EMERGENCY PUBLIC
INFORMATION PLAN
HOUSTON URBAN AREA
FEBRUARY 2011
Table of Contents
Page
FOREWORD
Title Page .......................................................................................................................................... i
Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................................ii
Revision Record ............................................................................................................................... v
Distribution List .................................................................................................................................vi
1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 1-1
1.1 Document Control ............................................................................................................ 1-1
1.2 Quick Guide ..................................................................................................................... 1-2
1.3 EPIP Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1-3
1.3.1 Purpose and Goals ............................................................................................. 1-3
1.3.2 The EPIP within the National Response Framework .......................................... 1-4
1.3.3 National Plan Review .......................................................................................... 1-4
1.3.4 20XX Regional Drill and After Action Report ...................................................... 1-5
1.3.5 Regional PIO Planning Role ............................................................................... 1-5
1.3.6 FEMA EPIP Assessment .................................................................................... 1-5
1.3.7 EPIP Measurements ........................................................................................... 1-5
1.3.8 Plan Review and Maintenance ........................................................................... 1-6
2.0 POLICIES ...................................................................................................................................... 2-1
2.1 Basic Policy Statements .................................................................................................. 2-1
3.0 PLANS – THE JIS & JIC ............................................................................................................... 3-1
3.1 NIMS Requirements ......................................................................................................... 3-1
3.2 Plan Assumptions ............................................................................................................ 3-2
3.2.1 Houston Urban Area Geography and Population ............................................... 3-2
3.2.2 Hazards ............................................................................................................... 3-3
3.3 Response Planning Assumptions .................................................................................... 3-4
3.4 Concept of Operations ..................................................................................................... 3-5
3.4.1 Regional Response ............................................................................................. 3-6
3.4.2 Regional Communication .................................................................................... 3-7
3.4.3 Activation and Deactivation ................................................................................. 3-7
3.4.4 Coordination and Transitions .............................................................................. 3-8
3.5 PIER ................................................................................................................................. 3-9
3.6 JIC Workflow .................................................................................................................. 3-11
3.6.1 Communication Cycle ....................................................................................... 3-11
3.6.2 Basic JIC Organization Structure ...................................................................... 3-11
3.6.3 JIC Organization Structure applied to small response with 2 - 4 responders ... 3-12
3.6.4 JIC Organization Structure applied to large-scale response with 25 - 50
responders ........................................................................................................ 3-12
3.6.5 Information Gathering – Workflow Diagram ...................................................... 3-13
3.6.6 Information Production – Workflow Diagram .................................................... 3-13
3.6.7 Information Dissemination – Workflow Diagram ............................................... 3-14
3.6.8 Inquiry Management – Workflow Diagram ........................................................ 3-14
3.6.9 Monitor and Rumor Management – Workflow Diagram.................................... 3-15
3.6.10 Department of Homeland Security/FEMA Emergency Support Function (ESF)
#15 External Affairs Organization Chart ........................................................... 3-15
3.6.11 Embeded Files to Print Out Workflow ............................................................... 3-16
3.7 Regional JIC Website..................................................................................................... 3-16
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Table of Contents
3.7.1 Master JIC Site Preparations ............................................................................ 3-16
3.8 Public Warnings ............................................................................................................. 3-21
3.8.1 Mass Media Public Warnings............................................................................ 3-22
3.8.2 Emergency Alert System .................................................................................. 3-22
3.8.4 Resident Alert Self-Registered List ................................................................... 3-22
3.8.5 Jurisdictions Mass Notifications List ................................................................. 3-22
3.9 Messaging Guidance ..................................................................................................... 3-22
3.9.1 Template Development ..................................................................................... 3-22
3.10 Press Briefings and Press Conferences ........................................................................ 3-23
3.10.1 Press Briefings and Press Conferences ........................................................... 3-23
3.10.2 Facilities ............................................................................................................ 3-23
3.10.3 Press Conference Preparations ........................................................................ 3-23
3.10.4 Content and Messaging .................................................................................... 3-23
3.11 Elected Official Involvement ........................................................................................... 3-23
4.0 PEOPLE ........................................................................................................................................ 4-1
4.1 Houston Urban Area Organization ................................................................................... 4-1
4.2 JIC Staffing ....................................................................................................................... 4-1
4.2.1 Qualifications and Selection ................................................................................ 4-1
4.2.2 Training ............................................................................................................... 4-1
4.2.3 JIC Staff Directory ............................................................................................... 4-2
4.2.3.1 Contact Information Structure ................................................................ 4-2
4.2.3.2 Structure Details .................................................................................... 4-4
4.4 Subject Matter Experts ..................................................................................................... 4-6
5.0 PLATFORM - FACILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY ......................................................................... 5-1
5.1 JIC Facilities ..................................................................................................................... 5-1
5.1.2 Physical JIC Facilities ......................................................................................... 5-1
5.1.2.1 Physical JIC Location List ...................................................................... 5-2
6.0 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................... 6-1
A.1 Acronyms ......................................................................................................................... 6-1
A.2 List of Federal Supporting Documents............................................................................. 6-3
A.3 Policy Statement Rationale .............................................................................................. 6-3
A.3.1 Public Health and Safety..................................................................................... 6-3
A.3.2 Public Warnings .................................................................................................. 6-3
A.3.3 Warnings and Special Needs Populations .......................................................... 6-4
A.3.4 The Public’s Right to Know ................................................................................. 6-4
A.3.5 Direct Communication with the Public ................................................................ 6-4
A.3.6 Media Distribution ............................................................................................... 6-5
A.3.7 Obligation to Respond ........................................................................................ 6-5
A.3.8 Rumor Management ........................................................................................... 6-5
A.3.9 Maintaining Credibility ......................................................................................... 6-6
A.3.10 Command Responsibility for Information ............................................................ 6-6
A.3.11 Compliance with NIMS ........................................................................................ 6-7
A.3.12 Agency-Specific Communication ........................................................................ 6-7
A.3.13 Privacy and Limitations on Transparency ........................................................... 6-7
A.3.14 Response Partner Communication ..................................................................... 6-8
A.3.15 Readiness to Act ................................................................................................. 6-8
A.4 Message Guidance .......................................................................................................... 6-8
A.4.1 Public Protection is Primary ................................................................................ 6-9
A.4.2 Focus on Primary Public Concerns ..................................................................... 6-9
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Table of Contents
A.4.3 Provide Frequent, Short Messages .................................................................... 6-9
A.4.4 Focus on the Facts ............................................................................................. 6-9
A.4.5 Anticipate Questions ........................................................................................... 6-9
A.4.6 Respond to Questions About Incident Causes ................................................... 6-9
A.4.7 Communicating About Fatalities and Medical Condition of Victims .................. 6-10
A.4.8 Distinction Between Public Information and Media Interest ............................ 6-10
A.4.9 Use of Images and Video .................................................................................. 6-10
A.5 Press Briefings and Press Conferences ........................................................................ 6-10
A.5.1 Facilities ............................................................................................................ 6-11
A.5.2 Preparations ...................................................................................................... 6-11
A.5.3 Content and Messaging .................................................................................... 6-12
A.6 JIC Communications Plan .............................................................................................. 6-12
A.6.1 Within the JIC .................................................................................................... 6-12
A.7 JIC, EOC and Command Communication ..................................................................... 6-14
A.7.1 WebEOC Integration ......................................................................................... 6-14
A.7.2 Planning Liaison ................................................................................................ 6-14
A.7.3 Radios ............................................................................................................... 6-14
A.7.4 Mobile Phones .................................................................................................. 6-14
A.7.5 PIO and PIO Liaison ......................................................................................... 6-14
A.7.6 Command Briefings .......................................................................................... 6-15
A.7.7 Incident Action Plan .......................................................................................... 6-15
A.7.8 ICS 209 Form .................................................................................................... 6-15
A.7.9 Field Communications ...................................................................................... 6-15
A.7.10 Continuity of Operations ................................................................................... 6-15
A.7.11 PIER Reliability and Redundancy ..................................................................... 6-15
A.7.12 Manual Backup Systems .................................................................................. 6-16
A.8 Job Descriptions ............................................................................................................. 6-16
A.8.1 Public Information Officer .................................................................................. 6-16
A.8.2 Assistant Public Information Officer/JIC Manager ............................................ 6-16
A.8.3 Assistant Public Information Officer for Information Gathering ......................... 6-17
A.8.4 Planning Section Liaison ................................................................................... 6-17
A.8.5 Field PIO ........................................................................................................... 6-18
A.8.6 Field PIO Liaison ............................................................................................... 6-18
A.8.7 Media Monitoring and Rumor Control Specialist .............................................. 6-18
A.8.8 Assistant Public Information Officer for Information Production ....................... 6-19
A.8.9 Writer................................................................................................................. 6-20
A.8.10 Multi-Media Specialist ....................................................................................... 6-20
A.8.11 Special Needs Production Unit Leader ............................................................. 6-20
A.8.12 Assistant Public Information Officer for Information Dissemination .................. 6-21
A.8.13 Web Distribution Specialist ............................................................................... 6-21
A.8.14 Media Inquiry Unit Leader ................................................................................. 6-22
A.8.15 Stakeholder Inquiry Unit Leader ....................................................................... 6-22
A.8.16 Media Briefings and Conference Unit Leader ................................................... 6-23
A.8.17 Special Needs Distribution Unit Leader ............................................................ 6-24
A.8.18 JIC Operations Unit Leader .............................................................................. 6-24
A.8.19 JIC Logistics Specialist ..................................................................................... 6-25
A.8.20 JIC Security & Credentials Specialist ............................................................... 6-25
A.8.21 JIC Documentation and Administration Specialist ............................................ 6-26
A.8.22 IC Operations Unit Leader ................................................................................ 6-26
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
iv February 2011
Revision Record
NOTE: It is the responsibility of the holder of this Plan to ensure that all changes and updates are
made. The Plan Holder must:
● Remove and discard obsolete pages; and
● Replace obsolete pages with the updated pages.
REVISION RECORD
CHANGE REMOVE INSERT DESCRIPTION OF
DATE PAGE NUMBER(S) CHANGE(S)
February 2011 Entire plan Entire Plan
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
v February 2011
Distribution List
DISTRIBUTION LIST
COPY NUMBER PLAN HOLDER (Hard Copies)
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
vi February 2011
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Document Control
Version Number:
Version Date:
Control Copy #:
Receipt Date:
Assigned To:
Jurisdiction:
Agency:
Name:
Title:
Mailing Address:
City, State, ZIP:
Phone Number(s):
Email Address:
Instructions:
1. Replace the entire previous version EPIP with this version.
2. Destroy previous version(s).
3. Confirm receipt of this version and destruction of previous versions by copying and
mailing or faxing this page with signature to:
EPIP Document Control
HOUSTON URBAN AREA
C/O O’Brien’s
6620 Cypresswood Drive
(Houston, Texas, 77379)
Your Name:
Jurisdiction/Agency:
I confirm that I have destroyed previous versions of this EPIP:
Signature:
Date:
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 1-1 February 2011
Section 1.0 Introduction
1.2 Quick Guide
For easy reference, this document is organized into six sections:
Section 1: Introduction – what is in the plan, why, and documents and information used
to develop the plan
Section 2: Policies – the underlying policies that drive decisions and plan specifics
Section 3: Plans – the specific operational plans
Section 4: People – staffing and training
Section 5: Platform – the physical, technical, equipment and supply requirements
Section 6: Appendix – supporting documents
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 1-2 February 2011
Section 1.0 Introduction
1.3 EPIP Introduction
This Emergency Public Information Plan describes the plans for regional coordinated public
communication during events involving multiple jurisdictions in the Houston region. National
Incident Management System compliance, the response doctrines contained in the National
Response Framework and use of best practices in public and private emergency communication
management are the guiding principles used in developing this plan.
As a ―Plan‖ it should be read and used as one of several plans addressing specific elements of a
regional response.
This plan was developed under the auspices of the Houston Urban Area Region JIC Working
Group which has reviewed its contents and approved it for implementation in the region.
1.3.1 Purpose and Goals
Houston Urban Area is committed to serving the residents of the Houston area with
emergency response services that meet or exceed national response standards and
citizen expectations. This Emergency Public Information Plan is an important element of
the regional response plan aimed at protecting the public, property and the environment.
The regional response plan and annexes emphasize close coordination and collaboration
between the jurisdictions and jurisdictions operating in the Houston region. Only through
close coordination can public expectations and the goals of protecting the public, property
and the environment be met.
Collaboration in Communication
In a major event the public, the media and key stakeholders have an exceptionally high
demand for information. Their safety, sense of security and future hopes may ride on
information that is difficult to acquire, may be inaccurate and changing frequently.
Inconsistent information, confusing message, rumors and misinformation can contribute
to public panic, poor decision-making, and needless risk and damage. In a time when
news and vital information is received from an unlimited number of sources and few of
them credible or authoritative it is necessary that the jurisdictions responsible for public
safety and protection be seen as credible, dependable and accessible sources of
information. The goal of a multi-agency response organization is to speak with one voice
and in doing so become established as the most dependable and credible source of
information about the event. The fundamental purpose of this EPIP is to enable the many
jurisdictions and jurisdictions in the Houston Urban Area to work together effectively in
communicating with the public about the event and the response.
Following the guidelines of the National Response Framework (Appendix) the
overarching objective of response activities is saving lives, protecting property and the
environment. Effective public information management is an essential element of the
success of any response.
Vulnerable Populations
Emergency response planning takes into consideration responding effectively to
vulnerable populations including meeting their needs for timely information. The EPIP
includes provisions necessary to meet this requirement.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 1-3 February 2011
Section 1.0 Introduction
1.3.2 The EPIP within the National Response Framework
This EPIP adheres closely to the National Response Framework’s Doctrine expressed in
these five key principles:
1. Engaged partnership
2. Tiered response
3. Scalable, flexible and adaptable operational capabilities
4. Unity of effort through Unified Command
5. Readiness to act
The National Response Framework includes Emergency Support Function Annexes
which define specific plans for individual elements of a response. The Houston
Emergency Public Information Plan (EPIP) provides one of the Emergency Support
Function Plans for Emergency Operations Plans for the jurisdictions included in the
Houston Urban Area region. As such it coincides with Emergency Support Function 15
which defines the external affairs function of a federal response. Unlike ESF 15 which
supports a federal response, this plan has been designed specifically for a regional
response in the Houston region. In consultation with emergency management leadership
and public information officers in the region, this plan provides detailed response
activities for a multi-jurisdictional response. It identifies the specific ways in which the
numerous jurisdictions in the Houston Urban Area will coordinate their efforts and
collaborate to support the response with effective public information management.
1.3.3 National Plan Review
In 2006, following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with their devastating impacts on the Gulf
region, the Department of Homeland Security conducted a National Plan Review. The
Phase 2 Report, published June 16, 2006 included a review of States and urban areas
capabilities in conducting public warnings about emergency events and their ability to
disseminate accurate and timely instructions and information to the people at risk in the
community.
Regarding warnings, the general assessment was that States and urban areas were
lacking in their ability to contact populations in custodial institutions and special needs
populations. The inability to communicate in multiple languages was a widespread
weakness.
Regarding Emergency Public Information, the Report stated:
The ability of States and urban areas to give the public accurate, timely, and useful
information and instructions throughout an emergency period needs to be strengthened.
The analysis of the Emergency Public Information function identified shortfalls in the
ability of States and urban areas to effectively establish, operate, and routinely exercise
Joint Information Center (JIC) or Joint Information System (JIS) capabilities. In particular,
regular exercise of the Public Information Annex or function addresses some noted
weaknesses, such as the lack of trained public information personnel, the documentation
of public information procedures and protocols describing duties during
an emergency, and validation of the efficacy of emergency communications for all
segments of the population. Although most EOPs included roles and responsibilities for
public information, backup procedures and plans were limited. These included the
identification of backup public information personnel and pre-incident identification of JIC
locations.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 1-4 February 2011
Section 1.0 Introduction
Although most Review participants have developed comprehensive public outreach and
education programs, few have adequate feedback mechanisms in place to effectively
determine the public’s state of preparedness or response—or to measure if the public is
taking appropriate action. A majority of the Review participants’ plans were assessed as
Partially Sufficient or Not Sufficient regarding the existence of feedback mechanisms that
determine to what degree the public is taking appropriate actions consistent with the
disseminated messages. Some of the most common mechanisms currently used by
Review participants to measure the public’s response are ground truth reports from
personnel in the field, rumor control phone banks, and traffic monitoring techniques.
However, many Review participants lacked additional feedback opportunities to
determine the public’s immediate responses during a real-time event.
1.3.4 20XX Regional Drill and After Action Report
SAVE FOR DRILL AND AAR
The Executive Summary included these key findings, which have been used as a basis
for developing this EPIP:
Key Strengths
Areas for Improvement
1.3.5 Regional PIO Planning Role
Engagement with regional Public Information Officers is an important element in the
creation of this EPIP. Under the direction of the Houston Urban Area , a draft of the EPIP
Workflow (Section 3.4) was created by PIER Systems Services group. This draft was
based on the documents referenced above and provided the basic framework of the
specific Houston Joint Information System and the formation and operation of a Joint
Information Center.
1.3.6 FEMA Emergency Public Information Plan (EPIP) Assessment
To aid local and regional governments with the preparation of comprehensive emergency
public information plans, the Department of Homeland Security through FEMA has
published an EPIP Assessment document. This document provides a checklist of items
that need to be included in a plan. This checklist served as a basis for the development of
this EPIP. The Assessment document is including in the Appendix.
1.3.7 EPIP Measurements
The success of this EPIP is fully dependent on the widespread acceptance and adoption
by the jurisdictions of the Houston region. The following items have been adopted as key
measurements of success and will be used for public reporting about the effectiveness of
this plan:
1. Acceptance and Adoption
Houston Urban Area has identified strategic and jurisdictions whose participation
is vital for the effective implementation of this plan. The measurable goal of this
EPIP is to have 100% of these jurisdictions accepting and adopting this plan
through written agreement by July 1 2011.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 1-5 February 2011
Section 1.0 Introduction
2. Incident After Action Reports
Following any activation of the regional Joint Information Center, the Houston
Urban Area will conduct a detailed After Action Report. The report will use the
performance measurements identified here as well as an assessment to
determine the effectiveness of the public information activities. The results of that
After Action Report will be made available to the regional stakeholders on the
Houston Urban Area website.
1.3.8 Plan Review and Maintenance
The plan will be reviewed annually by the Houston UASI regional collaboration committee
for minor updates and revisions. At a minimum once every three years a complete plan
review will be conducted by a qualified expert or firm with detailed updates and revisions
completed. The Houston Urban Area Executive Committee has the final authority.
Distribution of the EPIP will be made through the primary Houston UASI PIER site on the
PIER workgroup page. The folder will contain a complete set of Plan documents including
Appendices. Participating jurisdictions will be notified of plan changes and updates and
can review or print and bind as needed. Jurisdictions will be asked to provide assurance
that they have received the most current plan and have destroyed or recycled out-dated
plans.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 1-6 February 2011
2.0 POLICIES
2.1 Basic Policy Statements
These basic policy statements are intended to serve as a guide for response leaders and Public
Information Officers in making critical decisions related to public information management. The
simple, concise statements are supported by the rationale provided in the detail sections.
Policy Statement 1: Public Health and Safety
The primary goal of the response and of the emergency public information activities of
the response is to protect the public and responders.
Policy Statement 2: Public Warnings
Protecting the public and responders includes providing warnings, directions and
instructions enabling residents to take fast and appropriate actions to protect themselves
and those for whom they are responsible.
Policy Statement 3: Warnings and Vulnerable Populations
Public warnings and safety message distribution must specifically include vulnerable
populations and those responsible for vulnerable residents and populations maintained in
custodial institutions.
Policy Statement 4: The Public’s Right to Know
Public jurisdictions in the Houston Urban Area recognize that the emergency response
organizations are operating on the public’s behalf and welfare and the public has a right
to clear, concise, timely and accurate information about the events that impact them and
the activities of the response organization or organizations.
Policy Statement 5: Direct Communication with the Public
Effective public information requires placing a priority on communicating directly with the
public through a variety of modes of communication including an incident-specific
website(s), email, fax, text messaging, phone messaging including automated calling
systems and selected social media outlets.
Policy Statement 6: Media Distribution
Public information includes distribution of timely, accurate information through the
traditional media and full support for their efforts to keep the public informed of the event,
the response and impacts.
Policy Statement 7: Obligation to Respond
Questions and comments from the public, stakeholders and the media will be welcomed
and timely responses provided.
Policy Statement 8: Rumor Management
The public information officers will place a high priority on methods to monitor for rumors
and misinformation and will be aggressive and quick in providing correct information to
the public, stakeholders and the media.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 2-1 February 2011
Section 2.0 Policies
Policy Statement 9: Maintaining Credibility
Loss of public trust can have serious long-term impacts on the jurisdictions and those
responding. To protect that trust, the Public Information Officers and the response
leaders will ensure that nothing is done or communicated that would result in loss of
credibility.
Policy Statement 10: Command Responsibility for Information
Under the National Incident Management System (NIMS) the Incident Commander or
Unified Command is responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of all information about
the incident and the response. All policies and activities will be managed to insure this
responsibility is not compromised.
Policy Statement 11: Compliance with NIMS
Recognizing the value of a coordinated approach to response management among
multiple jurisdictions, response leaders and Public Information Officers are committed to
fully complying with the requirements and recommendations included as part of the
National Incident Management System.
Policy Statement 12: Jurisdiction-Specific Communication
It is the responsibility of each jurisdiction or agency to communicate with the public about
the event and the response. However, with the formation of a Joint Information Center
under Unified Command all incident-related jurisdictional communication is to be
coordinated through the JIC to comply with NIMS and to effectively speak with one voice.
If a MACC is formed, then communication efforts should be coordinated per specified in
the Regional Catastrophic Coordination Plan for the Houston-Galveston Area Council
Region.
Policy Statement 13: Privacy and Limitations on Transparency
Recognizing the public’s demand for information can conflict with regulatory requirements
and the safety and well-being of individuals, public information officers will seek to
provide the most full and complete information regarding the incident and response that
does not conflict with existing laws or regulations such as HIPAA, or the reasonable right
to privacy of individuals impacted or involved in the incident or response.
Policy Statement 14: Response Partner Communication
Recognizing that engaged partnerships is one of the key doctrines of the National
Response Framework and is a key to an effective response, response leaders and Public
Information Officers will do all they can to provide accurate, timely and complete
information to all response partners and facilitate communication between their
authorized representatives and the response leadership.
Policy Statement 15: Readiness to Act
As one of the five key doctrines of the National Response Framework, Houston Urban
Area will ensure readiness to act in public information management by conducting
periodic Regional Joint Information Center drills and exercises. These exercises will be
supported by jurisdiction executives to ensure involvement by appropriate staff.
NOTE: Detailed explanations of the rationale behind these policy statements are
included in the Appendix, Section 1.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 2-2 February 2011
3.0 PLANS: THE JOINT INFORMATION SYSTEM AND JOINT
INFORMATION CENTER
This section provides the specific operation plans for the public information function of a regional
response in the Houston region. It details the application of the Joint Information System and the Joint
Information Center to the specific needs of the Houston region.
3.1 NIMS Requirements
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) calls for the establishment of a Joint
Information System and a Joint Information Center in responding to events where multiple
jurisdictions are involved.
The Joint Information System (NIMS, December 2008, p. 70):
“provides the mechanism to organize, integrate and coordinate information to ensure
timely, accurate, accessible and consistent messaging across multiple jurisdictions
and/or disciplines with NGO and the private sector. The JIS includes the plans, protocols,
procedures and structures used to provide public information. Federal, State, tribal,
territorial, regional, or Public Information Officers and established JICs are critical
supporting elements of the JIS. Key elements include the following:
■ Interagency coordination and integration
■ Gathering, verifying, coordinating and disseminating consistent essages
■ Support for decision makers
■ Flexibility, modularity and adaptability”
The Joint Information Center is defined as a:
“central location that facilitates the operation of the JIS, where personnel with public
information responsibilities perform critical emergency information functions, crisis
communications and public affairs functions.”
A Joint Information Center can also be a ―Virtual JIC‖ without the requirement for participants to
be located in a central location:
“A JIC may involve real-time, constant links to other sites, thus creating a virtual JIC. All
participants should be fully integrated and linked into the JIC so that it functions as a
single-site operation. Advantages include:
■ Rapid establishment of the JIC functions
■ Access to expanded resources
■ Relationship building”
To avoid confusion in attempting to create a clear separation around the Joint Information System
and Joint Information Center, the term Joint Information Center will be used as a general term
referring to both JIS and JIC.
Virtual JIC Capabilities
The term ―Virtual JIC‖ refers to the capability of a dispersed team working collaboratively from a
variety of locations to perform the functions of the JIC. Houston UASI has invested in the PIER
(Public Information Emergency Response) system to provide Virtual JIC capabilities. The terms
PIER and Virtual JIC may be used interchangeably.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-1 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
NIMS requires the establishment of a coordinated system for communicating with the public in a
multi-agency emergency response. However, the specific design of that system is not defined.
Houston ’s EPIP is based on three well-established JIC models:
Federal ESF 15: External Affairs Annex
FEMA Basic Guidance for Public Information Officers (FEMA 517, November 2007)
National Response Team JIC Model, revised version published July 30, 2009
While the Federal ESF 15 is designed for large scale national events similar to Hurricane Katrina,
the FEMA and NRT models provide a flexible, scalable response appropriate for small events
involving one or a few jurisdictions to large regional or national events. This plan is based
primarily on the NRT JIC Model which is very similar in design and function to the FEMA PIO
manual.
NIMS Compliance
This EPIP is designed to be fully consistent with and compliant with the requirements of the
National Incident Management System. Specific compliance requirements and operating
concepts include:
■ Use of the Unified Command System as the management structure to
respond to all events involving more than one jurisdiction or agency.
■ Use of the Joint Information System and Joint Information Center to
coordinate information for the response and enable the response
organization to speak with one voice.
■ NIMS concepts and principles have been included in all aspects of this
plan, including:
– Flexibility
– Scalability
– Standardization
– Interoperability and Compatibility
■ Adoption within the EPIP of core operating principles of ICS including:
– Designation of measurable objectives
– Designation of command staff positions
– Manageable span of control
– Clear chain of command
– Use of plain language
3.2 Plan Assumptions
This section describes the incident and coordinated response assumptions underlying this plan.
3.2.1 Houston Urban Area Geography and Population
Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown is a 10-county metropolitan area defined by the Office
of Management and Budget. It is located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of
Texas. The metropolitan area is colloquially referred to as "Greater Houston" and is
situated in Southeast Texas.
Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States
with a population of 5.7 million as of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate. The population of
the metropolitan area is centered in the city of Houston—the largest economic and
cultural center of the American South with a population of 2.2 million.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
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Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
Houston is among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. The area
grew 25.2 percent between the 1990 and 2000 censuses—adding more than 950,000
people—while the nation's population increased 13.2 percent over the same period. From
2000 to 2007, the area grew by 912,994 people. From 2000 to 2030, the metropolitan
area is projected by Woods & Poole Economics to rank fifth in the nation in population
growth—adding 2.66 million people. In 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate
Partners ranked Greater Houston as the 5th best performing metropolitan area; the
Houston area had moved up 11 spaces from the previous year's ranking.
Houston Urban Area members:
Galveston County
Brazoria County
Harris County
Fort Bend County
Montgomery County
City of Houston
City of Pasadena
Metropolitan Transit Authority
Port of Houston
3.2.2 Hazards
● Common Natural Disasters
■ Severe Weather (Tornadoes, Thunderstorms, Hurricanes)
■ Flooding
■ Fires
■ Drought
● Public Health Emergencies
■ Pandemic & Epidemic
■ Food Contamination
● Accidents
■ Aviation
■ Other Transportation
■ Hazardous Spill
■ Environmental Releases
● Intentional Events
■ Civil Unrest
■ Terrorist
■ Major Public Events (Olympics, Superbowl, etc.)
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-3 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.3 Response Planning Assumptions
The following describe the basic assumptions regarding managing responses in the Houston
region:
All incidents are local
Local response jurisdictions will begin responding initially in most cases with a coordinated
response developed as the incident evolves.
Little or no warning
Emergencies may occur at any time with little or no warning and may exceed capabilities of local,
state, federal, tribal governments and the private sector in the affected areas.
Public impacts
Emergencies may result in casualties, fatalities and displace people from their homes. An
emergency can result in property loss, interruption of essential public services, damage to basic
infrastructure and significant harm to the environment.
Multi-agency coordination
The greater the complexity, impact and geographic scope of an emergency, the more multi-
agency coordination will be required.
Jurisdiction involvement
The political subdivisions of the state will mobilize to deliver emergency and essential services
under all threats and emergencies.
Mutual aid
Mutual aid and other forms of assistance will be rendered when impacted jurisdictions exhaust or
anticipate exhausting their resources.
Private response
Individuals, NGOs, community based organizations and businesses will offer services and
support in time of disaster. This support can be effective and critical and will be encouraged and
coordinated through the public information function.
Regulatory agency involvement
State jurisdictions and departments with regulatory oversight responsibilities will continue in their
same roles during all phases of an emergency and will insert themselves into the organizational
chain to support emergency management efforts.
Texas Division of Emergency Management
Texas Division of Emergency Management will support the response of regional jurisdictions
providing the resources and expertise needed to assist them in effectively responding.
Neighboring states
Neighboring states will come to Texas’ aid through the existing mechanisms and agreements.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-4 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
Federal support
The federal government will provide emergency assistance to the region when requested and in
accordance with the National Response Framework (NRF).
3.4 Concept of Operations
With this EPIP, the Houston Urban Area has a plan that can facilitate the coordination of public
information when multiple jurisdictions respond to an event. The process of public information
management and the technology supporting the process are intended to be adopted by all
Houston Urban Area jurisdictions, thereby facilitating a potential joint response. The EPIP
approach can be effectively used by individual jurisdictions for localized events as well as for
large-scale regional or national events.
The following describes the overall process by which the Regional Public Information Site will be
managed and when and how it will be used as a Regional Joint Information Site.
Routine Regional Emergency and Non Unified Command Events
The Houston Urban Area will maintain a PIER site for use a Regional Public Information Site for
routine and non-Unified Command events. This site will be live at all times and perform as a
regional information website, providing regional links and automatically aggregating on the site
via PIER’s syndication capabilities information updates from other jurisdictions. When and if a
Unified Command is formed, that regional PIER site is ―rebranded‖ as the Unified Command’s JIC
site.
Event Occurs—Local jurisdiction Response
A single jurisdiction responds to a highly localized event initially or multiple jurisdictions respond
to a larger event. The PIOs for each agency responding perform their public information
management functions under the direct control of the agency leadership or Unified Commander.
Some events may be regional or involve multiple jurisdictions from the very beginning. And others
may be anticipated such as severe weather events. In all cases, the JIC may be activated by
Unified Command immediately upon the establishment of Unified Command.
Joint Information Center Activation
When an event is of a scope that involves more than one agency in the region, particularly when
the jurisdictions involve cross-jurisdictional lines, a Unified Command may be established among
the participating jurisdictions. The Unified Commanders participating in Unified Command (now
referred to simply as Command) may call for the formation of a Joint Information Center. An initial
PIO for Command may be appointed immediately—typically from the PIOs already involved in the
response for a specific jurisdiction. The PIO will initiate the activation process described in this
plan beginning with notifications.
If a regional response does not entail the formation of Unified Command, the Regional Public
Information site will continue to serve as an aggregator of public information from the various
jurisdictions in the region, but will not have the official status of a JIC.
If a JIC is formed, following NIMS requirements of Command control over all response
information, the JIC and JIC website will serve as the primary and authoritative source of
information about the event, with jurisdiction websites re-publishing through RSS or direct posting
the information from the JIC.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-5 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
JIC Staff
An activation notice will be sent to all PIOs and potential JIC staff through PIER. This list of
potential JIC staff members is maintained in the Regional Houston Urban Area JIC PIER site
specifically for the purpose of automated callout. JIC staff information will include training and
qualifications to serve in specific JIC roles enabling the initial PIO and Assistant PIO/JIC Manager
to quickly assemble a qualified team.
Initial Virtual JIC Response
The public, media and stakeholders will already be engaged in seeking out information by the
time the JIC is typically established. It is critically important to meet their demand for credible
information as soon as possible. This is done initially by the establishment of a ―Virtual JIC.‖ The
regional JIC PIER website will be launched publicly as soon as even a minimal initial statement
can be provided. This will typically be done by the initial PIO or Assistant PIO (APIO) but can be
accomplished by any JIC staff with training and appropriate password security. As with the
release of any information, Command will approve the initial release and the launching of the
public website. Beyond the launch of the site and the release of the initial statement, the JIC
processes begin as described in this plan, including the management of media, public and
stakeholder inquiries.
Establish Physical JIC
If the situation warrants it a physical JIC location will be identified and the process of preparing it
for use by the JIC staff will begin. JIC staff can be directed to this location through PIER
notification. Because the virtual JIC will already be in operation there will be no interruption of the
information processes while the facility is prepared. The mobile JIC vehicle will be used to
support the logistics requirements of the facility.
JIC Operations
The normal processes of information gathering, monitoring, information production,
dissemination, inquiry responses, briefings and meetings will be continued throughout the
duration of the event. The APIO/JIC Manager will ensure that staffing is adequate and that JIC
members receive rest, food and other needs.
JIC Deactivation
The PIO will advise Command on the need for continued JIC operations as the incident evolves.
As recent events have demonstrated the public and stakeholders will likely have strong interest in
the event and recovery despite the withdrawal of most media from covering the event. This is to
be expected in a time where the media focuses almost exclusively on immediacy. Therefore, it is
likely that the JIC will continue to operate as a virtual JIC for a considerable time after the
physical JIC, if one has been established, is deactivated. After the JIC is deactivated, the incident
website or a replacement site for the incident will remain public directing visitors to the individual
jurisdictions for information about any remaining recovery operations.
3.4.1 Regional Response
This EPIP is intended specifically for those situations and events that require coordinated
action between jurisdictions \ within the Houston region. For localized events, those
involving only single jurisdictions \ or broader events where coordinated response is not
called for, a regional JIC and implementation of this plan is not required. However,
whenever more than one jurisdiction agree to respond cooperatively under NIMS and
using the Unified Command prescriptions of the Unified Command System, a Joint
Information Center will be established. Activation will be one of the initial actions taken by
Unified Command.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-6 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.4.2 Regional Communication
The role of the JIC is to provide a single voice for all jurisdictions participating in the
response. This ―single voice‖ requirement is essential and provides several important
benefits to the jurisdictions participating:
■ it ensures that Command has authority over public information
corresponding to the responsibility included in that role
■ it ensures the accuracy of information with a clearly defined process of
gathering facts, verification and approval
■ it provides a single point of contact for media, the public, stakeholders
and others with high interest in the event
■ it helps eliminate multiple and conflicting reports and statements that can
cause confusion, inappropriate decisions and lack of trust
■ it can help speed the process of information delivery by a clearly defined
approval process
While the JIC must maintain its role of being the single, authoritative and authorized
source of information about the JIC and therefore representing equally all the jurisdictions
participating in the JIC, this does not preclude the individual jurisdictions from
communicating. Jurisdictions can continue with the dissemination of public information
about their jurisdiction and their role in the response. They cannot, however, distribute
any information nor respond to any question about the response when it refers to the
event and the coordinated response. For example, if asked how many people are
responding to the event, the jurisdiction spokesperson may provide information about the
number of people from the jurisdiction who are participating in the response. They should
not however, provide any information about the total number of response personnel from
all jurisdictions unless that information has already been provided by the JIC. In that
case, they are encouraged to provide the information to the inquirer informing them that
this information has been issued by the JIC and that information about the response itself
can be gained by direct access to the JIC. All questions relating to the overall response
rather than specific to the jurisdiction’s activities should be referred to the JIC.
3.4.3 Activation and Deactivation
Activation of the Regional JIC and implementation of the EPIP can only be done by
Unified Command after a multi-agency response has been established. Unified
Command is established as soon as more than one agency is working to coordinate
response under the NIMS unity of command principle.
Activation of the JIC and this plan is accomplished by identifying a Public Information
Officer and providing him or her with the authorization to implement the plan and form the
Joint Information Center. The PIO begins the process, as identified in the Workflow
(Section 3.5) with notifications of trained JIC staff. It is essential that the PIO selected is
fully conversant in the EPIP, JIC operations and is appropriate given the nature of the
event. Detailed information about PIO selection is included in Section 4.2.
Deactivation is also implemented on orders from Command. Deactivation will typically be
in stages with the physical JIC, if one has been established, deactivated prior to the
deactivation of the JIC. The JIC can and will continue in this stage as a Virtual JIC with
appropriate staffing levels determined by the PIO. Final deactivation will consist of
releasing remaining staff and placing content on the JIC website communicating that the
JIC is no longer active and directing visitors and inquirers to appropriate jurisdictional
contacts.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-7 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.4.4 Coordination and Transitions
This plan envisions responses ranging from localized events that emerge into regional
and national events as well as events that begin as regional or national responses. Most
events will involve transitions as they scale to a larger response and also as the response
contracts as the recovery efforts wind down.
Consistent with the National Response Framework, there are five types of responses:
Type 5: Local Response Only
This involves events requiring the response of individual jurisdictions impacted
only. Examples: house fires, localized severe weather.
Type 4: Local to Regional
Events that begin locally and on a small scale but evolve to require multiple
jurisdictions or jurisdictions to respond. Examples: large fires involving mutual
aid, severe storms affecting multiple regions, pandemic flu.
Type 3: Regional
Events that are regional in scope from the outset. Examples: Major storm events,
airliner crash, events requiring significant evacuations, pandemic. These events
will likely involve coordination with Texas Emergency Management Agency.
Type 2: Regional to National
Events that begin as a regional response but due to the severity of damage or
impacts require national response under a Presidential Declaration or that evolve
into a federal crime investigation with involvement by the FBI.
Type 1: National
These events are national in scope from the outset. Example is major terrorist
event or overwhelming and sudden natural disaster.
Transitions between event types.
This describes the transitions, if any, required based on event type.
Type 5: Individual agency response only. No transitions required.
Type 4: Local to Regional
In this type of event, the impacted jurisdictions would be operating independently
until Command is formed and the JIC is established. An event-specific JIC
website will be launched shortly after a PIO is identified and notifications of JIC
staff have been made. At this point, the PIO will notify the jurisdictions
responding that a JIC has been formed and that all information relating to the
response will be issued by the JIC. Jurisdictions will be requested to place a link
to the JIC site prominently on their agency websites and to make it clear that
information about the event and response will be provided by the JIC and any
questions should be directed to the JIC. JIC phone numbers and web address
should be provided along with an active link to the JIC inquiry form.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-8 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
Individual jurisdictions may continue to provide information specific to their
agency and also provide JIC information on their websites. In posting any
information from the JIC or releasing that information to the media or the public,
the PIO for the agency needs to insure that the information has come from the
JIC and not the agency.
Type 3: Regional
A regional event begins with Unified Command and the formation of a JIC. In this
case, the JIC will be the source of information for the event and response from
the beginning. As in Type 4 events, individual jurisdictions—participating in the
response or not—are encouraged to continue to communicate with the media
and their stakeholders about the individual jurisdictions response to the event.
They are not to provide general event information or information specific to the
response. Instead, any questions should be directed to the JIC.
Texas Division of Emergency Management may be involved iin a regional
response with the determination of the State’s role to be made by the Governor’s
office. Texas Division of Emergency Management’s plan is to play a support role
in a major regional response including public communication management. The
Disaster Committee Chairman (DDC) will assign a PIO to support JIC operations.
Type 2: Regional to National
An event that evolves from a regional response to a national response must take
into consideration the entirely different JIC and communication structure
employed by Federal agencies such as FEMA and the FBI. The Department of
Homeland Security’s Emergency Support Function 15 (ESF 15) views the JIC not
as the central organizing element of all communication but only as the element of
communications dealing specifically with media inquiries. All other functions are
outside of the JIC and controlled in different ways.
Because the National Response Team, made up of 16 federal agencies has
published a Joint Information Center Model which is very different from ESF 15, it
is not entirely clear whether federal officials arriving on-scene will implement ESF
15 with its organization structure or will employ the NRT JIC model. A
determining factor may well be the efficiency and performance of the regional
JIC.
With the arrival of Federal ESF 15 function public affairs staff into the response,
every effort should be made to incorporate and integrate those assets into the
regional JIC.
3.5 PIER
PIER (Public Information Emergency Response) is the communication management technology
employed by Houston Urban Area to facilitate regional communication. It provides a comprehensive
set of communication tools on a common web platform that enable communicators to collaborate in
efficiently carrying out their communication assignments. Because it is entirely web-based, PIER
makes possible a Virtual JIC operation or allows additional JIC staff to participate from outside the
physical JIC if one is established. PIER is also integrated with WebEOC facilitating information
sharing between response leaders and the PIO and JIC leadership.
The regional JIC website is a PIER site and is fully managed using PIER.
Individual jurisdictions throughout the Houston Urban Area are also able to adopt and use PIER for
agency communication purposes. The daily use by communicators and leaders involved in these
jurisdictions is fully supported by the Houston Urban Area -funded purchase of PIER technology to
enable effective use of the system during significant regional events.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-9 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
PIER Use in Regional JIC
Complete description of PIER use is included in the Workflow (Section 3.5) and additional
information in Section 5: Platform. Basic functions of PIER in the Regional JIC include:
Notifications - text and text-to-phone messages along with emails will be used to notify
JIC staff of an incident. They will be provided with specific instructions on confirming
participation, where to report, etc..
Information Gathering - PIER will be used as the central tool for gathering raw information
about the incident. This will come through a variety of channels including WebEOC. JIC
staff are assigned specific responsibilities to assemble the raw information from a variety
of sources to be used to develop public information releases.
Information Production - the process for converting raw, unverified information into public
releases and a variety of information formats is also done on PIER. Collaborative
document drafting and editing enables JIC staff to perform these functions from any web
browser.
Information Dissemination - PIER provides the mechanisms to distribute approved
information to all audiences including the media, stakeholders, response partners, other
government agencies and the public. Methods include via the incident specific website,
email, fax, RSS feeds, text messages (SMS), text to voice telephone, Twitter and other
social media channels. Because it is managed as part of a single, integrated process this
information dissemination process is accomplished by trained JIC staff and not
distributed to a number of JIC staff members assigned to manage specific audience
contacts.
Inquiry Management - PIER also provides a system for efficiently managing all inquiries
coming in to the JIC. These include questions as well as suggestions and comments from
all audiences. Inquiries can be received automatically in PIER through a web inquiry form
on the incident website, through emails, through text messages and by logging telephone
calls received in the JIC by staff. A central, automated control center where all inquiries
and their status is displayed enables the PIO, senior JIC managers and the response
leadership to form public information strategies, identify and respond to rumors, and
closely monitor response quality and timeliness.
Monitoring - Monitoring the media, community understanding and reaction and the
conversation on social media is an important function of the JIC. These items are
accomplished on PIER using several monitoring tools including:
■ inquiries—inquiries submitted and logged often provide the earliest
indication of rumors, misinformation or emerging issues
■ Community monitoring—while some of this is done in person through
community meetings, direct engagement, PIER’s survey function can
also be used for community and stakeholder monitoring through the
development and use of online surveys.
Reporting—NIMS requires detailed reports on all the functions of the response including
the JIC. PIER automates this process through complete tracking of all communication
activities based on user actions that are recorded in PIER.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-10 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.6 JIC Workflow (Insert JIC Workflow here)
3.6.1 Communication Cycle
All communication activities are organized around these basic operations. This is seen
as a continuous cycle in which monitoring feeds the information gathering process
resulting in the next information updates.
Color coding provided to overlay specific responsibilities using the JIC organization
structures as illustrated below.
3.6.2 Basic JIC Organization Structure
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-11 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.6.3 JIC Organization Structure applied to small-scale response with 2 - 4 responders
3.6.4 JIC Organization Structure applied to large-scale response with 25 - 50 responders
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-12 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.6.5 Information Gathering - Workflow Diagram
3.6.6 Information Production - Workflow Diagram
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-13 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.6.7 Information Dissemination - Workflow Diagram
3.6.8 Inquiry Management - Workflow Diagram
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-14 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.6.9 Monitor and Rumor Management - Workflow Diagram
3.6.10 Department of Homeland Security/FEMA Emergency Support Function (ESF) #15
External Affairs Organization Chart
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-15 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.6.11 Embeded files to print out workflow
C:\Documents and C:\Documents and C:\Documents and C:\Documents and
Settings\toleary\My Documents\EPIP HOUSTON\Job Descriptions\Information_Dissemination_JD.pdf
Settings\toleary\My Documents\EPIP HOUSTON\Job Descriptions\Information_Gatherin
Settings\toleary\My
Settings\toleary\My Documents\EPIP HOUSTON\Current Drafts\JIC WORKFLOW.pptDocuments\EPIP HOUSTON\Job Descriptions\
C:\Documents and C:\Documents and C:\Documents and
Settings\toleary\My Documents\EPIP HOUSTON\Job Descriptions\Monitoring_Rumor_Control_JD.pdf
Settings\toleary\My Documents\EPIP HOUSTON\Job
Settings\toleary\My Documents\EPIP HOUSTON\Job Descriptions\Inquiry_Management_JD.pdf Descriptions\PIO_Ass_t_PIO_JIC_
3.7 Regional JIC Website
The Houston Urban Area will maintain a pre-staged emergency response public website ready to
use within minutes after a regional JIC is formed.
3.7.1 Master JIC Site Preparations
The Houston Region JIC regional JIC site will be maintained as the foundational website
and repository of all preparatory programs, content and contacts. It will include:
Users
Users on PIER are those who have received training in PIER and have been registered
with passwords that provide them appropriate levels of access to the JIC website and its
functions. Not all responders as listed in the Contact Directory will be included in PIER.
All regional PIOs who have been designated as potential PIOs for the Regional JIC must
be included as users with Power Users enabling them to perform the initial JIC functions
including launching the JIC website and completing JIC staff notifications.
Non-JIC responders who are most likely to be involved in a regional response will also be
included as Users in the JIC website to facilitate rapid deployment and use of the PIER
system.
Plans
Regional response plans which need to be accessed by any member of the regional JIC
or response team will be made accessible to them by maintaining on PIER. By providing
access on a highly secure web platform, all authorized users can quickly locate and
access these documents at any time providing they have access to a web browser.
Houston Urban Area will use best efforts to insure that the latest and most complete
plans are available to the members.
This EPIP and all the supporting documents identified in the Appendix will be stored and
made accessible via the Regional JIC PIER site.
Contacts
The following contacts or message recipients will be included in the Contact Directories.
A process for creating and maintaining the contact information will be established by
Houston Urban Area.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-16 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
Directory Segments Description Est # Notes
Responders JIC All qualified JIC staff Essential for
including their roles and notification
qualifications
Non-JIC Key non-JIC responders for
communication in event
Media Traditional Local and national print,
radio, TV
Non-Traditional Significant bloggers
Government National White House, Includes
congressional contacts, elected
federal jurisdictions officials
State/Regional All jurisdictions and
appropriate state
Other
Response NGOs Red Cross, Faith-based,
Partners animal care, volunteer orgs,
etc.
Health Hospitals, trauma centers,
medical facilities,
Private Major employers, logistics
and resource support
Special Needs Custodial Nursing homes, long term
Facilities care, prisons, etc
Community Social service
organizations, support
workers, Self-register for
individuals and families
Schools Universities
K-12
Community Leaders Created list of business, Created and
union, religious, service maintained by
club, community agency volunteers?
board heads, etc
Members Self-registered Used for opt-in
for alert
messages as
well as email
only
Public Warnings Special list (Smart Group vs
additional Directory) for
activating Public Warnings,
including citizen self-
registered
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-17 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
Content
Preparing the JIC website in advance with information that will be needed by the media,
stakeholders and the public in an event is an important element of fast and efficient
response. The purpose is to minimize the workload of a limited and stretched JIC staff,
particularly in the early minutes and hours of a response as well as to build trust with the
media and public by providing accurate information as quickly as possible.
General site content
Website Homepage
Top Banner - clearly identify the site as the Houston Regional Joint Information
Site.
Menu Structure - site organization and menu structure will allow visitors to quickly
find and open News and Information Updates, view Recent Updates, access
interactive features including the Inquiry Form, mailing list registration, visitor
forms and surveys, etc.
Participating Agency names and logos - all participating jurisdictions will be listed
on the site Logos of all potential participating jurisdictions will be maintained
within the site for easy uploading as needed.
JIC contact information - all necessary contact information including email
address, inquiry form instructions, mailing list instructions, JIC media phone
numbers, web address, will be clearly visible on the homepage.
Information Phone Numbers - if an 800 number is used to provide frequent
updates of information about the event, this should be prominently displayed.
Similarly, if an insurance claims number is activated, this needs to be prominently
displayed on the homepage.
Notification Templates
Notification templates will be uploaded for future use.
PIER notification is limited to two uses:
1. JIC staff and some limited Regional response leader callout
2. Self-registration by the public to receive emergency alerts)
JIC Notification Templates
Notifications within PIER are defined as text messages which are limited to 140
characters, and text-to-voice (TTV) messages which are converted to voice by
PIER and distributed to phone lists. Phone messages should typically be no
longer than 30 seconds but can contain more details than the text messages.
PIO Standby Alert - alerting those identified as potential PIOs or
Assistant PIOs to be on alert for potential Regional JIC activation. To be
used when an event begins locally but has the potential to evolve into a
multi-agency coordinated response.
PIO Callout - this requests qualified PIOs and Asst PIOs to report to
designated location and confirm participation via text message.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-18 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
JIC Staff Callout - this requests all qualified JIC staff to report designated
location and confirm participation via text. This message can be directed
to groups with specific roles (see Section 4, section on set up of JIC staff
wild card fields).
JIC and Response Leader Callout - requests all JIC and all response
leaders to report to designated location and confirm participation via text.
Virtual JIC Callout - requests JIC staff to join Virtual JIC via PIER log-in.
Community Alert Templates (Self-Registered)
Both text and TTV templates will be established in the primary JIC site
aimed at sending urgent safety and event information to those registering
to receive these alerts.
Examples of Templates to be developed:
Shelter in Place Message
Evacuation Message
All Clear or All Safe Message
Regional Response Established Message
Traffic Diversion Message
School Status Message
Document Folders
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-19 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
Access Folder Name Description of Contents Notes
Public or Information Releases All formal media and public releases
Hidden
Media Advisories Notices to Media about Press
Conferences, etc.
Fact Sheets Bulletized summaries of information
about the incident and response
Public Alerts Notifications and safety messages,
specific public instructions
Incident Updates Brief updates of incident status
Images and Video Gallery
Twitter Feeds Messages sent to response Twitter
account
Social Media Feeds Messages sent via RSS to any
response social media channel other
than Twitter
Background Information Regional information in anticipation of
questions-- Likely largest section.
Include maps, brief description of
each community, links to relevant
sites for more information
Response Agencies & Brief summary description of Brief info with
Partners response agencies and leadership, links to
photos, agency contact information agency sites.
Related Links All links to other sites of use in a
response
Internal Answers Answers for inquiry response Pre-stage
basic answers
Monitoring Track media, social media,
community and stakeholder
monitoring
Situation Updates Incident updates via WebEOC,
update form, ICS 209 form, etc.
Org Charts EOC, Response organization and JIC Templates
organization with contact info
Plans Regional response plans, Evacuation
plans, Special Needs plans, EPIP,
Workflow, Appendices
Inquiry Management
The Inquiry Management function of PIER will also be prepared to facilitate
immediate use of the system once the public website is launched.
Fort Bend County – Houston Urban Area Emergency Public Information Plan
O’Brien’s Response Management Inc. 3-20 February 2011
Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
Inquiry Categories
Notification Response Inquiry Categories
(This establishes text-based response from notifyees)
pjic@Houston Urban Area = am responding to physical JIC as directed
vjic@Houston Urban Area = am responding virtually via PIER
eoc@Houston Urban Area = am responding to EOC as directed
no@Houston Urban Area = am not able to respond
Public Site Inquiries Topics
These will be established within the primary JIC site to enable immediate
use.
Media Interview Requests
Public Health or Safety
Incident Cause or Investigation
Response Actions
Rumor Reports
Environmental Impacts
Evacuation Questions
Incident Update
Pets
Special Needs Requests
Inquiry Auto-Notification by Category
Notifications will be set for each category so that appropriate
response members including subject matter experts within the
region receive an email alert with the notification in that category.
3.8 Public Warnings
Until a unified mass notification system is implemented for the region, this plan will rely on the
following methods for public warnings:
1. Mass Media - distribution of urgent messages with requests for traditional local
and regional news organizations to communicate those through the most
immediate channels
2. Emergency Alert System - designated broadcasters with requirements to convey
urgent public messages with an alert signal
3. Individual jurisdiction notification systems - some jurisdictions in the region have
implemented mass notification systems which are identified in this plan.
Requests from the JIC to implement those systems are included in this plan.
4. Regional text messages to residents requesting residents opt-in information will
be informed of the option of receiving text and phone messages directly from the
regional JIC if they register their mobile phone numbers in advance through the
Regional JIC website. Messages can be directed to specific residents based on
geography.
5. IPAWS (SAVE SPACE)
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Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
3.8.1 Mass Media Public Warnings
These will be distributed via PIER and the pre-established media lists using a special
designation such as ―Urgent Public Instructions from the [Incident Name] Joint
Information Center.‖ Warnings will be simultaneously posted on the Regional JIC
website.
3.8.2 Emergency Alert System
A special Contact Group will be developed for designated EAS broadcasters. Messages
will include: ―Urgent Emergency Alert System Message.‖ Warning messages will be
distributed via email to this group.
3.8.3 Agency Notification Systems
A list of agency based mass notification systems is included below. The JIC site will
maintain a contact list of the jurisdictions using mass notification along with a brief
description of the systems used. The PIO under the direction of Command will identify
the jurisdictions needed to send public warning messages through their mass notification
systems and will direct Asst PIO to submit requests to appropriate jurisdictions. The
specific warning message will be sent to these jurisdictions for distribution Command
approval.
3.8.4 Resident Alert Self-Registered List
Residents in the Houston area will be informed following the adoption of this plan of the
opportunity to register to receive direct alerts and warnings from the Regional JIC.
Directions will be provided informing them how to self-register including their cell-phone
and other contact information on the Regional JIC website. The PIO will advise
Command of the current number of residents registered and advise on using this list to
distribute urgent text and text-to-voice phone messages.
3.8.5 Jurisdictions Mass Notification List
(Complete listing of all jurisdictions and current mass notification systems available for
use as part of this plan.)
3.9 Messaging Guidance
Content in Appendix.
3.9.1 Template Development
The following will serve as a guide for developing pre-staged template messages to be
maintained within the PIER JIC website. These templates are designed to be modified to
meet the specific response information and quickly published and distributed as directed
by the PIO.
Public instruction
■ Shelter in Place Instructions
■ Evacuation Instructions
■ Social Distancing Instructions
■ Traffic Disruptions Information
■ Area Closure & Avoidance Instructions
■ Air Space Restrictions
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Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
■ Boil Water Instructions
■ Hazardous Material Instructions
Incident and response information
■ Initial Incident Statement
■ Formation of the JIC
■ Incident Updates
■ Media Advisory
■ Press Conference Notice
■ Community Meeting Announcement
Recovery information
■ Transition from Containment to Recovery
■ Summary of Impact (Public, Property, Environment)
■ Recovery Plans and Schedule
Rumor Management
■ Erroneous information correction
■ Report Rumor Request (use Inquiry Form)
■ JIC authorized Twitter and Social Media sites
3.10 Press Briefings and Press Conferences
Covered in Appendix.
3.10.1 Press Briefings and Press Conferences
Covered in Appendix.
3.10.2 Facilities
Covered in Appendix.
3.10.3 Press Conference Preparations
Covered in Appendix.
3.10.4 Content and Messaging
Covered in Appendix.
3.11 Elected Official Involvement
Chief elected officials whose jurisdictions are involved in a response to publicly speak about the
incident and the response are typically the spokesperson for the response.
1. Spokesperson for the response.
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Section 3.0 Plans: The JIC and JIC
If Command, typically made up of multiple jurisdictions operating as
1. Elected official press conference immediately following JIC press conference.
A normal press conference would be conducted with the PIO announcing at the
beginning and at the end that the elected official will be available for comments
and questions following the Command briefing and questions for the response
leaders.
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4.0 PEOPLE
4.1 Houston Urban Area Organization
4.2 JIC Staffing
The effectiveness of any response is dependent on the people and this applies to response
communications as well as any other aspect of response management. To ensure best possible
public information management, this plan provides the means to identify, train, equip and deploy
the most qualified government communicators and Public Information Officers in the Houston
region.
4.2.1 Qualifications and Selection
JIC positions will be based on training and experience, not on rank or employer.
This plan envisions many events beginning at the local or county levels and it is expected
that a PIO for the responding agency may be named as the initial PIO once a multi-
agency response is formed and the formation of the JIC is initiated. All qualifying initial
PIOs for the JIC must be trained in the JIC formation procedures outlined in Section 3.
Command is obligated after the JIC is formed to select the most qualified PIO regardless
of rank, agency or relationship to any member of Command. The same principle of
qualification for role will extend to all roles in the JIC.
To ensure a sufficient pool of qualified JIC staff is available to assist in a major event the
Houston Urban Area will coordinate the recruiting, training and contact management for
regional JIC staff. JIC staff members will be recruited primarily from the public affairs,
communications and support staff of participating jurisdictions but may include area
public affairs and communications contractors. The regional training and exercise plan
will identify the training requirements to be completed for qualification, and the drills and
exercises conducted to provide opportunities to build skills and provide opportunity for
evaluation.
The Regional JIC PIER site will contain a complete and current contact directory of JIC
staff members including their completed training, assigned roles based on training,
experience and evaluation, and the drills and exercises they have participated in.
4.2.2 Training
National Incident Management System Training
One element of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is enabling
preparedness through standardized training, particularly using the Incident Command
System. The Department of Homeland Security has developed NIMS training courses
and in February 2008 issued the Five Year NIMS Training Plan (Appendix A.9) According
to this plan participants in a NIMS compliant response will have completed training within
the following timeframes. Refer to NIMS training guidelines for PIO.
PIER Training
Houston Urban Area will provide PIER training for JIC staff members as neeed. There
are three levels of PIER training:
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Section 4.0 People
PIER Basic – half day to one day providing overview of all PIER functions with
emphasis on basic operational functions including documents, contacts,
inquiries.
PIER Advanced – two day training with in-depth user experience in the basic
functions plus completed overview of advanced PIER functions including inquiry
management, content management, media monitoring, contacts and smart
groups, reporting, automatic notifications, surveys and forms and advanced
settings.
PIER Certification – three day training provided by PIER. In-depth review of all
PIER functions focusing on the advanced settings, reportings, site layout and
setup. Also includes strategic discussion with other PIER users and interaction
with PIER development team.
4.2.3 JIC Staff Directory
The JIC Staff Directory is maintained on the Regional JIC PIER site. Maintaining the
complete and most current information on potential JIC staff members and their
qualifications will enable:
■ Fast, efficient callout of the JIC staff to respond in a major event
■ Identifying and placing most qualified staff in PIO and JIC leadership
positions
■ Establishing and managing a Virtual JIC with staff in various locations
■ Efficient management of qualification information
■ Secured access to the information by all authorized users within the
Houston Urban Area region
4.2.3.1 Contact Information Structure
The Contact Directory used in the Regional JIC site is titled: Responders. This
will allow other response leaders to use the same directory for non-JIC response
leaders. The following information will be included in the record for each
Responder:
First Name
Last Name
Association (Jurisdiction or Agency)
Title
Address
City/State/Zip
Phone 1 ( To be used for mobile phones for text callout)
Phone 2 (Work or office phone)
Phone 3 (Home or alternative mobile phone)
Fax
Email 1 (Primary email address)
Email 2 (Secondary email address)
Highest Position Qualified (Highest Level JIC Position Qualified)
Training Completed (All NIMS training completed)
Houston Urban Area JIC Drills (All drills completed)
Internal Notes (Identifies other experience and qualifications or factors impacting
choice of roles)
The following shows the entry screen in PIER for the contact information for
responders.
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Section 4.0 People
Contact Directory Form
Responders
Directory Name:
Internal Directory
Display Display Don't SMS
Standard Directory Fields Only & Require Display Opt-In
Salutation
First Name
Last Name
Title
Association
Address
Address 2
City
State/Province
Zip/Postal Code
Phone 1
Phone 2
Phone 3
Fax
Email
Email 2
Display Display Don't
Customized Directory Fields Only & Require Display
highest positio
Training comp
Experience lev
UASI drills
Subject matter
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Section 4.0 People
4.2.3.2 Structure Details
To enable PIER to filter the information properly to select qualified JIC members,
it is very important that the information entered be perfectly consistent. For
example, if using the Highest Position Qualified field a mistake in entering uses
Ast PIO instead of Asst PIO, the search for Asst PIO will not include the entry
using Ast PIO.
To enable proper selection and to minimize the information in each of the fields,
the customizable fields will rigidly adhere to the following criteria:
Highest Position Qualified
This is to identify specific positions for which the JIC member has qualified. Only
the highest position they have qualified for will be listed with the assumption that
any below in the structure they would have qualified for as well. Exceptions to
this will be identified in the Internal Notes field.
The following table will identify the codes to be used for job descriptions. Again,
precision in using these codes is essential for filtering purposes.
Job Descriptions
Public Information Officer PIO
PIO/JIC Liaison PIO Liaison
PIER Administrator PIER Admin
Assistant Public Information Officer/JIC Manager APIO/JIC
Asst JIC Manager AJIC Mgr
JIC Facilities JIC Facilities
JIC Security & Credentials Specialist JIC Security
JIC Documentation & Administration Specialist JIC Doc
Assistant Public Information Officer for Information APIO/Info Gathering
Gathering
Planning Section Liaison Planning Liaison
Field PIO Field PIO
Field PIO Liaison Field Liaison
Media Monitoring and Rumor Control Specialist Monitoring
Assistant Public Information Officer for Information APIO/Info Prod
Production
Writer Writer
Multi-media Specialist Multi-media
Special Needs Production Unit Leader Spec Needs Prod
Assistant Public Information Officer for Information APIO/Dissemination
Dissemination
Web Distribution Specialist Web Distribution
Media Inquiry Unit Leader Media Inquiries
Stakeholder Inquiry Unit Leader Stakeholder Inquiries
Media Briefings and Conferences Unit Leader Briefings
Special Needs Distribution Unit Leader Spec Needs Distribution
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Section 4.0 People
The JIC Organization chart below is used to identify hierarchies during callout of
JIC staff. An individual qualifying for an Assistant PIO position is automatically
considered qualified for any position below in that section. Any exceptions will be
noted in the Internal Notes.
Training Completed
Smart Groups filtering in PIER will allow the PIER users searching for available
JIC staff to include any ICS, IS, G or E training course numbers, providing that
the filter uses the term ―Contains.‖
Pre-Established Groups will be created in PIER for groups based on various
training and qualifications and these will be kept automatically updated by PIER
as new information is added about completed training.
Experience Levels
Experience level entries are used to provide a summary of the experience level
of each JIC participant. The experience levels are specifically related to actual
emergency communication or JIC experience or successful participation in
regional JIC drills. The following codes will be used to summarize experience
levels for filtering:
A Highest level experience including both actual response communications,
actual JIC experience and current regional JIC drill experience
B Experienced in actual response communications without JIC or drill
experience
C Current (within one year) regional JIC drill, no actual response or JIC
experience
D Non current JIC drill experience
E No relevant experience
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Section 4.0 People
Internal Notes
This is an open field not subject to filtering so any relevant information can be
added. Information should be limited to what would be helpful in selecting
appropriate and best-qualified JIC staff and for filling specific JIC roles.
For example, a drill planner/evaluator may note: ―Displayed unusual insight into
social media use. Helpful for rumor management.‖
4.4 Subject Matter Experts
The Responder Contact Directory will also include individuals identified as able and willing to
assist the JIC as Subject Matter Experts. These individuals may or may not take an active role in
the JIC. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will typically be asked to provide content guidance
The following general categories will be used for filtering purposes to quickly identify Subject
Matter Experts:
Field Description Areas of expertise
Healthcare Pandemic, infectious diseases, mass casualties,
burns, medical facilities
Severe Weather Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, ice storms
Environmental Oil spills, toxic releases, chemical exposure,
Air Transportation Aircraft, air traffic, airport operations, air regulations
Evacuation Routes, plans, regulations
Special Needs Population Community contacts, specific requirements
Terrorism Terrorist events and planning
Major Crime Mass murder, kidnapping, assasination
Food Safety Product tampering, e.coli, agricultural-based
Deathcare Mass casualty, grief counseling, pathology
Other
While using the general categories, or others created as needed, will help in quickly filtering,
more complete information about the SMEs specific expertise should be included in the Internal
Notes.
SMEs should be contacted by the JIC Manager or designated JIC support staff and asked to
report to the Assistant PIO for Information Production. The SME, if competent and qualified in
public presentation, can participate in Press Briefings, Press Conferences and Community
Meetings as determined by the PIO and approved by Command.
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5.0 PLATFORM – FACILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY
5.1 JIC Facilities
In this plan, the Houston Regional JIC will operate entirely virtually, primarily with a physical JIC
or a combination of physical and virtual JIC per NRT JIC model page 7.
Rather than a single, centrally-located Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and related Joint
Information Center, this plan provides flexibility in using existing EOCs provided by the
jurisdictions in the region. A physical JIC, if employed, will be chosen from one of several
available locations identified in this plan, located as near the operating EOC as possible.
To support the activation of a variety of physical JIC locations, a Mobile JIC vehicle will be
maintained with the equipment and supplies needed to prepare the JIC for effective use. On
activation, the Assistant PIO/JIC Manager will make necessary arrangements to have the Mobile
JIC relocated to the physical JIC so the equipment and supplies needed to support the JIC staff
and operations will be accessible.
5.1.2 Physical JIC Facilities
Physical JIC facilities will be selected based on the following criteria:
1. Proximity to the EOC used for the event.
2. Separated from the EOC.
3. Proximity to Briefing and Conference facilities.
4. Accommodate up to 50 JIC staff.
5. Conference room(s)
6. JIC Staff necessities
7. Equipment and Supplies
High speed interconnect connection
Telecommunications
Radios
Computers
Image editing or graphics software
Printers
Photocopier
FAX machine
Large monitors or projectors
White boards
Flipchart and wall mountin—
Workflow posters
Maps
Office supplies
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Section 5.0 Platform – Facilities and Technology
5.1.2.1 Physical JIC Location List
Appendix
Covered in Appendix.
Houston Urban Area Regional Emergency Public Information Plan
Appendix
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6.0 APPENDIX
A.1 Acronyms
ACP: Area Contingency Plan DOSC: (USCG) Deputy Operations Section
AOBD: Air Operations Branch Director Chief
API: American Petroleum Institute DPRO: Display Processor
APIO: Assistant Public Information Officer DIVS: Division/Group Supervisor
APR: Air/Purifying Respirator DOCL: Documentation Unit Leader
AREP: Agency Representative ENSP: Environmental Specialist
ASGS: Air Support Group Supervisor ENVL: Environmental Unit Leader
ASOF: Assistant Safety Officer EBBS: (USCG) Electronic Bulletin Board
BBL: Abbreviation for barrel System
CAA: Clean Air Act EOC: Emergency Operations Center
CDC: Center for Disease Control and EPA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Prevention EQ: Environmental Quality
CEMP: Comprehensive Emergency ERT: Emergency Response Team
Management Plan ESD: Emergency Shutdown Device
CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental FACL: Facilities Unit Leader
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of FEMA: (DHS) Federal Emergency
1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq); also known as Management
Superfund Agency
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations FOBS: Field Observer
CHEMTREC: Chemical Transportation FSC: Finance Section Chief
Emergency Center (1-800-424-9300) FDUL: Food Unit Leader
CHRIS: Chemical Hazard Response FAA: Federal Aviation Administration
Information System FEMA: Federal Emergency Management
COLREG: (USCG) Collision Regulations Agency
COML: Communications Unit Leader FOG: Field Operations Guide (for ICS )
COMP: Compensation/Claims Unit Leader FOSC: Federal On-Scene Coordinator
COR: (USCG) Certificates of Registry FSC: Finance/Administration Section Chief
COST: Cost Unit Leader FWPCA: Federal Water Pollution Control Act
COTP: (USCG) Captain of the Port GSUL: Ground Support Unit Leader
CRWB: Crew Boss/Crew Supervisor GIS: Geographic Information System
CVM: (NOAA) Contingent Value Methodology GSA: General Services Administration
CWA: Clean Water Act HazCom: Abbreviation for Hazard
Decon: Abbreviation for decontamination Communications Program (29 CFR 1910.1200)
DOD: U.S. Department of Defense HAZMAT: Hazardous Materials
DOE: U.S. Department of Energy Hazwoper: Abbreviation for Hazardous Waste
DHHS: U. S. Department of Health and Human Operations and Emergency Response (29 CFR
Services 110.120)
DHS: U.S. Department of Homeland Security HSPD: Homeland Security Presidential
DOl: U.S. Department of Interior Directive
DOJ: U.S. Department of Justice IAP: Incident Action Plan
DOL: U.S. Department of Labor IBRRC: International Bird Rescue Research
DOT: U.S. Department of Transportation Center
DWT: Dead Weight Tonnage IC: Incident Commander
DINS: Damage Inspection Technical Specialist ICP: Incident Command Post
DMOB: Demobilization Unit Leader ICS: Incident Command System
DPIC: Deputy Incident Commander IDLH: Immediately Dangerous to Life or
Health
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Section 6.0 Appendix
IMT: Incident Management Team PSC: Planning Section Chief
INTO: Intelligence Officer PROC: Procurement Unit Leader
JlC: Joint Information Center PPE: Personal Protection Equipment
LEL: Lower Explosive Limit PPM: Parts Per Million
LNO: Liaison Officer PSC: Planning Section Chief
LNG: Liquefied Natural Gas PSl: Pounds Per Square Inch.
LPG: Liquefied Petroleum Gas PSlG: Pounds Per Square Inch Gauge
LOSC: Local On-Scene Coordinator RCRA: Resource Conservation and Recovery
LSC: Logistics Section Chief Act
MEDL: Medical Unit Leader RESL: Resource Unit Leader
MARPOL 73/78: International convention for RRT: Regional Response Team
the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as SARA: Superfund Amendments and
modified by the Protocol of 1978 Reauthorization Act of 1986
MSDS: Material Safety Data Sheet SCBA: Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
MSHA: Mine Safety and Health Administration SIT: Spontaneous Ignition Temperature (SIT);
(federal) also abbreviation for Situation
NCP: National Oil and Hazardous Substances SITL: Situation Unit Leader
Pollution Contingency Plan (40 CFR 300) SOSC: State On-Scene Coordinator.
NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act SO: Safety Officer
NGO: Non-Governmental Organization SVBD: Service Branch Director
NIMS: National Incident Management System SCTL: Scientific Unit Leader
NlOSH: National Institute for Occupational SITL: Situation Unit Leader
Safety and Health STAM: Staging Area Manager
NLS: Noxious Liquid Substance (33 CFR SCKN: Status/Check-In Recorder
151.47 or .49) STVE: Strike Team Leader, Vessel
NMFS: National Marine Fisheries Service SPUL: Supply Unit Leader
NPRM: Notice of Proposed Rule Making SUBD: Support Branch Director
(federal) SSC: (NOAA) Scientific Support Coordinator
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric STEL: Short Term Exposure Limit
Administration STORMS: Standard Oil Spill Response
NRC: National Response Center; also Nuclear Management System
Regulatory Commission TAT: (EPA) Technical Assistance Team
NRDA: National Resource Damage TFLD: Task Force Leader
Assessmentt THSP: Technical Specialist
NRT: National Response Team TIME: Time Unit Leader
NSFCC: National Strike Force Coordination TLV: Threshold Limit Value
Center TSCA: Toxic Substances Control Act
NSSE: National Special Security Events TSD: Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility
NVIC: Navigation and Vessel Inspection TWA: Time Weighted Average
Circular UC: Unified Command
OPA 90: Oil Pollution Act of 1990 UCS: Unified Command System
OSC: On-Scene Coordinator UEL: Upper Explosive Limit
OPS: Operations Section Chief USACE: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health USCG: U.S. Coast Guard
Administration (federal) USFWS: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
OSRO: Oil Spill Response Organization USGS: U.S. Geological Survey
OPBD: Operations Branch Director USN: U.S. Navy
PEL: Permissible Exposure Limit VOSS: Vessel of Opportunity Skimming
P & I: Protection and Indemnity Club System
PlO: Public Information Officer VTS: (USCG) Vessel Traffic Service
POC: Point-of-Contact WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction
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Section 6.0 Appendix
A.2 List of Federal Supporting Documents
DHS document detailing national preparedness standards
DHS document identifying the 15 national planning scenarios
FEMA CPG 301 defining Special Needs Populations
User guide to the Public Information Emergency Management technology
FEMA document detailing NIMS training program
A.3. Policy Statement Rationale
A.3.1 Public Health and Safety
Policy: The primary goal of the response and of the emergency public information
activities of the response is to protect the public.
The National Response Framework (page 7) defines ―response‖ as ―immediate actions to
save lives, protect property and the environment and meet basic human needs. While
there are many important goals for a multi-agency response, the overriding concern is to
protect the public’s health and safety. This goal should supercede all others in developing
Incident Action Plans and conducting response and communication activities. It is the
responsibility of the Public Information Officer to insure that communication activities
under his or her direction place the highest priority on protecting human health and
safety.
A.3.2 Public Warnings
Policy: Protecting the public includes providing warnings, directions and instructions
enabling residents to take fast and appropriate actions to protect themselves and those
for whom they are responsible.
The National Plan Review (p. 20) states:
Without expedited warning of hazards information, government organizations, institutions,
and the general public lack the advanced notice needed to make appropriate emergency
response decisions, such as selecting and employing transportation modes and
procuring en route services necessary to stage a mass evacuation.
The ability of response managers to effectively communicate with the public with urgent
instructions and information that could assist them in making critical decisions is an
essential element of the regional response planning. Warnings consist of a variety of
means of getting urgent information to individuals who may be in danger or significantly
impacted by an emergency. Traditional means such as through local broadcast media
and through the Emergency Alert System are still important but have been augmented by
changes in technology. These changes include the widespread use by all media outlets
of websites and web-based alert systems that can notify significant segments of the
population very quickly. The most significant technological change is the development of
mass individual notification systems. These include email distributions, text messages to
enabled mobile phones, and automated telephone messages using text to voice
technology. Increasingly it also means using web-based technologies and social media
outlets such as incident websites, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other channels
individuals in use for personal communication.
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Section 6.0 Appendix
Public warnings are generally considered a response operational concern rather than a
Public Information Officer or Joint Information Center function. However, this plan
recognizes that the use of technology to inform the public about the event and the
response—the responsibility of the PIO—is typically the same technology needed to
conduct public warnings. Therefore the processes, tools and technologies of the JIC will
be made accessible through the PIO to Command increasing Command’s ability to
conduct this important element of response operations.
The process for implementing public warnings and the available technologies and
resources to complete the warnings are covered in Section 3.7 of the JIC Operational
Plan.
A.3.3 Warnings and Special Needs Populations
Policy: Public warnings and safety message distribution must specifically include special
needs populations and those responsible for vulnerable residents maintained in custodial
institutions.
Special care must be taken to include special needs populations in public warnings. This
plan includes an inventory of special needs populations, custodial institutions
requirements for effectively notifying these groups. The JIS procedures and JIC structure
specifically address the requirements of communicating throughout the event with these
individuals and groups.
A.3.4 The Public’s Right to Know
Policy: Public jurisdictions in the Houston Urban Area recognize that the emergency
response organizations are operating on the public’s behalf and for the public’s welfare
and the public has a right to clear, concise, timely and accurate information about the
events that impact them and the activities of the response organization or organizations.
One of the functions of the Public Information Officer and the JIC is to help insure that the
response organization--including Command--is able to focus on response activities
without unnecessary distraction. At the same time, communicating with the public is one
of the most important response activities, both to help insure public safety but also to
meet the public’s desire and expectation to know what efforts are being made on their
behalf and with their tax dollars. The communication efforts will be conducted with the
understanding that the response ―belongs‖ to the public in the sense that everything done
to respond to the emergency is done on behalf of them. Similarly, the information about
the response also belongs to the public. The limitations on sharing the information are
covered in Policy Statement 12: Privacy and Limitations on Transparency.
A.3.5 Direct Communication with the Public
Policy: Effective public information in a rapidly changing media environment requires
placing a priority on communicating directly with the public through a variety of modes of
communication including an incident-specific website, email, fax, text messaging, phone
messaging including automated calling systems and selected social media outlets.
Public expectations about information involving the activities involving them have
changed dramatically in the past decade. As reliance on mainstream media has steadily
declined, the reliance on internet-based communication had dramatically increased.
Recent major events such as the 2009 H1N1 ―Swine flu‖ outbreak vividly illustrated the
reliance of the public on websites, email distributions, and social media to discover and
receive the information they sought.
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Section 6.0 Appendix
Given this rapid and fundamental change, it is no longer sufficient to provide information
releases and updates to the media for distribution to the public. Houston Urban Area
continually evaluates the changes in public information expectations and has invested in
the technology and support necessary to help insure that these expectations are met.
Direct communication during major events will include rapid and frequent updating of an
event-specific website or websites, email distribution to pre-staged stakeholder contact
lists, support for the public to register and receive updates directly, and when appropriate
the use of mass notifications methods including text messages and text-to-phone mass
telephone messages. Houston Urban Area will also evaluate usage of social media sites
and applications and will include their use as appropriate in Joint Information Center
distributions.
Direct communication with the public will be done concurrently with media information
releases and updates. This internet-based and media communication will be supported
by direct interaction at community meetings as deemed necessary and appropriate by
Command.
A.3.6 Media Distribution
Policy: Public information includes distribution of timely, accurate information through the
traditional media and full support for their efforts to keep the public informed of the event,
the response and impacts.
The media’s demands for timely, accurate information about the event will be met to the
greatest extent possible. Priority will be placed on wide-spread distribution of information
releases to all audiences including local, regional and national media. Individual
interviews, media briefings and press conferences will be provided to assist the media in
performing its function of keeping the public informed. Timing and frequency of these
opportunities will be recommended by the PIO and approved by Command. The term
―media‖ applies to traditional or mainstream media including broadcast and print media,
as well as ―new media‖ including news websites and bloggers with well established and
credible blog sites as verified by JIC staff.
A.3.7 Obligation to Respond
Policy: Questions and comments from the public, stakeholders and the media will be
welcomed and timely responses provided.
Major events of the past few years have demonstrated that a major disaster or
emergency event will generate many inquiries into the Joint Information Center. These
will come from a wide range of audiences including the media, response partners,
elected officials and government leaders at all levels, community leaders and individuals
from the general public. Receiving and managing these inquiries is an important function
of the Joint Information Center, providing valuable insights into rumors and
misinformation as well as helping guide response policies and plans and priorities in
meeting public information needs. The Public Information Officer will provide Command
with regular reports on the volume, intensity and nature of the inquiries. The JIC will be
staffed and supported sufficiently to enable timely, managed and appropriate responses
to these inquiries.
A.3.8 Rumor Management
Policy: In a time when many will be widely distributing information about a major event,
the public information officer and JIC staff will place a high priority on methods to monitor
for rumors and misinformation and will be aggressive and quick in providing correct
information to the public, stakeholders and the media.
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The reality of today’s public information environment is that news about a major event will
be communicated by individual residents more than the mass media, and more people
will get their information about the event and the response from many different sources
on the internet than they will from traditional media. Distribution will occur through emails,
social media sites, blogs, news websites, video and photo sites and many other forms.
Much information about a major event will be distributed before a JIC can be formed and
become fully operational. While this places a priority on fast preparation and distribution
of information, it also means that a critical role of the JIC is to be the reliable source for
information about the response. Unlike major news media, individuals reporting on what
they are seeing or hearing do not have accountability for accuracy. It is virtually certain
that a considerable amount of information being communicated about the event from
others will be inaccurate. Since the news media today also use the internet as a source
for information, the inaccurate information can quickly become distributed more widely
throughout the region through media reporting.
It is essential that the JIC maintain the public’s confidence in the response by providing
completely accurate and credible information. It is also critical that the JIC staff fully
monitor information flow from the wide variety of sources and respond quickly to identify
and correct rumors, inaccurate information and intentional misinformation. The EPIP
identifies the technology and methods to accomplish the monitoring process and all JIC
processes are designed to facilitate the fast development, approval and distribution of
critical information.
A.3.9 Maintaining Credibility
Policy: Loss of public trust can have serious long-term impacts on the jurisdictions and
those responding. To protect that trust, the Public Information Officers and the response
leaders will ensure that nothing is done or communicated that would result in loss of
credibility.
Protecting and building public trust is one of the overarching objectives of any effective
response. When trust is loss in the response organization, the impact on the jurisdictions
involved and the people responsible for those jurisdictions is very serious. The long term
impact of the public’s perception of inadequate agency response to Hurricane Katrina
provides a compelling example of this issue.
Trust depends on taking right, effective and timely action as evaluated by the public.
Trust equally depends on timely, accurate and effective dissemination of information to
the public about the event and the response. Since the public will ultimately be the judge
of the response’s effectiveness, it is crucial that public information be provided in a way
that meets their needs and expectations and that continually demonstrates the protecting
the public and the public’s interests are the primary objectives of the response. Clearly
any attempt to hide critical facts, to be less than fully forthcoming in issues or information
of concern to the public without clear and compelling reasons, and any false, misleading
or inaccurate information will put the response organization and all related agency’s
credibility at risk.
A.3.10 Command Responsibility for Information
Policy: Under the National Incident Management System (NIMS) the Incident
Commander or Incident Command is responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of all
information about the incident and the response. All policies and activities will be
managed to insure this responsibility is not compromised.
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NIMS is very specific about roles and responsibilities and that includes the responsibility
of the Incident Commander or Incident Command over the entire response including
public information. Since the responsibility for all information about the response lies with
Command, it is essential that Command’s authority over the nature, timing and release of
the information be maintained. This can be challenging in an environment where
jurisdictions typically have exercised independence in response and in public information
management. It is critical for all agency leaders, responders from each agency, PIOs and
JIC staff to remember that information specific to the unified response can only come
from the JIC and only if and when approved by Command. Violation of this policy through
independent agency communication of information about the overall response will be
seen as a violation of NIMS compliance with potentially significant financial
consequences to the region.
A.3.11 Compliance with NIMS
Recognizing the value of a coordinated approach to response management among
multiple jurisdictions, response leaders and Public Information Officers are committed to
fully complying with the requirements and recommendations included as part of the
National Incident Management System.
The importance of a unified response, including unified communications for the response
has been validated in numerous multi-agency responses. It is one of the fundamental
tenets of NIMS. The EPIP provides specific information about NIMS requirements.
A.3.12 Agency-Specific Communication
It is the responsibility of each jurisdiction or agency to communicate with the public about
the event and the response. However, with the formation of a Joint Information Center
under Incident Command all agency communication is to be coordinated through the JIC
to comply with NIMS and to effectively speak with one voice. After the formation of the
JIC each agency will continue to communicate according to their own plans and policies
but that communication is to be restricted to the specific role and activity of that agency.
The jurisdictions are encouraged to communicate information provided by the JIC and to
identify that the source of that information is the JIC in order to help the media and the
public understand that the JIC is the single, authoritative voice for the event and the
response.
A.3.13 Privacy and Limitations on Transparency
Recognizing the public’s demand for information can conflict with regulatory requirements
and the safety and well-being of individuals, public information officers will seek to
provide the most full and complete information regarding the incident and response that
does not conflict with existing laws or regulations such as HIPAA, or the reasonable right
to privacy of individuals impacted or involved in the incident or response.
Transparency is a very important public expectation today. There is little tolerance on the
part of the media or the public for withholding critical and relevant information including
the unreasonable delay in releasing such information. However, there are circumstances
in which it is not possible for the JIC to provide relevant and critical information. These
circumstances may involve releasing the names of victims and releasing medical
condition information when this may conflict with HIPAA requirements. The JIC may also
be restricted related to legal matters. The final decision about release of legally-sensitive
or restricted information is to be made by Command. The PIO and Command will also
take into account sensitive information related to individual’s activities or performance. In
all cases where information that is relevant and critical is withheld and questions arise,
reasonable and accurate explanations are to be provided as to the reasons for
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withholding the information and future release times offered if it is known when further
information can be provided.
A.3.14 Response Partner Communication
Recognizing that engaged partnerships is one of the key doctrines of the National
Response Framework and is a key to an effective response, response leaders and Public
Information Officers will do all they can to provide accurate, timely and complete
information to all response partners and facilitate communication between their
authorized representatives and the response leadership.
An effective response is a team effort and the National Response Framework clearly
identifies close collaboration and communication with a wide range of response partners
as a core element of planning and response. This EPIP includes specific steps to identify
response partners and to facilitate direct, interactive and efficient communication with
them. Command and the operational sections of the response will recognize the
important role the JIC plays in communicating with these response partners and
cooperate fully in providing the relevant information about response activities and support
requirements.
A.3.15 Readiness to Act
As one of the five key doctrines of the National Response Framework, Houston Houston
Urban Area will ensure readiness to act in public information management by thorough
preparation including the development of a comprehensive PIER JIC dark site.
Readiness will also be enhanced by conducting frequent Regional Joint Information
Center drills and exercises. These exercises will be supported by jurisdiction and agency
executives in insuring involvement by appropriate staff from their jurisdictions.
In a time of instant news where public information increasingly is gained by internet-
driven social media networks, it is critical that the JIC be able to function in a very short
time after an event occurs. This plan is designed for fast communication capability in
every aspect and particularly in the staging of comprehensive JIC websites capable of
being launched for public access by trained PIOs. This detailed and extensive
preparation will enable the JIC to begin communicating vital response information to the
media and the public, even while a more complete JIC is staffed and becoming
operational.
An additional element of this plan aimed at meeting the National Response Framework’s
doctrine of readiness to act is frequent drills and exercises. By conducting these JIC
exercises on an on-going basis the region will be assured of a group of PIOs and JIC
staff who are familiar with each other, who have been trained on and exercised the EPIP,
and who have demonstrated competence in performing the specific roles they are
assigned.
A.4 Message Guidance
This appendix will serve as a guideline for developing effective messages aimed at keeping the
public and key stakeholders fully informed of relevant information about the event and the
response. The underlying policy statements (Section 2) should be reviewed and serve as the
fundamental guidelines for developing JIC messages.
The following general principles should be observed:
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A.4.1 Public Protection is Primary
Priority is to be placed on public instruction and information aimed at helping the public
take appropriate action to protect themselves, their neighbors and families, protect
property and the environment.
A.4.2 Focus on Primary Public Concerns
In preparing any messages the primary focus should be on anticipating and answering
the most urgent and important questions on the minds of the audiences. These will
include:
What is happening right now?
How will this impact me or those people and things that I care about?
What is being done to minimize the impact on me and what I care about?
How did this happen and what is being done to protect me in the future?
What is being done to return to a normal state and when will that happen?
A.4.3 Provide Frequent, Short Messages
The forms of public information have changed dramatically, largely because of the
internet and the wide-spread use of social media. Both the media and the general public
have come to expect and demand frequent and brief updates of relevant information. The
standard press release format is being replaced by very brief information updates that are
issued far more frequently than traditional releases aimed at the now out-dated news
cycles. It is important to provide a consistent series of information updates even when
information is not changing rapidly because when these updates are expected the
vacuum created by not providing any updates will be filled by other, less reliable sources
and the disruption of information can be interpreted as hiding or an unwillingness to
divulge.
A.4.4 Focus on the Facts
While providing quotations from response leaders has been a traditional part of
emergency communications, because of the need for short and frequent updates, such
statements would be used in the longer and more formal release formats. The most
relevant facts are related to the key questions identified in item 1 above, it is important to
communicate the facts of regional collaboration including the jurisdictions and
jurisdictions participating in the response.
A.4.5 Anticipate Questions
Questions from the media and the public give important clues their information needs and
should be used as a guideline in developing the ongoing information releases. When
similar questions arise, quick distribution of the answer via the incident website and in the
next information update will result in a significant decrease in the calls and inquiries
coming into the JIC requiring a response.
A.4.6 Respond to Questions about Incident Causes
This does not apply to directly natural disasters, in many other events where human
action, intentional or unintentional, is a cause or a contributing cause to the event
questions will arise which need to be addressed. Even in natural disasters the issue of
liability or blame may arise related to the effectiveness of the response as it did in
Hurricane Katrina. While it is important to relay all known and verified information, the
focus should remain on the facts of the incident and the specific response actions being
taken. It is appropriate to simply respond to questions of blame or incident cause when
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such facts are not known by communicating that investigations into cause will be
conducted by the appropriate authorities at the appropriate time but the focus of the
responders is on protecting the public, the environment and property.
A.4.7 Communicating About Fatalities and Medical Condition of Victims
Policy statement #12 in Section 2 requires that the JIC provide the most complete and full
information regarding the incident and response without conflicting with regulations such
as HIPPAA or the right to privacy of those involved or impacted. The PIO will insure that
coordination between other jurisdictions and organizations, such as the Coroner’s Office
and the hospitals used to treat victims facilitates verification of information. The PIO will
determine with those organizations the role of the JIC in providing information about
victims and medical conditions.
A.4.8 Distinction Between Public Information and Media Interest.
Both traditional and new media play a critical role in informing the public during a major
incident. Therefore they are traditionally viewed as a valued partner and as the primary
means of distributing public information. In addition to conveying the critical information
about an event the media the media have a strong interest in attracting and holding
audiences in the face of extreme competition. As a result, their interest may vary from the
general public interest to some degree. For example, they will likely have a higher degree
of interest in cause if the event is not a natural disaster, particularly if the cause involves
an intentional action, negligence or failure of an individual or group. While meeting the
media’s legitimate need for information about issues that will help them compete for
audience attention, it is very important to keep the messages from the JIC focused on the
event, the response and mitigation and recovery efforts.
A.4.9 Use of Images and Video.
The JIC will produce and distribute images and videos of the response activities. This is
particularly necessary if the site involved is designated closed or a hazmat site requiring
only those with Hazwoper training to gain access. In this case, with no media access, the
JIC will produce the required images and video and provide without restriction to all
media requesting them and to the public through the JIC website. For widespread
distribution the use of social media distribution tools such as Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo and
others are encouraged providing that the content is linked back to the JIC incident
website. The active development and distribution of these materials will contribute
significantly to the goals of building trust and comprehensive communication about the
response. It will also protect the operation of the JIC by limiting the need for on-scene
media and continual pressure for media access to restricted locations.
A.5. Press Briefings and Press Conferences
Press briefings and press conferences are an important activity of the JIC, particularly when the
event is of a nature that results in a large media presence at the scene or the emergency
operations center.
Press Briefings are typically provided by the PIO or an Assistant PIO and not by members of
Incident Command. A PIO Briefing or Press Briefing may be provided if on-site media interests
warrants within two hours of the formation of the JIC. The content will focus on initial incident
information, the multi-agency response organization that is responding including information
about all those participating, a review of response activities to date and planned response
activities. It should clearly state the objectives of the response as defined by Command in the
Incident Action Plan. Information should also be provided about how the public can get
information about the response including the website, social media channels used, and any
upcoming scheduled press conferences and community meetings. Press Briefings may last from
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3 to fifteen minutes. The PIO or spokesperson should set expectation of timing at the outset.
Press Conferences are more formal, planned and scheduled. Members of Incident
Command will make the major presentations with the PIO serving as host and facilitator,
introducing the participants and fielding questions. While Press Conferences can vary
considerably based on media participating, response activities, and level of public interest
most will last from 15 to 45 minutes. Sufficient time should be left to respond to reporter
questions but expectation of allowed time should be set by the PIO at the beginning of
the conference and should be adhered to as much as possible.
A.5.1 Facilities
Specific facility requirements are included in Section 5.1.5. An appropriate facility for
press briefings and press conferences will provide the following:
■ convenient access to media
■ security including facilitating credentialing and check-in
■ proximity to the JIC and EOC for convenience without interference with
either operation
■ adequate acoustics or sound quality
■ appropriate visual background
■ facilitation of interchange between reporters and spokespersons
■ Accommodate live broadcasts
■ Video conference capabilities
A.5.2 Preparations
The following items need to be addressed in preparing for a Press Briefing or a Press
Conference:
■ Facility - appropriate for use (see above)
■ Security - security personnel for participants, check-in and credentialing
for media and all participants
■ Participants - all those participating alerted and prepared
■ Key messages - essential messages developed, prioritized and assigned
to participants
■ Visual support - maps, graphics and other presentation aids prepared for
use
■ Content - detailed content prepared in release form, talking points or fact
sheets with participants prepared to provide content and address
questions related to their presentation
■ Hand-out materials - anything that will be handed out produced,
approved, spell-checked, with sufficient copies made for distribution
■ Update time - time set for next briefing or conference, community
meeting or other information update opportunities
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A.5.3 Content and Messaging
It is the PIO’s responsibility to develop the content and key messages the meet the
public’s need for information. Extensive research in risk and crisis communication has
clearly demonstrated that in crisis situations where fear, uncertainty and doubt are
rampant, it is critically important to simplify messages to the public for maximum
comprehension and effective action. The primary concern of the response is to protect
the safety of the public and to protect property and the environment. These are also the
primary items that need to be addressed in the content of the Press Briefings and Press
Conferences. While there will be a significant amount of information to be conveyed, the
priority of these key questions must not be lost:
Issues for Key Message Development:
■ Am I and my loved ones safe?
■ What can I do to protect myself and my loved ones?
■ What is the response organization doing to protect me and my loved
ones?
Property and Environment—these same questions can be used replacing property or the
environment with the references to persons. Property and environmental messaging
takes a secondary role to any issues involving public health or safety.
Additional Messages and Content
■ Summary of key facts about the incident
■ Summary of response activities—completed and planned
■ Cooperative effort involving multiple jurisdictions
■ Overview of expertise and resources available and deployed
■ Additional risks or threats to the public that are being addressed
■ Methods of securing additional detailed information
A.6 JIC Communications Plan
This details how the JIC staff will maintain communication with each other and with other
elements of the response while the JIC is in operation.
A.6.1 Within the JIC
Within the JIC and between the PIO and the JIC the following methods will be used to
insure uninterrupted and efficient communication.
PIER—internal email, conference room
PIER provides multiple ways to facilitate communication between JIC members whether
they are co-located or operating virtually. Most communication is built-in as part of the
process of creating and editing documents, managing inquiries, reviewing survey results,
etc. In addition, an internal message system within PIER allows short messages to be
created and sent to PIER site users. The PIER control panel displays the number of
unread messages for each user. This internal email system is also linked to external
email so a copy can be sent to the user’s external email as well as sent within PIER.
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The PIER Conference Room provides secure real-time chat capabilities. Users can be
alerted to join the conference by clicking on their name in the conference room panel
which displays all site users which are currently logged into that PIER site or a PIER site
within the family. The conversation in the Conference Room is not logged or maintained
in any way which enables this function to be used for confidential discussions.
Conference Bridge
Conference call bridge information can be communicated to PIER users with a screen
showing call information. (Future enhancements planned to automatically establish
conference bridge with users.)
Mobile phone/personal text messaging
Mobile phones with direct text messaging will continue to be a primary way of
communicating within the JIC, particularly when operating a Virtual JIC. With this in mind
it is critical that JIC Support staff maintain an updated directory within PIER of all JIC
participants and roles. It is also important that potential JIC staff have access to mobile
phones, preferably with text messaging capability.
External Email
If possible JIC members should have access to their email outside of their offices. This
will enable standard office or personal emails to be one of the many ways for JIC
members to communicate.
Radios
Radios will be issued to appropriate members of the JIC by the Logistics section of the
response. Distribution should be managed by the Assistant PIO/JIC Manager. PIOs who
are qualified to serve as PIO for the regional JIC should confirm in advance with the
jurisdictions and jurisdictions with whom they work that response plans include providing
radios to the JIC. Primary roles requiring radios include PIO, PIO Liaison, JIC Manager,
Assistant PIO Info Gathering, Field PIO(s), Field PIO Liaison.
Runners
Depending on the use of the physical JIC and its location relative to the EOC and other
facilities such as Press Conference location, runners can be invaluable in maintaining
communication between various elements of the response. The Assistant PIO/JIC
Manager is responsible for making certain runners are available if needed and
appropriate employed.
JIC Briefings
Briefings should be conducted by the PIO or any of the Assistant PIOs on an on-going
basis, generally one every two or three hours, during the intense activity periods of the
JIC. This is an important means of reviewing activities, identifying objectives, clarifying
JIC role in executing the Incident Action Plan, and sharing information that crosses the
different units.
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A.7 JIC, EOC and Command Communication
A.7.1 WebEOC Integration
The PIER-WebEOC integration module enables a seamless data flow between WebEOC
used by response leaders to manage the operational response and PIER, used by the
JIC to manage the communications. The integration allows any of the data entered into
WebEOC to be accessed by selected PIER users with appropriate permissions. It also
provides PIER information including documents, inquiries, and reports to be accessible to
password-secured WebEOC users. This is the fastest, most efficient way of
communicating response information between the JIC and the EOC.
A.7.2 Planning Liaison
Unless the WebEOC is used effectively including direct access by Info Gathering of the
Significant Events board, the Planning Liaison will provide the primary input about the
response into the JIC. The Planning Liaison will be physically located in the EOC with the
Situation Status Unit of the Planning Section. He or she will have complete access to all
information coming into the Planning Section and will have authorization to seek
information directly from any other member of the response. It is critical that no member
of the response seeks to limit this information because in doing so they will be assuming
the responsibility of Command in making decisions about public information. Any issues
of access to information must be addressed as soon as practical by the PIO with
Command.
The primary means of providing information from the response to the JIC is via an
Incident Update document in PIER. This is an Internal document, not available for
distribution to the public, used by the Planning Liaison to provide a continual flow of
updates. Primary recipients are the Information Production unit which develop the
releases from the raw information. Planning Liaison can use a template developed from
the ICS 209 form or an open format.
A.7.3 Radios
Radios are also used by JIC members to maintain contact with elements of the response.
See section 5.2.1.
A.7.4 Mobile phones
Mobile phones can also be used by the JIC staff to maintain communication with
members of the operational response. Wherever feasible contacts should be made at
equivalent levels, such as PIO and PIO Liaison should have contact with Command,
while Assistant PIOs have contact with Section Chiefs.
A complete and up-to-date organization chart or directory of the response organization
including cellphones should be maintained to facilitate calls.
A.7.5 PIO and PIO Liaison
The PIO is a member of the Command Staff and needs to maintain virtually constant
contact with Command. To facilitate this, the PIO Liaison will assist the PIO in
communicating messages to and from the JIC.
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A.7.6 Command Briefings
Command briefings will be conducted regularly as part of NIMS and these provide
important opportunities for appropriate members of the JIC to understand the overall
response activities and gain specific information related to response progress and
objectives. The Assistant PIO for Information Gathering should be present at these
briefings as well as the PIO. Other members of the JIC may be present as directed by the
PIO.
A.7.7 Incident Action Plan
The Incident Action Plan provides the formal statements about response objectives and
priorities for each operational period. These are to be used by the PIO and JIC staff in
developing JIC objectives consistent with the overall response objectives.
A.7.8 ICS 209 Form
The ICS 209 Form provides a synopsis of the most relevant response information. A
template of this form will be available within PIER to be used by the Planning Liaison in
conveying real time response information into the JIC. The official form is provided by the
Planning Section and when produced and distributed will probably contain information
that is no longer current. However, this form can be provided to appropriate JIC members
to assist in providing background and chronological information about the response.
A.7.9 Field Communications
In a dispersed event, or in event with activity a distance away from the JIC where media
will gather, will require a Field PIO or Field PIOs. On-going communication with the Field
PIOs is essential. If possible, the Field PIO will have access to PIER either from a
smartphone or computer with internet connection. Radios and mobile phones should also
be used to maintain continual information flow. Primary contact with the Field PIO will be
with the Field PIO Liaison, part of the Information Gathering Unit. This person also needs
to use a radio and mobile phone for maintaining contact with the Field PIOs.
A.7.10 Continuity of Operations
Because the JIC needs to be able to function effectively in the most extreme
circumstances, multiple redundant means of maintaining operations are required.
A.7.11 PIER reliability and redundancy
PIER is a highly reliable platform with 99.98% access time. PIER is hosted outside of the
region and completely outside any Houston area agency IT infrastructure. This provides
assurance that PIER will continue to operate even if the region experiences catastrophic
damage affecting the infrastructure. PIER servers are geographically dispersed on both
coasts of the country with virtual real-time failover increasing reliability even during major
events affecting one of the areas.
Even if broadband connections are lost to all JIC members, those using data service via
smart phones will have access to most PIER functions.
PIER access via remote services and satellite phone.
The JIC can continue to operate using PIER even if all internet connectivity is lost in the
region. Mobile phone or text message contact can be maintained by a PIER user
authorized to operate within the JIC PIER site enabling the system to be run completely
remotely with directions from the PIO or a designated contact point. PIER Systems
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provides this level of backup but arrangements can also be made with other jurisdictions
outside of the region or through the PIER Emergency Response Team to maintain PIER
operations on a remote basis.
Using this as a last resort backup plan for operating the JIC requires access to a satellite
phone by the PIO or designated staff to maintain continuous contact with an authorized
PIER user outside the impacted area. Satellite phone is included in the Mobile JIC
equipment list in Section 5.1.4.
A.7.12 Manual backup systems
If PIER becomes unavailable manual systems will be used by the JIC to maintain
communications including development of releases, distribution to the media, and paper
forms to track inquiries. If no email or internet service is available, the JIC will place
higher reliance on more frequent media interviews and press conferences as well as
providing frequent updates via mobile phone.
A.8 Job Descriptions
A.8.1 Public Information Officer
The Public Information Officer (PIO) is responsible for developing and releasing public
information about the incident to the media, incident personnel, and other appropriate
agencies and organizations. Only one PIO will be assigned for each incident, including
multi-jurisdictional incidents operating under a Unified Command (UC). The PIO may
have as many assistants as necessary, and the assistants may also represent assisting
agencies or jurisdictions. The PIO is assigned by Command to support the information
needs of the response; establish, maintain, and deactivate the Joint Information Center
(JIC); and represent and advise Command on all public information matters relating to
the incident. A person is assigned to this position based on skills and ability, not rank or
employer.
Responsibilities:
● Support the public information needs of Command.
● Obtain approval from Command to disseminate public information products.
● Advise Command on public information issues and concerns.
● Attend all Command Staff briefings and meetings.
● Share data gathered at Command Staff briefings and meetings with JIC Staff.
● Work closely with the Liaison Officer (LNO), Safety Officer (SOFR), and
● Intelligence Officer (INTO).
● Establish and equip a JIC and oversee its operations.
● Gather incident information.
● Inform the media and public.
● Provide public information to incident staff.
● Monitor the media, correct misinformation, and identify trends and issues.
● Analyze public perceptions and develop public information strategies.
A.8.2 Assistant Public Information Officer/JIC Manager
An Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO is selected by the Public Information Officer
(PIO) to supervise the daily operations of the JIC; execute plans and policies, as directed
by the PIO; and provide direction to the APIOs to ensure that all functions are well
organized and operating efficiently. The APIO should possess public affairs, crisis
response, JIC, and management or leadership experience. Personnel are assigned to
this position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not rank or employer. The
APIO should have the same training as the PIO.
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Responsibilities:
● Assume all responsibilities of the PIO, as needed.
● Supervise all JIC operational and administrative activities.
● Ensure proper organization of the JIC.
● Oversee all operations of the JIC.
● Coordinate internal JIC information flow.
● Set JIC staff work hours and daily operating schedule.
● Maintain a unit log (ICS Form 214 and PIER Log Reports).
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.3 Assistant Public Information Officer for Information Gathering
An Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) for Information Gathering is assigned by
the Public Information Officer (PIO) or APIO/Joint Information Center (JIC) Manager. The
APIO for Information Gathering conducts information gathering activities in support of the
JIC. Personnel selected for this position should possess experience in public affairs,
crisis response, JIC operations, and management. Personnel should be assigned to this
position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not on rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Gather facts.
● Provide facts to Information Production Unit in a timely manner by displaying
facts on status boards.
● Monitor the media.
● Analyze and respond to media reports.
● Respond to rumors.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.4 Planning Section Liaison
The Planning Section Liaison is assigned by the APIO and reports to the APIO for
Information Gathering. The Planning Section Liaison is responsible for gathering incident
information in the JIC. Personnel selected for this position should possess some public
affairs and Incident Command System (ICS) experience. Selected personnel should be
able to work quickly, accomplish tasks with only initial direction, and function efficiently in
a high stress environment. Personnel should be assigned to this position based on
training, experience, skills, and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Gather information about the incident from Command, Planning Section’s
Situation Unit, and agency representatives from each response partner.
● Establish contacts and maintain regular times to pick up information from all
branches of the ICS.
● Respond rapidly to requests for the latest response information from other units
of the JIC.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
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A.8.5 Field PIO
The Field Representative is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to provide media
relations support in the field. Depending on the region, bilingual personnel may be
needed. Personnel should be assigned to this position based on training, experience,
skills, and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Escort media to incident scene or other field locations.
● Provide approved information as provided by the APIO for Information
Dissemination.
● Respond to media inquiries at the scene, logging them to PIER and coordinating
with the Media Inquiry Unit.
Based on the needs of the incident, the Field PIO may be assigned additional
responsibilities such as:
■ Take photos and video of incident scene.
■ Gather facts from incident scene.
■ Additional media and community relations.’ responsibilities.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.6 Field PIO Liaison
The Field PIO Liaison is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to coordinate JIC activities
and information with the Field PIOs. If there are two or fewer Field PIOs this role is
managed directly by the APIO for Information Gathering. Personnel selected for this
position should be experienced in media relations, be able to accomplish tasks with only
initial direction and function efficiently in a high-stress environment. Personnel should be
assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills and ability, not rank or
employer.
Responsibilities:
● Coordinate activities and information between all elements of the JIC and the
Field PIOs.
● Make certain that the Field PIOs have the most recent approved information for
release to the media on-scene.
● Coordinate requests for briefings, site access, and support materials with the
Field PIOs and appropriate JIC units.
● Gather information from the Field PIOs and provide to the APIO for Information
Gathering.
● Refer any rumors or misinformation received by the Field PIOs to the Monitoring
Unit.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.7 Media Monitoring and Rumor Control Specialist
The Media Monitoring and Rumor Control Specialist assesses the content and accuracy
of news media reports. The Media Monitoring and Rumor Control Specialist also assists
in identifying trends and breaking issues. The Media Monitoring and Rumor Control
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Specialist monitors and analyzes the media coverage of the response. They provide daily
coverage synopses; identifies issues, inaccuracies, and viewpoints; and recommend
corrections to the Information Dissemination Unit. The Media Monitoring and Rumor
Control Specialist also receives, verifies, and corrects all rumors regarding the incident.
Personnel should be assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and
ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Determine newspaper, radio, television, and Internet outlets to monitor.
● Monitor blogs and social networking sites.
● Gather perceptions from the media about the progress of the response efforts.
● Identify potential detrimental rumors and rapidly determine effective ways to deal
with them.
● Set up a news clip collection (radio, TV, print, and appropriate Internet Web
sites).
● Ensure the PIER JIC site has access to monitoring capability or work with the
Finance Section to immediately secure subscriptions and passwords.
● Identify potential issues, problems, and rumors and report the information
immediately to the APIO for Information Gathering, APIO for Information
Dissemination, and the APIO for Community Relations.
● Maintain close contact with the Inquiry Management Units to identify rumors from
the media and stakeholders.
● Verify the accuracy of rumors and document the results in the PIER Rumor
Control folder.
● Report results of each rumor investigation to previously noted APIOs.
● Maintain status of rumors using the PIER Rumor Control folder and documents.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.8 Assistant Public Information Officer for Information Production
An Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) for Information Production is assigned by
the PIO or APIO/JIC Manager to manage the product development responsibilities of the
JIC. Personnel selected for this position should possess some public information,
journalism, photography, videography, web management, desktop publishing, Incident
Command System (ICS), JIC and PIER experience. Selected personnel should be able
to type, operate a variety of computers and software, work quickly, accomplish tasks with
only initial direction, and function efficiently in a high-stress environment. Personnel
should be assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not
rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Produce written information releases, media advisories, public service
announcements, fact sheets, and other publications.
● Route all documents, photos, video, and other materials to the PIO for approval
(accurate information is essential in preventing public confusion, loss of
credibility, and/or adverse publicity).
● Establish and manage the PIER JIC Web site.
● Take and disseminate news photos and video of the incident.
● Produce and gather graphics and logos for the incident.
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These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.9 Writer
The Writer is assigned by the APIO for Information Production to produce written
information releases, media advisories, public service announcements, fact sheets,
talking points, and key messages. Personnel selected for this position should possess
strong journalism skills and some public information, ICS, and JIC experience. Personnel
should be assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not
rank or employer.
A.8.10 Multi-Media Specialist
A Multi-Media Specialist is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to shoot high quality
photos and video for release to the public and media. They may also be required to
produce maps and other graphic support products. The Multi-Media Specialist reports to
the APIO for Information Production. Personnel selected for this position should possess
extensive photographic, video-graphic, electronic photo and video editing, and some
journalism skills. Selected personnel should be able to operate a variety of digital, still,
and video cameras; accomplish tasks with only initial direction; and function efficiently in
a high-stress environment. They should also have experience with graphic and image
processing software such as Photoshop. Personnel should be assigned to this position
based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Shoot and edit photographs of newspaper/magazine quality.
● Shoot and edit video of broadcast quality.
● Create maps and other graphic display products.
● Catalog and manage all photos and videos.
● Post all photos, videos and graphics in draft form on the PIER JIC Web site.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.11 Special Needs Production Unit Leader
The Special Needs Production Unit Leader is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to
make certain that the communication requirements of special needs populations are met
through appropriate documents, releases, Web sites, meetings and other communication
avenues. Personnel selected for this position should be aware of the current
requirements and recommendations for communication with special needs populations
including Section 508 compliance for web communications. Depending on the region,
bilingual personnel may be needed in this unit. Personnel should be assigned to this
position based on training, experience, skills and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Identify special needs populations in the affected area.
● Advise the APIO for Information Production on requirements and
recommendations for communicating with special needs populations.
● Create information products for special needs populations concurrently with other
information production activities.
● Secure approval for the release of produced materials from the APIO for
Information Production.
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● Coordinate with the Special Needs Distribution Unit to ensure that appropriate
information is released, and that the inquiries and requests from special needs
populations receive a response.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.12 Assistant Public Information Officer for Information Dissemination
An Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) for Information Dissemination is assigned
by the PIO or APIO/JIC Manager to coordinate the release of information to the media,
the public, and all internal and external stakeholders. Personnel selected for this position
should possess experience in public information, crisis response, JIC operations, PIER,
management, and Incident Command System (ICS), as well as have demonstrated skills
in interacting with the media. Personnel should be assigned to this position based on
training, experience, skills, and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Respond to media and stakeholder inquiries.
● Disseminate approved information quickly to the media and all appropriate
internal and external stakeholders.
● Select and prepare speakers prior to interviews.
● Conduct news briefings and interviews.
● Provide escorts to the media.
● Maintain multi-lingual capabilities.
● Maintain and update media and stakeholder contact lists.
● Identify misinformation or rumors and refer them to the Media Monitoring &
Rumor Control Unit.
● Maintain the JIC Web site.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.13 Web Distribution Specialist
The Web Distribution Specialist is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to manage all JIC
web activities in support of the APIO for Information Production and his/her staff. The
Web Distribution Specialist may be located in the physical JIC or at another location
away from the Command Post. Personnel selected for this position should be
knowledgeable of PIER, design software, Internet protocols, Web site accessibility for
special needs populations (Section 508 of the Disabilities Act), able to accomplish tasks
with only initial direction, and function efficiently in a high-stress environment. Personnel
should be assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not
rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Maintain and update the incident Web site.
● Ensure approval of all items prior to emailing or posting them on the incident
Web site.
● In conjunction with the Special Needs Distribution Unit, ensure that all items
posted to the incident Web site are 508 compliant.
● Establish a virtual JIC, as needed.
● Coordinate with other response partners’ web support personnel.
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● Create and manage up to date media, community and stakeholder distribution
lists.
● Distribute approved information as directed by the APIO to contacts via email,
fax, text or phone messages.
● Ensure integration with WebEOC if applicable.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.14 Media Inquiry Unit Leader
The Media Inquiry Unit Leader is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to manage the
distribution of information to the media regarding the event and respond to all inquires
from the media including major bloggers. Personnel selected for this position should have
experience interacting directly with the media, speaking clearly and concisely,
accomplishing tasks with only initial direction, and functioning efficiently in a high-stress
environment. Personnel should be assigned to this position based on training,
experience, skills, and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities
● Determine the primary media outlets.
● Produce detailed accounts of calls, including the name on the caller, their
organization, phone number, nature of inquiry, and result.
● Maintain a comprehensive and current media list containing points of contact,
phone, pager, cellular and fax numbers, and email and postal addresses. The list
should included established bloggers writing on relevant topics.
● Disseminate approved written material to the media.
● Staff the phones with people able to answer calls, possibly in more than one
language, from local, state, national, and international media.
● Respond to routine inquiries using answers, talking points, speaker preparation,
news releases, and fact sheets.
● Promote story and feature ideas to target media.
● Provide information on rumors or misinformation promptly to the APIO for
Information Dissemination and the Media Monitoring Unit.
● Make certain all inquiries and responses are logged in PIER in a timely manner.
● Advise the APIO for Information Dissemination on issues or concerns expressed
by the media or major bloggers and recommend strategies to improve
communication with these contacts.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.15 Stakeholder Inquiry Unit Leader
The Stakeholder Inquiry Unit Leader is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to manage
the distribution of information regarding the event and inquiries about the event from all
audiences other than the media and major bloggers. Personnel selected for this position
should have experience interacting directly with the community, speaking clearly and
concisely, accomplishing tasks with only initial direction, and functioning efficiently in a
high-stress environment. Personnel should be assigned to this position based on training,
experience, skills and ability, not rank or employer.
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Section 6.0 Appendix
Responsibilities:
● Identify communities affected by the incident.
● Produce detailed accounts of calls including: name, organization, phone
numbers, nature of inquiry and results.
● Staff phones to answer calls from the community, possibly in more than one
language.
● Respond to all inquiries from non-media audiences in a timely manner using
approved information including: talking points, answers, frequently asked
questions, news releases, fact sheets, and other community relations materials.
● Route volunteer inquiries to the Volunteer Coordinator or Logistics Section Chief.
● Determine the information needs of the community.
● Develop and coordinate community outreach programs.
● Establish contact with influential local community members that can provide
feedback about how the response is perceived.
● Identify, create and maintain lists of community leaders, response partners,
elected officials, internal audiences, interested stakeholders, etc., including email
addresses, phone and fax numbers and other relevant information.
● Make certain that approved information is quickly disseminated to audiences.
● Communicate to the Special Needs Dissemination Unit any special needs
requests.
● Advise the APIO for Information Dissemination on issues or concerns expressed
by contacts and recommend strategies to improve communication and
engagement with non-media stakeholders.
● Communicate any rumors or misinformation promptly to the Monitoring Unit and
to the APIO for Information Dissemination.
● Provide communication support to response partners, VIPs and elected officials
as directed by the APIO for Information Dissemination in consultation with the
Liaison Officer.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.16 Media Briefings and Conference Unit Leader
The Media Briefings and Conference Unit Leader is assigned by the APIO to manage the
coordination of meetings, interviews, and engagements. The Media Briefings and
Conference Unit Leader reports to the APIO for Information Dissemination. Personnel
selected for this position should have good interpersonal skills, the ability to accomplish
tasks with only initial direction, and function efficiently in a high-stress environment.
Personnel should be assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and
ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Identify, schedule, and prepare appropriate personnel and subject matter experts
for news briefings and media interviews.
● Advise the PIO and the APIO/JIC Manager on times for news briefings.
● Coordinate with the JIC Logistics Unit about location, set-up and audiovisual
needs for news briefings and media interviews.
● Coordinate with the APIO for Information Dissemination, the Media Inquiry Unit
and the JIC Security and Credentials Specialist on any requirements for media
access to any location other than designated briefings or press conferences.
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Section 6.0 Appendix
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.17 Special Needs Distribution Unit Leader
The Special Needs Distribution Unit Leader is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to
make certain that approved information from the JIC is distributed to special needs
populations and that questions and comments from these populations are responded to
appropriately. Personnel selected for this position should be aware of the current
requirements and recommendations for communication with special needs populations
including Section 508 compliance for web communications. Bilingual capability may be a
necessity for staffing of this unit depending on the locale and the incident. Personnel
should be assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills and ability, not
rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Assist the Special Needs Production Unit with identifying special needs
populations.
● Secure contact lists including email addresses, phone numbers and physical
addresses from key contacts in the special needs communities.
● Advise the Special Needs Production Unit on the types and forms of
communication most appropriate to meeting the information needs of these
populations.
● Ensure that approved information is disseminated to these populations in a timely
manner.
● Receive and respond to inquiries and comments from the special needs
populations, working closely with the Media and Stakeholder Inquiry Units to
ensure that special needs contacts submitting questions or contacts through
these units are responded to.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.18 JIC Operations Unit Leader
The JIC Operations Unit Leader is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to provide
operational support to the JIC. Operational support includes all equipment, facilities,
supplies, technology, transportation, food, staffing, internal JIC communication, materials,
check-in/check-out, security and credentialing, and any other needs of the staff or
leadership of the JIC. Personnel selected for this position should have prior JIC
experience and the ability to accomplish tasks with only initial direction. Personnel should
be assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not rank or
employer.
Responsibilities:
● Coordinate with the Logistics and Finance & Administration sections of the
response in meeting any of the JIC requirements.
● Ensure that JIC facilities are safe, appropriate and provide an adequate work
environment for the JIC staff.
● Provide the technology, equipment, materials, and supplies needed for JIC
operations.
● Provide for food, rest facilities, and bathroom facilities.
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● Provide a facility appropriate for media briefings and press conferences,
preferably in a location that enables the EOC and JIC to continue operation
without disruption.
● Provide for media access to on-scene locations in coordination with the Safety
Officer, JIC Manager and APIO for Information Dissemination.
● Provide for JIC staff check-in/check-out, media credentials and JIC and media
security.
● Make certain all documentation requirements are met.
● Provide for other general needs of JIC staff.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.19 JIC Logistics Specialist
The JIC Logistics Specialist is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to provide operational
support to the JIC. Operational support includes all equipment, facilities, supplies,
technology, transportation, food, staffing, internal JIC communication, materials, and any
other needs of the staff or leadership of the JIC. Personnel selected for this position
should have prior JIC experience and the ability to accomplish tasks with only initial
direction. Personnel should be assigned to this position based on training, experience,
skills, and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Provide appropriate facilities for the JIC including workspace, access to the EOC,
rest facilities, bathroom facilities, etc.
● Provide technology, equipment, materials and supplies for efficient and effective
operation of the JIC.
● Provide for adequate JIC staffing including scheduling to enable sufficient rest.
● Provide food and rest.
● Provide radios or telephones to make certain JIC staff are able to communicate
with other responders and response partners as well as external contacts.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.20 JIC Security & Credentials Specialist
The JIC Security and Credentials Specialist is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to
provide security support to the JIC. This includes setting up and managing the JIC staff
check-in/check-out procedures, media or VIP access to JIC briefing facilities and
approved on-scene locations, media or VIP transportation, media credentialing, and other
security concerns as identified by the JIC Manager. Personnel selected for this position
should have prior JIC experience and the ability to accomplish tasks with only initial
direction. Personnel should be assigned to this position based on training, experience,
skills, and ability, not rank or employer.
Responsibilities:
● Set up and manage JIC staff check-in and checkout procedures.
● Establish a media credential process ensuring that only approved members of
the media (including approved bloggers) are provided media access.
● Provide security for the JIC location, the briefing and press conference facilities,
and any approved on-scene media access locations.
● Provide for media or VIP transportation requirements.
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● Identify any safety issues related to the facilities or locations, JIC staff or media.
Address the concerns directly or refer them immediately to the response Safety
Officer.These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by
a Unit composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.21 JIC Documentation and Administration Specialist
The JIC Documentation and Administration Specialist is assigned by the APIO/JIC
Manager to provide documentation and administrative support to the JIC. This includes
ensuring that all response documentation regulations related to the JIC are met and
providing any administrative support needed by JIC staff. Personnel selected should
have the ability to accomplish tasks with only initial direction. Personnel should be
assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not rank or
employer.
Responsibilities:
● Understand the documentation requirements of the response and make certain
that all JIC staff understand the documentation requirements and are complying
by providing the needed information.
● Make certain PIER is used appropriately by all JIC staff members to provide the
ull documentation capability.
● Compile information from JIC staff and PIER into a complete documentation
package and submit to the APIO/JIC Manager or PIO.
● Regularly assess administrative support needs of the JIC and perform support
functions as needed.
● Coordinate with the JIC Logistics Specialist if additional documentation or
administrative support is needed.
These responsibilities can be performed by one or more individuals or by a Unit
composed of several individuals per shift.
A.8.22 IC Operations Unit Leader
The JIC Operations Unit Leader is assigned by the APIO/JIC Manager to provide
operational support to the JIC. Operational support includes all equipment, facilities,
supplies, technology, transportation, food, staffing, internal JIC communication, materials,
check-in/check-out, security and credentialing and any other needs of the staff or
leadership of the JIC. Personnel selected for this position should have prior JIC
experience, be able to accomplish tasks with only initial direction. Personnel should be
assigned to this position based on training, experience, skills, and ability, not rank or
employer.
Responsibilities:
● Coordinate with the Logistics and Finance & Administration sections of the
response in meeting any of the JIC requirements.
● Insure that JIC facilities are safe, appropriate and provide an adequate work
environment for the JIC staff.
● Provide the technology, equipment, materials, and supplies needed for JIC
operations.
● Provide for food, rest facilities, bathroom facilities.
● Provide a facility appropriate for media briefings and press conferences,
preferable in a location that enables the EOC and JIC to continue operation
without disruption.
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● Provide for media access to on-scene locations in coordination with the Safety
Officer, JIC Manager and APIO Information Dissemination.
● Provide for JIC staff check-in/check-out, media credentials and JIC and media
security.
● Make certain all documentation requirements are met
● Provide for other general needs of JIC staff.
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