ble> Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content.
Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) Design Considerations Eric Holdeman
1
Update 2/27/04
King County, Washington
Office of Emergency Management
Emergency Coordination Center (ECC)
Design Considerations



The following document provides ideas developed by personnel of the King
County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) in our quest to design a facility
that would be secure, survivable, redundant, flexible and have effective
communications capability both with King County government and regional
partners. Many of the statements below were gleaned from the experience of
others whom we visited on our facility tours and some are from personal
experience as we moved through the process. The perspective comes from the
viewpoint of a building tenant with a focus on emergency management and does
not include construction or architectural issues. We also do not address
Communications Center issues except as they relate to OEM. It is being
provided for you to extract relevant information that you may be able to adapt to
your individual organizations needs.

We chose this opportunity to rename our Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
to an Emergency Coordination Center (ECC). King County provides many
regional services to the 39 cities and 126 Special Purpose Districts that reside
within county boundaries. Local governments make decisions within their own
jurisdictional boundaries with county, state, and federal authorities providing
support. King County provides regional service in several areas including jail
services, courts, transit, wastewater, health, and others. When the ECC
activates, it is generally for an event that affects multiple jurisdictions. Our
primary role during ECC activations is information sharing and resource
coordination. Major policy decisions must be thoroughly coordinated not only
within our own government, but with other political leaders affected.

Background
We began our quest in 1996, more than seven years before occupancy, by
identifying that the Sheriffs Office Communications Center and the Emergency
Operations Center both needed more space and shared many common facility
needs. With the two primary tenants identified, management proceeded with the
hiring of an architect who would become the project manager for the duration of
the project.

A team of clients and the project manager toured up to a dozen facilities
throughout the nation to gather ideas from those who had designed similar
facilities. Team members included the Manager of the Emergency Management
Division (Radio Communications Services was also one of his offices), the
Manager of the Office of Emergency Management and the Operations Program
Coordinator of the OEM. For the Communications Center, the Operations
Manager and the Technical Services Supervisor joined the tour. All of those who
participated on the original tour still work for King County and have played Eric Holdeman
2
Update 2/27/04
King County, Washington
Office of Emergency Management
significant roles in the design and occupancy of the building. By touring as a
group and spending concentrated time assessing features of these facilities it
helped build common ground for team members and contributed to our ability to
collaborate on design features as we went through this long, complicated
process. Our intent was to build a facility that promoted interoperability and
coordination between the Communications Center and the Emergency
Operations Center. Most major emergencies and disasters begin with the
Communications Center.

Facilities Toured

We toured several facilities, some were EOCs and dispatch centers that shared
one facility, others were dedicated facilities to one function or the other. Some
were newer facilities and others were programs that had solid operational
concepts. The use of technology varied from very sophisticated to basic. We
tried to utilize as many positive attributes as possible. Locations visited included:

Clark Co. WA
City of Portland, OR
Phoenix Fire & EOC, AZ
Phoenix PD, AZ
Vancouver, BC
LA County EOC, CA
LA County Fire, CA
Alameda Co. EOC, CA
San Jose PD, CA
Chicago PD & EOC, IL
Fulton Co EOC, GA
Atlanta PD, GA
Georgia State EOC
Hillsborough Co EOC, FL Florida State EOC
Washington State EOC



FACILITY NEEDS

There are five primary considerations for the construction of an Emergency
Operations Center (EOC): Survivability, Flexibility and Open Architecture,
Communications, Redundancy and Security. As we look at specific facility needs
such as displays, electronic systems etc. most will fit into one of these
categories.


Survivability: When a crisis strikes our county we must have a functioning
EOC. Some will say that alternate EOCs are the answer, and we should have a
plan for such a facility. However, nothing can replace the systems and time lost
in switching to a different building. In various case studies, jurisdictions that were
slow to react failed in the mission of coordinating resources in a timely manner.
The EOC must be constructed in an area free from as many hazards as possible
and on the best seismically stable soils available. Either base isolation should
be used, or the facility hardened to withstand maximum G forces expected in a
subduction earthquake. Survivability is our number one priority.

Because base isolation was cost prohibitive, our Regional Communications and
Emergency Coordination Center (RCECC) is a hardened structure with both
structural and non-structural mitigation strategies in place. Located on the east Eric Holdeman
3
Update 2/27/04
King County, Washington
Office of Emergency Management
hill of Renton, this facility is away from the downtown Seattle area, major airports
and railway lines. It is difficult to eliminate all hazards but we have reduced them
significantly from our previous location. The AV system is braced as is shelving,
file cabinets, and other furniture in an effort to prevent damage from ground
movement. Servers are placed on base isolation pads and cross bracing is used
to reduce rack movement in both the telecommunications room and the radio
equipment room. Bracing of most building components is generally twice as
much as is required by code.

Flexibility and Open Architecture: The new building will probably be the
primary facility for 50 years or more. In our tours of other facilities we heard
again and again how in a matter of a few months or years, organizations outgrew
their facility either in general space or technology. Our building has flexibility for
configuring it to meet the varied needs of different disasters and to accommodate
future growth in responsibility or technology. Open architecture allows us to use
the technology of today and tomorrow.

Raised floors are in place in the Coordination and Communications area of the
EOC. In the Coordination Room, tables are placed in groups of four (pods),
which can be modified and moved if necessary to accommodate our needs.
Signage will be easily modified to provide flexibility for participating agencies.
Hallways are intentionally wide with electrical and data jacks available for
expansion during larger events. Windows were added to the storage room so
that it could be expanded into office space in the future. Our original plan was to
build an additional 3,000 square feet which would be used for meeting rooms
during normal times and could become a Joint Information Center or additional
coordination space during times of disaster. Financial limitations caused this
additional 3,000 square feet to be eliminated from the plan early in the design
phase. A 3,000 square foot concrete pad is in place at the west side of the
building with electrical and data hook-ups available should we need to erect a
tent during a major event.

Communications: Providing a central point of information is one key function of
any EOC. Multiple methods of providing these communications and ample
communications resources are a must. They include different types of telephone
services, radio communications and electronic communications; all needed to
coordinate resources in times of emergencies or disasters. Considering multiple
redundancies in communications systems is critical. Linking the Communications
Center and the EOC via communications and information display smooths the
transition from a low level emergency to a full-blown disaster.

The RCECC is robust in the area of communications systems. In addition to a
large PBX for the building, some direct lines not associated with the PBX are in
place. A variety of telecommunications and radio systems are in place in the
RCECC. With that said, the key to effective communications is not only
equipment and systems but coordination and cooperation. Eric Holdeman
4
Update 2/27/04
King County, Washington
Office of Emergency Management