Emergency Operations Plan The Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) provides the organizational basis for emergency and disaster operations in Loudoun county. It assigns broad responsibilities to local government agencies and support organizations for disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. These responsibilities are generally extensions of normal, day-to-day functions involving the same personnel and material resources. Supporting documents set forth the concepts and procedures whereby the county can effectively apply available resources to insure that casualties and property damage will be minimized following an emergency or disaster situation. The EOP is not intended to contain the specific procedures used by individual departments and agencies to implement their assigned responsibilities. In other words, the EOP provides the strategy, while the specific procedures provide the tactics. Specific information that may change on a regular basis such as position assignments or contact phone numbers, and procedural documents, specific checklists are maintained separately from the EOP and updated on a regular basis. Emergency Operations Center The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) provides a central location to determine situational status, coordinate actions and make critical decisions during emergency and disaster situations. Emergency Management staff maintain the EOC during routine operations. Personnel from various departments and agencies in the county along with key organizations outside the county comprise the EOC staff during activation. The EOC facility includes the Operations Room, the Communications Center, functional area workspace, break room and restroom/shower facilities. A digital phone system provides the primary voice and fax communications link. The EOC has radio communications capabilities on an assortment of frequencies to include UHF, VHF, Low Band and Amateur Radio. A video network provides commercial broadcast, local cable and video tape playback in the operations room and break area. The operations room LAN (local area network) provides for data collection and dissemination along with incident tracking. The facility has emergency power and is intended to provide independent operation capabilities throughout major emergencies and disasters. |