EOC is ready when needed

As the City of Thomaston prepares to move the police department and ultimately sell the former municipal building, planning is already under way to relocate the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of the Upson County Emergency Management Agency.

The EOC provides a vital service, one that's necessary in times of disaster.

In the event a major disaster or large scale emergency should occur in the community, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will become the central command and control center for the response and recovery operations.

That means if a tornado moved through the community, destroying homes and other structures, the EOC becomes the information and response headquarters.

As described by EMA Director Billy Mitcham, when the EOC is activated, each emergency response department in the county assigns a member to duty within the center.

That individual, using state-of-the-art radio equipment, is provided updates as to the status of the department's operations, requests for supplies, equipment, additional personnel, etc, and other information pertinent to the operation to the EOC for action as needed.

The assigned officer will in turn provide information, instructions etc from the executive group to their units in the area of operation.

In lay terms, this means a firefighter assigned to the command center will be the informational link for other firefighters trying to respond to a widespread disaster. The command center makes possible a coordinated response to multiple calls.

Representatives of any state and federal agencies that would be assisting in the operation will also work in the EOC.

In addition to the work area for the department and agency representatives, included in the EOC is a communications center and the Emergency Management office.

When operational, the communications center will be staffed by Emergency Management volunteers who have two-way radio capability between the EOC and the following departments/agencies: 911 center, Georgia Emergency Management, all city and county departments, including police, fire and sheriff and the Emergency Medical Services.

Also located in the communications center is a amateur (ham) base station which provides the EOC with direct contact with the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City. It will also be used as a means of radio communications with emergency shelters which could be opened.

At present the Emergency Operations Center does not have two-way radio capability with the county roads department due to the lack of a base station. Radio traffic to and from the roads department currently are relayed thru the 911 Center.

"We hope that in the near future we will be able to obtain a base station to enable us to communicate directly with the roads department," Mitcham said. "When that occurs it will take some of the work off the 911 dispatchers during emergency operations."

A computer in the EOC provides the emergency management director with a direct link to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency as well as to the other emergency management organizations statewide.

The computer also enables emergency management personnel to monitor several radar sites in order to track the movement and intensity of severe weather. Numerous status boards used to record and display critical information regarding the response and recovery operations as well as numerous maps are mounted on the walls in the EOC

Personnel in the EOC are able to receive severe weather watches and warnings issued by the national weather service over a NOAA weather radio.

Relocation of the EOC will be funded by money from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, if that measure is approved in the Sept. 21 special election.