At times of crisis, such as during natural calamities or large-scale accidents, various individuals and organizations band together to intervene. Everyone needs to quickly and methodically make countermeasures to protect people, save lives, and resolve the problem.
However, managing all these people or even letting them know what they should be doing is not that simple. There are numerous resources: firefighters, police officers, rescue teams and medical staff which need to be allocated to various tasks.
The Operations Section is made up of those who are responsible for the direct management, assignment of tasks and supervision of response resources.
Your organization is the “meaning” or conceptual place of an emergency management team as well. It ensures that all resources and team members are aware of what should be done, where to go and who they need to support. This section is a key part so that everything works in cases of emergencies and helps reach where there is the most need.
Tactical Response Resources What are They?
To help explain the role of the Operations Section in more detail, we often refer to tactical response resources. During an emergency, “resources” are the individuals, equipment and resources required to respond to a situation.
These resources involve firefighters, police officers, paramedics, ambulances fire trucks and other firefighting appliances like boats and helicopters and multiple types of special equipment for search and rescue.
When we refer to tactical response resources, it means the teams and equipment that are used to handle an emergency in a defined and planned manner.
These resources are deployed strategically to respond with help in the fastest and most effective way. This can include firefighters, who would be attending to any fire present; paramedics taking care of people who are injured; or police officers managing traffic and protecting the immediate scene.
However, in a major emergency, the teams are many. These messages can get very, very confusing, and difficult to discern, leading to delays and mistakes. This is where the Operations Section comes in to ensure it all happens together, and that everyone knows what they need to do.
Operations Section What Does It Do?
The Operations Section is one component of a system called the Incident Command System (ICS) that is used to help manage emergency responses.
ICS is a consistent way of organizing personnel and resources so everything can be managed in an organized manner ideally during mass incidents(Link it to Mass casualties section).
The Operations Section: This is probably the most visible of all sections within the ICS because its major function is to deal with the tactical implementation of the actual response to an emergency.
The Operations Section can be thought of as the supervisor of everything that is being done in an emergency. The tactical response teams are also organized and commanded from this section to allocate where every individual and all gear is the best allocated.
Those who are assigned to the Operations Section maintain awareness of what is happening throughout the scene and make necessary adjustments both in real-time, if permitted, changing/improving plans as they move forward and ensuring the response is effective.
The Operations Section has the following major responsibilities:
Organization of resources: this is when the Operations Section ensures that all people and equipment are prepared to be deployed at any given time. This information should include knowing what resources are on site,the the for example, fire trucks, ambulances or rescue t.ms..
After the emergency is identified, the Operations Section tasks multiple crews with specific jobs. For instance, one team may be set up to rescue those trapped in a building and another would provide control of roads around the vicinity. Since each team has a specific responsibility, there is no overlap in who is doing what.
Monitoring the response: The Operations Section does more than just assign tasks and organize; it also manages to ensure that everything works appropriately. The leaders in this section are responsible for monitoring the teams to ensure they are completing their job safely and efficiently. They also keep in regular contact with the teams to ask about updates.
Modifications to the plan: Emergencies happen, and plans can change rapidly as a result. New challenges may develop — fires spreading or more people requiring medical assistance, for example. The Operations Section must remain flexible and be prepared to shift plans at any moment. So, that may mean shifting resources from one area to another or calling in additional reinforcements.
Why Does the Operations Section Matter?
Having an Operations Section is key because it aligns all the individuals responding to an emergency behind a common goal. Were it not for the Operations Section, teams might lack direction on what to do or where to go next leading perhaps to crucial delays in getting aid to people who need it. Emergencies can be very stressful and chaotic, so time is of the essence.
The next day, the Operations Section is introduced to help ensure that everyone knows their place and purpose to respond in a fast and efficient manner.
Think how big of a fire would it have been if a city broke into flames! Imagine an incident where firefighters, police and paramedics all turn up at the accident scene but no one knows what to do or where to go utter chaos.
This is dangerous; someone could easily have an accident and the fire can quickly get out of hand. However, the introduction of the Operations Section changed this and it becomes quite straightforward for each team as they are told exactly what to do.
Firefighters would go where the fire blazes most, police would be deployed to keep people from harm’s way and paramedics would set up near the wounded to offer medical assistance.
The Operations Section also becomes critical in preventing wastage of resources. During an emergency, few people and equipment are available. The Operations Section ensures that these resources are all deployed in the most efficient manner, directed to where they can be most beneficial. It ensures that lives are saved and the incident is managed.
How The Operations Section Talks to One Another
One of the main jobs in the Operations Section is communication. In a major disaster, multiple teams are operating in different locations and it is absolutely essential that all of these teams are talking to each other.
Trained in the use of radios, phones and other communication tools for real-time action The Operations Section brings many groups on the ground closer with agility!! That way, should anything change, or if we need more assistance from them they can inform the right people immediately.
Take the example of a disaster scene, where if some firefighters at one end need more water or equipment then this message will be received and sent to the Operations Section who will make sure to send all that is needed from their side. If paramedics find additional patients the Operations Section can be informed to send more medical help.
The Operations Section also directly reports to the Incident Commander, who is in charge of all aspects of the emergency response. The Incident Commander depends on the Operations Section to provide crucial updates related to how the event should be handled.
Should communication break down, the whole response effort could fail and so the Operations Section is central to ensuring everyone knows what they accomplish.
Operations Section Personnel
The Operations Section is staffed with experienced personnel to ensure that emergency response resources are dispatched quickly and effectively. Persons such as firefighters, law enforcement personnel, EMTs or other emergency responders with training and experience in large-scale incidents. Each person in the Operations Section has a different function but they all work together to see that the emergency response operates without an issue.
A Critical position in the Operations section is known as an Operations Section Chief. They are the person that is going to decide what our priority of work is where we put out our ships and aircraft.
The Operations Section Chief coordinates with other elements within the Incident Command System such as the Planning Section, Logistics Section Finance/Administration etc.
While all three of these components play an important role in coordinating a response to an emergency, the one that will ensure that the tactical response teams are doing their job is the Operations Section.
The Operations Section Chief manages events end-to-end: This includes having the authority to adjust response activities and tactics as needed to ensure that response objectives are met.
Ways in Which the Operations Section Benefits Communities
Communities rely on the Operations Section to ensure that emergencies are managed and addressed in a timely matter. In times of emergency, we trust our first responders to save ourselves and our homes.
The Operations Section ensures these responders are orchestrated & deployable Its overall mission is to assign the correct resources to conducting functions essential to reducing loss of life, and preventing further areas at risk while improving the safety of people.
Whenever needed, the Operations Section also coordinates to provide information delivery and updates with community leaders for any emergency.
I encourage the public to keep following as this is an effective way of getting updated on the developments and on what they need to do next to keep safe. As an example, if a wildfire breaks out and an area needs to be evacuated, the Operations Section would communicate with law enforcement who would help direct people away from the path of destruction – keeping roads open.
Ensuring that every response team is in the know helps protect not only the people affected by the emergency but everyone else in the community too.
By publishing information about what has happened and why we can avoid rumours and panic which only hinder relief… That is the kind of organization needed when times are tough to keep our communities safe.
Summary: The Role of the EOC Operations Section
In sum, the Operations Section marks the element that coordinates and authorizes the deployment of tactical resources during an emergency. It secures first responders, so tools help them to work together striving to be fast where needed so that they help people faster.
Using the time lag of reaction and management agility makes critical choices about where to deploy resources } and how to handle them.
The professionalism and dedication of the Operations Section facilitates to keep communities safe except that it works flawlessly behind the scenes through clear communication, careful planning and strong leadership.
We can then appreciate how this section functions behind the scenes in order to manage all of the important work taking place during a crisis, making sure that aid gets to where it is needed most and everything runs smoothly.
