3.2 Roles and Responsibilities
The incident notification phase is the first phase in which the ICS is initialized. During this phase, affected agencies should review their emergency evacuation plans and begin to coordinate who, how, and where to evaluate the immediate post-incident situation. The incident notification phase may require substantial information gathering with regards to identifying the extent of any damage to infrastructure and determining which areas may need to be evacuated.
Perhaps the most crucial task of the entire evacuation plan is notifying the public of an emergency evacuation. Using the ICS to coordinate information gathered by all agencies involved and to identify one specific person to consistently disseminate that information will help ensure that the public will not receive conflicting information from different agencies. The incident notification phase is time sensitive. Immediately following the incident, those in the affected areas may quickly go into a panicked state. Therefore, being prepared to assess the situation in a timely manner should aid in providing the public with detailed and accurate information to go along with the evacuation order.
Table 3 describes some of the roles and responsibilities of various agencies involved in the incident notification phase.
Table 3: Phase 2 Incident Notification Roles and Responsibilities
Agency Type |
Agency |
Roles and Responsibilities |
Local Agencies |
Emergency Management |
- Coordinate dissemination of all information regarding the incident to the media via the agency’s Public Information Officer (PIO). It is important that information is centralized from all agencies before it is disseminated to the media
- Notify other agencies of what actions they need to initiate
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
Transportation |
- Coordinate transportation infrastructure restoration and recovery activities including notification of staff
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
Law Enforcement/ Public Safety |
- If responding to the incident first, notify other lead jurisdiction agencies (emergency management, transportation, and fire department) of the incident and report its status
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
Fire Department |
- If responding to the incident first, notify other lead jurisdiction agencies (emergency management, transportation, and law enforcement/public safety) of the incident and report its status
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
Transit |
- If incident occurs within the transit system or in view of transit personnel, notify the local emergency response agency. If it occurs elsewhere, notify the staff of the need to implement the emergency plan
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
County and State Agencies |
County Emergency Management |
- Coordinate dissemination of all information regarding the incident to the media via the agency’s PIO. It is important that information is centralized from all agencies before it is disseminated to the media
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
State Emergency Management/Office of Homeland Security |
- Coordinate dissemination of all information regarding the incident to the media via the agency’s PIO. It is important that information is centralized from all agencies before it is disseminated to the media
- Coordinate with local agencies
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
County Department of Transportation |
- Coordinate transportation infrastructure restoration and recovery activities. Support local agencies if necessary
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
State Department of Transportation |
- Coordinate transportation infrastructure restoration and recovery activities. Support local and county agencies if necessary
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
County Law Enforcement/Public Safety |
- If responding to the incident first, notify other lead jurisdiction agencies (emergency management, transportation, and fire department) of the incident and report its status
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
State Law Enforcement/Public Safety |
- If responding to the incident first, notify other lead jurisdiction agencies (emergency management, transportation, and fire department) of the incident and report its status.
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
Other Agencies |
Media |
- If present at the scene at the time of the incident, notify the local emergency response agency
- Provide incident information to the public as received from the lead jurisdiction EMA’s PIO
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
Private Support Agencies (e.g., Red Cross and Salvation Army) |
- Be aware of the incident and alert the staff of potential need to mobilize resources
- Review agency checklist to take and prepare for regional actions
|
June 26, 2006
Publication #FHWA-HOP-08-020
