutual aid requests, coordinate the

provision of resources from within the coordinator's geographic area of responsibility,

and to forward unfilled requests to the next level.

Mutual aid requests that do not fall into one of the discipline-specific mutual aid systems

are handled through the emergency services mutual aid system by emergency

management staff at the local government, operational area, regional, and state levels.

The flow of resource requests and information among mutual aid coordinators is

illustrated on the following page.

Mutual aid coordinators may function from an EOC, their normal departmental location,

or other locations depending on the circumstances. Some incidents require mutual aid

but do not necessitate activation of the affected local government or operational area

EOCs because of the incident's limited impacts. In such cases, mutual aid coordinators

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typically handle requests from their normal work location. When EOCs are activated, all

activated discipline-specific mutual aid systems should establish coordination and

communications with the EOCs:

• When an operational area EOC is activated, operational area mutual aid system

representatives should be at the operational area EOC to facilitate coordination

and information flow.

• When an OES regional EOC is activated, regional mutual aid coordinators should

have representatives in the regional EOC unless it is mutually agreed that

effective coordination can be accomplished through telecommunications. State

agencies may be requested to send representatives to the regional EOC to assist

OES regional staff in handling mutual aid requests for disciplines or functions that

do not have designated mutual coordinators.

• When the State Operations Center (SOC) is activated, state agencies with

mutual aid coordination responsibilities will be requested to send representatives

to the SOC.

Mutual aid system representatives at an EOC may be located in various functional

elements (sections, branches, groups, or units) or serve as an agency representative

depending on how the EOC is organized and the extent to which it is activated.

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Resource Requests

OA - Operational Area

Notes: Local governments may request mutual aid directly from other local governments

where local agreements exist.

Discipline-specific mutual aid systems may have procedures that provide additional

methods of obtaining state resources.

Volunteer and private agencies may be involved at each level.

Participation of Community Based Organizations, Collaborative and Private

Agencies

Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Collaborative may participate in the

mutual aid system along with governmental agencies. For example, the disaster

medical mutual aid system relies heavily on private sector involvement for

Part I System Description A-General System Description 15

medical/health resources. Some CBOs, such as the American Red Cross, Salvation

Army, and others are an essential element of the statewide emergency response to

meet the needs of disaster victims. CBOs mobilize volunteers and other resources

through their own systems. They also may identify resource needs that are not met

within their own systems that would be requested through the mutual aid system. CBOs

with extensive involvement in the emergency response should be represented in EOCs.

Some private agencies have established mutual aid arrangements to assist other

private agencies within their functional area. For example, electric and gas utilities have

mutual aid agreements within their industry and established procedures for coordinating

with governmental EOCs. In some functional areas, a mix of special district, municipal,

and private agencies provides services. Mutual aid arrangements may include both

governmental and private agencies. For example, public and private water utilities have

established a mutual aid system through the Water/Wastewater Agency Response

Network.

Liaison should be established between activated EOCs and private agencies involved in

a response. Where there is a need for extensive coordination and information

exchange, private agencies should be represented in activated EOCs at the appropriate

SEMS level.

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Emergency Facilities used for Mutual Aid

Incoming mutual aid resources may be received and processed at several types of

facilities including: marshalling areas, mobilization centers, and incident facilities. Each

type of facility is described briefly below:

Marshalling Area: Defined in the Federal Response Plan as an area used for the

complete assemblage of personnel and other resources prior to their being sent directly

to the disaster area. Marshalling areas may be established in other states for a

catastrophic California earthquake.

Mobilization Center: Off-site location at which emergency services personnel and

equipment are temporarily located pending assignment, release, or reassignment. For

major area-wide disasters, mobilization centers maybe located in or on the periphery of

the disaster area.

Incident Facilities: Incoming resources may be sent to staging areas, other incident

facilities, or directly to an incident depending on the circumstances. Staging areas are

temporary locations at an incident where personnel and equipment are kept while

awaiting tactical assignments. Incident facilities are discussed further in section I.B.

6. Overview of SEMS Response

The following describes generally how SEMS is intended to work for various emergency

situations. The situations are described in terms of the involvement and interactions of

the five SEMS levels, and are intended to apply to all types of disasters that may occur

in California, such as, earthquakes, floods, fires, and hazardous materials incidents. Not

all possible situations and interactions are described.

This discussion assumes that appropriate emergency declarations and proclamations

are made. It also assumes that multi-agency or inter-agency coordination is

accomplished at each level by SEMS regulations. The responses at each level are

discussed in more detail in sections I.B. through I.F. of the guidelines. Note that SEMS

may be activated and resources mobilized in anticipation of possible disasters. Such

anticipatory actions may be taken when there are flood watches, severe weather,

earthquake advisories, or other circumstances that indicate the increased likelihood of a

disaster that may require emergency response and mutual aid. The extent of actions

taken will be decided at the time based on the circumstances.

Local Incident within Capability of Local Government

• Field Response: Field units respond as needed using the Incident Command

System. Resources are requested through local government dispatch centers.

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• Local Government: Supports field response as needed. Small incidents generally

do not require activation of the local government emergency operations center.

Emergency management staff may monitor the incident for possible increase in

severity. Larger incidents may necessitate activation of the EOC. Local

government will notify the operational area if the EOC is activated.

• Operational Area: Activation of the operational area EOC is generally not needed

for small incidents, but consideration should be given to possibility of the incident

becoming larger. The operational area EOC would be activated if the local

government activates its EOC and requests operational area EOC activation.

Single Jurisdiction Incident -- Local Government Requires Some Additional

Resources

Field Response: Field units respond as needed using the Incident Command System.

Resources are requested through dispatch centers, department operations centers, or

in some cases the EOC. (Relationships among Incident Commanders, department

operations centers, and EOCs are discussed further in sections I.B. and I.C. of the

Guidelines.

Part I System Description A-General System Description 19

Local Government: Supports incident commanders with available resources. The local

government emergency operations center is activated. Local government notifies the

operational area lead agency. Resources are requested through operational area

emergency management staff and appropriate mutual aid coordinators. (In some cases,

mutual aid may be obtained directly from neighboring local government under local

mutual aid agreements.) Local government retains responsibility for managing the

response.

Operational Area: Operational area emergency management staff and mutual aid

coordinators locate and mobilize resources requested by local government. Emergency

management staff and mutual aid coordinators generally operate from normal

departmental locations for handling limited resource requests, and the EOC is not

activated. emergency management staff and mutual aid coordinators will communicate

with each other as needed to coordinate resource mobilization. If requested by the

affected local government, emergency management staff will activate the operational

area EOC and notify the OES Regional Administrator.

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Major Single Jurisdiction Disaster-- Local Government Requires Additional

Resources

• Field Response: Field units respond as needed using the Incident Command

System. One or more Incident Commands may be established depending upon

the size and nature of the disaster. Resources are requested through dispatch

centers, department operations centers, or EOC.

• Local Government: Supports Incident Commanders with available resources.

Local government activates its emergency operations center and notifies the

operational area lead agency. Resources are requested through operational area

emergency management staff and mutual aid coordinators. Local government

retains responsibility for managing the response.

• Operational Area: Lead agency activates operational area emergency operations

center. Operational area emergency management staff and mutual aid

coordinators locate and mobilize resources requested by local Government.

Mutual aid coordinators go to the EOC or send representatives depending on

circumstances. Resources not available within the operational area are

requested through the OES Regional Administrator and regional mutual aid

coordinators.

• Regional: OES Regional Administrator activates regional emergency operations

center (REOC) and notifies OES headquarters. OES Regional Administrator and

regional mutual aid coordinators locate and mobilize resources requested by the

operational area.

• State: State OES activates the State Operations Center (SOC) and monitors the

situation.

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Major Area-Wide Disaster -- Damage in Multiple Operational Areas

• Field Response: Field units from the affected jurisdictions respond as feasible

using the Incident Command System. Incident Command Posts may be

established at various sites throughout the disaster area. Resources are

requested through dispatch centers, department operations centers, or EOCs.

• Local Governments: Ability to respond may be severely impaired. Local

governments assess capability and report situation to operational area. Local

governments mobilize all available resources. EOCs establish priorities; allocate

available resources to support the field response, and request assistance

through the operational area. Local governments retain responsibility for

managing the response within their jurisdiction.

• Operational Areas: Lead agency activates emergency operations center and

notifies OES Regional Administrator. Emergency Operations Center assesses

the situation and reports information to the Regional Emergency Operations

enter (REOC). The emergency management staff and mutual aid coordinators

mobilize available resources in the operational area, request additional resources

through the REOC and regional mutual aid coordinators, and provide overall

situation information to local governments.

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• Regional: OES Regional Administrator activates the REOC and notifies state

headquarters. REOC staff and regional mutual aid coordinators locate and

mobilize resources available within the region and from state agencies.

Additional resources are requested through the State Operations Center. State

agency representatives are requested for the REOC to assist in coordinating

support to the disaster area. REOC monitors situation and updates State

Operations Center.

• State: State Operations Center (SOC) is activated and state agency

representatives are requested to staff the SOC. SOC coordinates state agency

response and mobilization of mutual aid resources from unaffected regions. SOC

may direct activation of other OES REOCs to assist in resource mobilization.

State agency department operations centers are activated. Federal assistance is

requested, if needed. SOC continuously monitors situation.