MAC System and Multiagency Coordination: Incident Management and Resource Allocation, Exercises of Communication

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ICS-400 – Advanced ICS Page 5.2 Student Manual October 2013

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View the enlarged organization chart on the next page.

Your Notes

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS October 2013 Student Manual Page 5.

Visuals

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS October 2013 Student Manual Page 5.

Video Transcript: MAC Systems Overview

NARRATOR: As an incident becomes more complex, a Multiagency Coordination, or MAC, System is used to coordinate and support the response efforts. A MAC System is a combination of integrated facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications with responsibility for coordinating and supporting incident management activities. The MAC System is much larger than a single facility and includes a network of elements all designed to support the Incident Command.

CHIP PATTERSON: The overall purpose of the MAC System is good situational awareness of having a coordination system and the command and control systems in place to have good situational awareness of what the effects that disaster has had on our community.

NARRATOR: A MAC System includes both command and coordination components. In a MAC System, direct tactical and operational responsibility for conducting incident management activities rests with the Incident Command or Area Command.

The coordination components of the MAC System support the on-scene commanders by:  Establishing incident management policies and priorities;  Facilitating logistical support and resource tracking;  Making informed resource allocation decisions;  Maintaining a common operating picture by coordinating incident-related information; and  Coordinating interagency and intergovernmental issues regarding policies, priorities, and strategies.

CHIP PATTERSON: The difference between the Incident Manager in the EOC and the Incident Commander in the field can be summed up really with the terms of the Incident Commander is engaged in command and control of that specific incident scene, and the Incident Manager in the EOC is engaged in coordination of that whole Multiagency Coordination System.

The Incident Commander has certain statutory duties or authorities to be able to protect public safety, to carry out particular actions.

The Incident Manager in the Emergency Operations Center is discharging the duties of the chief executive of that jurisdiction to coordinate and make the entire community move towards effective response and recovery in supporting those Incident Commanders.

CRAIG FUGATE: We start merging our operations very quickly and we work to support local governments, and in any type of disaster―but particularly those we know are coming―we’ll actually assign staff into those impacted or potentially impacted county Emergency Operations Centers before the storm ever makes landfall.

NARRATOR: A MAC System may include a coordination entity with agency policy representatives who have decisionmaking authority. Common examples of these groups include Policy Committees, MAC Groups, Joint Field Office Coordination Groups, and Executive Groups. Although these groups have differing titles, their purpose is to provide strategic policy direction for the incident.

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS Page 5.6 Student Manual October 2013

Video Transcript: MAC Systems Overview (Continued)

CHIP PATTERSON: On disaster day in the Emergency Operations Center, they’re involved in strategy and policy as well, and our system must account for that and have them involved because there are numerous policy-level decisions that need to be made during disasters.

CRAIG FUGATE: We are a representative form of government; our elected leaders are who the public expects to be providing that policy direction.

CHIP PATTERSON: It goes all the way back to being grounded in our local ordinance and city ordinance in describing who’s in charge, who has the authority to declare local states of emergency and what that means and what it establishes; it establishes this Executive Group for the purposes of strategy and policymaking. An example of policy is hurricane evacuation, that’s a policy decision, the establishment of curfews or exclusion zones, or restricting the sale of gasoline or firearms, all those are policy issues that the Executive Group gets involved in and makes the decisions about those.

NARRATOR: Effective resource management is a key function of those making policy decisions within the MAC System.

CHIP PATTERSON: One of the very important tools in the toolbox for resource management is the use of mutual aid agreements... really what are contracts in essence that describe the financial relationships, the legal relationships, and some of the operational relationships for a disaster environment. That statewide mutual aid agreement is an important part of our disaster service delivery.

NARRATOR: The Executive or Policy Group is supported by operational personnel. These staff members may work in the Emergency Operations Centers, Joint Operations Centers, Joint Field Offices, or Regional Response Coordination Centers. Although the names of facilities may differ, operational support staff facilitates logistics support and resource tracking, gathers and provides information, and implements multiagency coordination entity decisions.

There are many different ways to organize operational support staff. Often, operational support personnel are organized using Incident Command System, or ICS, principles. Although ICS principles may be used, these staff are in a support role, not a command role.

CHIP PATTERSON: We further organize the operations group using the Incident Command System and we have, essentially what we call an Incident Manager within the EOC who has a leadership role similar to what in the field would be called an Incident Commander―but an Incident Manager within the EOC―and then the common staff positions and general positions for within the Incident Command System: an Information Officer, Liaisons, Safety Officer, and then Section Chiefs: an Operations Section Chief, Plan Section Chief, Logistics Section Chief, and then Finance Section Chief.

And then that organizational structure is really dealing with, to a certain extent, command and control, but primarily coordination issues to support Incident Commanders out across that devastated area or that disaster area.

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS Page 5.8 Student Manual October 2013

Video Transcript: MAC Systems Overview (Continued)

In the facility that we’re in now, the Joint Information Center is within this facility but is separated by several floors from the operational area of the EOC, so it’s in close proximity but not in the midst of the operations.

NARRATOR: Throughout this course you will learn that effective Multiagency Coordination Systems incorporate all phases of emergency management―prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

DAWN WOOD: What makes an effective multiagency coordinating system is the communication, and I think it’s not just the communication when an incident happens but that we’ve had that communication all along and that in plans and writing plans, in exercises, in activations, that we’re―have always been part of the same team.

DALE MARGADONNA: I think it helps coordinate whatever the incident is by having all the key players there that can make the decisions that can communicate their concerns. It certainly establishes a much more coordinated effort. It reinforces the command structure and I think it supports the entire effort much more than agencies being out on their own or being even in another location.

CHIP PATTERSON: The key to an effective Multiagency Coordination System is coming all the way back, is being disaster-survivor focused and having a well-thought-out command and control communication and coordination system to be able to meet the extraordinary resource management issues and requirements as well as the situational awareness and coordination requirements that disaster brings. And so that means addressing it from a management organizational structure basis, from a facility basis, from a plans and procedure and training basis.

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS October 2013 Student Manual Page 5.

Visuals

View the enlarged organization chart below.

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS October 2013 Student Manual Page 5.

Job Aid: Common Multiagency Coordination Organizations

Multiagency Coordination Groups

MAC Group A MAC Group functions within the Multiagency Coordination System, which interacts with agencies or jurisdictions, not with incidents. MACS are useful for regional situations. A MAC Group can be established at a jurisdictional EOC or at a separate facility.

JFO Unified Coordination Group

The JFO is led by the Unified Coordination Group, which is comprised of specified senior leaders representing State and Federal interests , and in certain circumstances tribal governments, local jurisdictions, the private sector, or NGOs. The Unified Coordination Group typically consists of the Principal Federal Official (if designated), Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO), State Coordinating Officer, and senior officials from other entities with primary statutory or jurisdictional responsibility and significant operational responsibility for an aspect of an incident (e.g., the Senior Health Official, Department of Defense representative, or Senior Federal Law Enforcement Official if assigned). Within the Unified Coordination Group, the FCO is the primary Federal official responsible for coordinating, integrating, and synchronizing Federal response activities. The composition of the Unified Coordination Group will vary, depending upon the scope and nature of the incident and the assets deployed in support of the affected jurisdiction. The JFO structure normally includes a Unified Coordination Staff. The Unified Coordination Group determines the extent of staffing based on the type and magnitude of the incident.

Multiagency Coordination Centers

Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

The physical location at which the coordination of information and resources to support local incident management activities normally takes place. Also called Expanded Dispatch, Emergency Command and Control Centers, etc., EOCs are used in various ways at all levels of government and within private industry to provide coordination, direction, and control during emergencies. EOC facilities can be used to house Area Command and multiagency activities, as determined by agency or jurisdiction policy.

Joint Operations Center (JOC)

An interagency command post established by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to manage terrorist threats or incidents and investigative and intelligence activities. The JOC coordinates the necessary local, State, and Federal assets required to support the investigation, and to prepare for, respond to, and resolve the threat or incident.

Joint Field Office (JFO) The JFO is a temporary Federal facility established locally to coordinate operational Federal assistance activities to the affected jurisdiction(s). The JFO is a multiagency center that provides a central point of coordination for Federal, State, local, tribal, nongovernmental, and private-sector organizations with primary responsibility for threat response and incident support and coordination. The JFO enables the effective and efficient coordination of Federal incident-related prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery actions. The JFO accommodates all entities (or their designated representatives) essential to incident management, information sharing, and the delivery of disaster assistance and other support.

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS Page 5.12 Student Manual October 2013

Job Aid: Common Multiagency Coordination Organizations (Continued)

Multiagency Coordination Centers (Continued)

Joint Information Center (JIC)

The JIC is a facility where the Public Information Officer(s) and staff can coordinate and provide information on the incident to the public, media, and other agencies.

Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC)

The RRCC is a standing facility operated by FEMA that is activated to coordinate regional response efforts, establish Federal priorities, and implement local Federal program support. The RRCC establishes communications with the affected State emergency management agency and the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC), coordinates deployment of the Emergency Response Team-Advance Element (ERT-A) to field locations, assesses damage information, develops situation reports, and issues initial mission assignments.

The RRCC operates until a JFO is established in the field and/or the Principal Federal Officer, Federal Coordinating Officer, or Federal Resource Coordinator can assume their National Response Framework (NRF) coordination responsibilities. The RRCC replaces the Regional Operations Center.

National Response Coordination Center (NRCC)

The NRCC is a multiagency center that provides overall Federal response coordination for emergency management program implementation (including both Stafford Act and non-Stafford Act incidents). FEMA maintains the NRCC as a functional component of the National Operations Center (NOC) in support of incident management operations. The NRCC replaces the Emergency Support Team.

National Operations Center (NOC)

The NOC is the primary national hub for domestic incident management operational coordination and situational awareness. The NOC is a standing 24/7 interagency organization fusing law enforcement, national intelligence, emergency response, and private-sector reporting. The NOC facilitates homeland security information sharing and operational coordination with other Federal, State, local, tribal, and nongovernment EOCs.

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS Page 5.14 Student Manual October 2013

Visuals

Your Notes

Your Notes

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS October 2013 Student Manual Page 5.

Visuals

Your Notes

Your Notes

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS October 2013 Student Manual Page 5.

Job Aid: National Response Framework

Key points related to the NRF:

 All Federal departments and agencies may play significant roles in incident management and response activities, depending on the nature and size of an incident.  The Secretary of Homeland Security is the principal Federal official responsible for domestic incident management. This includes coordinating Federal operations and resource deployments within the United States to prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, or other emergencies.  Federal departments and agencies routinely manage the response to incidents under their statutory or executive authorities. These types of responses do not require DHS coordination and are led by the Federal entity with primary jurisdiction. In these instances, the Secretary of Homeland Security may monitor such incidents and may, as requested, activate Framework mechanisms to provide support to departments and agencies without assuming overall leadership for the incident.

The following visuals describe the coordination elements and supporting entities to provide a unified, national response when the Department of Homeland Security is coordinating the incident.

ICS-400 – Advanced ICS Page 5.18 Student Manual October 2013

Visuals

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