EMC252 Mutual Aid 2000 2/5
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC252 Mutual Aid 2000 2/5           For Release 8/28/00 

The flow of mutual aid is in one or more of the following ways: 
   (1) within an OA - as by a city, district or local agency to
       the county (OA); or
   (2) from an OA (county with all it's jurisdictions) to the 
       State OES REOC.
   (3) from the REOC to the State Operations Center (SOC) to
       other REOC, States, Federal Agencies, such as FEMA    
 
Mutual aid occurs in this manner:

  1a  In an emergency City X exhausts its ACS or RACES communic-
      ations resources, then turns to the Operational Area (OA)
      which supplies them from other cities, agencies, districts
      _within_ the OA if possible; and if NOT, then     
  2a  having depleted its available resources for communications
      the OA goes to the State OES Region Operations Center
      (REOC) that serves that OA.

As a direct result of SEMS, State OES implemented the Response
Information Management System (RIMS) to improve data processing.
RIMS is a computer based system that replicates data, forms,
requests, situation reports and status reports between the OA,
REOC and SOC.

The process for communications between the OA EOC and the REOC
changed when State OES implemented RIMS (Response Information
Management System) as a SEMS function. Prior to RIMS requests
and reports were by telephone. The computer based RIMS provided
a significant improvement over the previous system in several
different ways and received its first significant test within
hours of its implementation.

The following description takes more time to explain that it does
to work in the real world. Here is how the system now flows:
 
  (1) ACS or RACES Officer notifies his/her OA agency coordinator
   of the units need for (or ability to provide) mutual aid. This
   notification may or may not occur on RIMS as that depends on
   how the OA has provided access to its ACS or RACES unit.
   
  (2) Agency coordinator authorizes the mutual aid request and it
  normally will go from the LOCAL EOC to the REOC via RIMS (either
  over the Internet or by Satellite (or if neither via telephone,
  fax, ACS or RACES depending on the situation.)
      
  (3) At the REOC the request reaches the ICS logistics officer
  who must determine what to do. If it contains an originating
  OA Incident Number it can be assigned a mission number (by REOC
  Operations) and sent to a State OES Communications Coordinator
  to task the Region ACS Officer for ACS or RACES resources from
  one or more Operational Area ACS or RACES units.
  
  (4) Actual tasking MAY occur THROUGH RIMS once the ACS Region
  Officer has arranged details IF the ACS or RACES unit in the
  respective OA has RIMS access. Without that, the OA ACS or
  RACES unit contacts will need to be by telephone or radio.

Continues, next bulletin.

 Cary Mangum, W6WWW        E-mail: cary.mangum@macnexus.org
                           ---
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EOM