To respond to frequent and multiple disasters that occur at any time and anywhere in the state, it is important that emergency response agencies operate within a clear and consistent organizational structure. Public agencies are increasingly forced to manage the costs of emergencies more effectively with fewer resources. Many different agencies must work together effectively to protect lives, property, and the environment during disasters. SEMS facilitates priority setting, inter-agency cooperation, and the efficient flow of resources and information.
SEMS is the cornerstone of the California emergency response system and the fundamental structure for the response phase of emergency management. The system unites all elements of the California emergency management community into a single integrated system and standardizes key elements.
Incident Command System (ICS): an emergency response system at the field level based on management by objectives
Multi / interagency coordination: Affected agencies working together to coordinate resource allocation and emergency response activities.
Mutual Aid: A system to obtain additional emergency resources from unaffected jurisdictions.
Explanation:
Operational area concept: the county and its subdivisions to coordinate damage information, resource requests and emergency response. California law defines the Operating Area (OA) as all political jurisdictions within the limits of a given county. Since the near response is preferred over the farthest response, the necessary resources are sought first within the Operational Area. Since the AB does not exist, other than as a planning structure, someone must fulfill the role when necessary. Usually this is the county government. The Yolo County EOC, in addition to directly supporting operations in unincorporated areas, acts as the operational area EOC to facilitate requests for resources and information among the county, cities, and special districts. If the resource cannot be found within the OA, a request is made to the next higher level.
The California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA) has divided California into six mutual aid regions, each of which is assigned to one of the three administrative regions. Yolo County is in Region IV Mutual Aid Region, part of the Interior Administrative Region. If the resource cannot be found within the Region, a request is made to the next higher level.
State: At this point, the request is made to other regions of the state to find the necessary resource.
Similar to requests for resources, information flows along the same chain. This allows CalEMA to know what is happening across the state, while keeping communications manageable. Similarly, they can distribute information across the chain.
Other aspects of SEMS include the Incident Command System (ICS), a structure for organizing a response. SEMS also includes the Unified Command concept, where all agencies responding to the scene of an incident coordinate their actions as a single plan, rather than multiple efforts taking place at the same location.
