Skagit County Medical Reserve Corps

Actual Event: A disaster (natural or man-made) that has warranted action to protect life, property, environment, public health or safety. Natural disasters include earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc.; man-made (either intentional or accidental) incidents can include chemical spills, terrorist attacks, explosives, biological attacks, etc.

All Hazards: Any incident caused by terrorism, natural disasters, or any chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive (CBRNE) accident. Such incidents require a multi-jurisdictional and multi-functional response and recovery effort.

Area Command, Unified (UAC): An organization established (1) to oversee the management of multiple incidents that are each being handled by an ICS organization or (2) to oversee the management of large or multiple incidents to which several Incident Management Teams have been assigned. Area Command has the responsibility to set overall strategy and priorities, allocate critical resources according to priorities, ensure that incidents are properly managed, and ensure that objectives are met and strategies followed. Area Command becomes Unified Area Command when incidents are multi-jurisdictional. Area Command may be established at an emergency operations center facility or at some location other than an incident command post.

Assignments: Tasks given to resources within a given operational period that are based on operational objectives defined in the IAP.

Available Training Facilities: locations that are readily and immediately available to be utilized for NIMS training.

Available Resources: Staging area resources assigned to an incident, checked in, and available for a mission assignment.

CDC: The Centers for Disease Control is part of the US Public within the US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.

Certified Emergency Response Training: Emergency Management training of non-medical community members in crisis response. Like, SCMRC, this is a part of the Citizens Corp, Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Chain of Command: A series of command, control, executive, or management positions in hierarchical order of authority.

Check-In: The process through which resources first report to an incident. Check-in locations include the incident command post, Resources Unit, incident base, camps, staging areas, or directly on the site.

Command Staff: In an incident management organization, the Command Staff consists of the Incident Command and the special staff positions of Public Information Officer, Safety Officer, Liaison Officer, and other positions as required, who report directly to the Incident Commander. They may have an assistant or assistants, as needed.

Communications Unit: An organizational unit in the Logistics Section responsible for providing communication services at an incident or an EOC. A Communications Unit may also be a facility (e.g., a trailer or mobile van) used to support an Incident Communications Center.

Coordinate: To advance systematically an analysis and exchange of information among principals who have or may have a need to know certain information to carry out specific incident management responsibilities.

Critical Infrastructure: Systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the county that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, economic security,l and/or public health.

Disciplines: A group of personnel with similar job roles and responsibilities. [e.g. law enforcement, firefighting, Hazardous Materials (HazMat), Emergency Medical Services (EMS)].

Dispatch: The ordered movement of resources to an assigned mission or an administrative move from one location to another.

Emergency: any incident(s), human-caused or natural, that requires responsive action to protect life or property. A Presidential emergency means any occasion or instance for which, in the determination of the President, Federal assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat Skagit.

Emergency Incident: An urgent need for assistance or relief as a result of an action that will likely lead to grave consequences.

Emergency Operations Centers: The plan maintained by various jurisdictional levels for managing a wide variety of potential hazards.

Emergency Operations Plan: The plan maintained by various jurisdictional levels for managing a wide variety of potential hazards.

Emergency Public Information (EPI): Information that is disseminated in anticipation of, or during an emergency. It provides situational information or directs actions to be taken by the general public.

Evacuation: Organized, phased, and supervised withdrawal, dispersal, or removal of civilians from dangerous or potentially dangerous areas, and their reception and care in safe areas.

Event: A planned, nonemergency activity.

Exercise: Exercises are a planned and coordinated activity allowing homeland security and emergency management personnel from first responders to senior officials to demonstrate training, exercise plans, and practice prevention, protection, response, and recovery capabilities in a realistic but risk-free environment. Exercises are a valuable tool for assessing and improving performance, while demonstrating community resolve to prepare for major incidents.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) part of Department of Homeland Security.

Flexibility: A principle of the NIMS that provides a consistent, flexible, and adjustable national framework within which government and private entities at all levels can work together to manage domestic incidents, regardless of their cause, size, location, or complexity. This flexibility applies across all phases of incident management:prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

Grantee: A person/group that has had monies formally bestowed or transferred.

Hazard: Something that is potentially dangerous or harmful, often the root cause of an unwanted outcome.

Improvement Plan: The After Action Report documents the performance of exercise related tasks and makes recommendations.

Incident: An occurrence or event, natural or human-caused, that requires an emergency response to protect life or property. Incidents can, for example, include major disasters, emergencies, terrorist attacks, terrorist threats, wilderness and urban fires, floods, hazardous materials spills, nuclear accidents, aircraft accidents, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms, war-related disasters, public health and medical emergencies, and other occurrences requiring an emergency response.

Incident Command Post (ICP): The field location at which the primary tactical-level, on-scene incident command functions are performed. The ICP may be collocated with the incident base or other incident facilities and is normally identified by a green rotating or flashing light.

Incident Command System (ICS): A standardized on-scene emergency management system which provides for the adoption of an integrated organizational structure. ICS is the combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure, designed to aid in the management of resources during incidents. It is used for all kinds of emergencies, and is applicable to small as well as large and complex incidents.

Incident Commander (IC): The individual responsible for all incident activities, including the development of strategies and tactics and the ordering and the release of resources. The IC has overall authority and responsibility for conducting incident operations and is responsible for the management of all incident operations at the incident site.

Incident-Specific Hazards: Anticipated events that may or may not occur that require coordinated response to protect life or property, e.g., pandemic flu, avian flu, etc.

Interoperability & Compatibility: A principle of the NIMS that holds that systems must be able to work together and should not interfere with one another if the multiple jurisdictions, organizations, and functions that come together under the NIMS are to be effective in domestic incident management. Interoperability and compatibility are achieved through the use of such tools as common communications and data standards, digital data formats, equipment standards, and design standards.

Lessons Learned: Knowledge gained through operational experience (actual events or exercises) that improve performance of others in the same discipline.

Liaison Officer: A member of the Command Staff responsible for coordinating with representatives from cooperating and assisting agencies.

Major Disaster: any natural catastrophe (including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought), or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the determination of the President causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under this Act to supplement the efforts of non-federal entities.

Mitigation: The activities designed to reduce or eliminate risks to persons or property or to lessen the actual or potential effects or consequences of an incident. Mitigation measures may be implemented prior to, during, or after an incident. Mitigation measures are often informed by lessons learned from prior incidents. Mitigation involves ongoing actions to reduce exposure to, probability of, or potential loss from hazards. Measures may include zoning and building codes, flood plain buy-outs, and analysis of hazard-related data to determine where it is safe to build or locate temporary facilities. Mitigation can include efforts to educate governments, businesses, and the public on measures they can take to reduce loss and injury.

Mobilization: The process and procedures used by all organizations-state, local, and tribal-for activating, assembling, and transporting all resources that have been requested to respond to or support an incident.

National Incident Management System (NIMS): A system that provides a consistent nationwide approach for state, local, and tribal governments; the private-sector, and non-governmental organizations to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity. To provide for interoperability and compatibility among state, local, and tribal capabilities, the NIMS includes a core set of concepts, principles, and terminology.

NIMS Standard Curriculum: A curriculum designed to provide training on the NIMS. This curriculum will be built around available federal training opportunities and course offerings that support NIMS implementation. The curriculum also will serve to clarify training that is necessary for NIMS-compliance and streamline the training approval process for courses recognized by the curriculum. Initially, the curriculum will be made up of NIMS awareness training and training to support the Incident Command System (ICS). Eventually it will expand to include all NIMS training requirements including training established to meet national credentialing standards.

NIMS Promotion and Encouragement: Activities such as meetings (e.g., conferences, working groups, etc.), mailings (e.g., newsletters, letters, etc.), email, or other established methods (e.g., broadcast media).

Plain Language: Common terms and definitions that can be understood by individuals from all responder disciplines. The intent of plain language is to ensure the clear and accurate communication of information during an incident.

Preparedness: The range of deliberate, critical tasks and activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the operational capability to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents. Within the NIMS, preparedness is operationally focused on establishing guidelines, protocols, and standards for planning, training and exercises, personnel qualification and certification, equipment certification, and publication management.

Prevention: Actions to avoid an incident or to intervene to stop an incident from occurring. Prevention involves actions to protect lives and property. It involves applying intelligence and other information to a range of activities that may include such countermeasures as deterrence operations; heightened inspections; improved surveillance and security operations; investigations to determine the full nature and source of the threat; public health and agricultural surveillance and testing processes; immunizations, isolation, or quarantine; and, as appropriate, specific law enforcement operations aimed at deterring, preempting, interdicting, or disrupting illegal activity and apprehending potential perpetrators and bringing them to justice.

Public Information Officer (PIO): A member of the Command Staff responsible for interfacing with the public and media or with other agencies with incident-related information requirements. The processes, procedures, and systems for communicating timely and accurate information to the public during crisis or emergency situations.

Recovery: The development, coordination, and execution of service- and site-restoration plans; the reconstitution of government operations and services; individual, private-sector, non-governmental, and public-assistance programs to provide housing and to promote restoration; long-term care and treatment of affected persons; additional measures for social, political, environmental, and economic restoration; evaluation of the incident to identify lessons learned; post-incident reporting; and development of initiatives to mitigate the effects of future incidents.

Response: Activities that address the short-term, direct effects of an incident. Response includes immediate actions to save lives, protect property, and meet basic human needs. Response also includes the execution of emergency operations plans and incident mitigation activities designed to limit the loss of life, personal injury, property damage, and other unfavorable outcomes.

Safety Officer: A member of the Command Staff responsible for monitoring and assessing safety hazards or unsafe situations and for developing measures for ensuring personnel safety.

Span of Control: The number of individuals a supervisor is responsible for, usually expressed as the ratio of supervisors to individuals. (Under the NIMS, an appropriate span of control is between 1:3 and 1:7.)

Staging Area: Location established where resources can be placed while awaiting a tactical assignment. The Operations Section manages Staging Areas.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): A complete reference document that details the procedures for performing a single function or a number of independent functions.

Standardization: A principle of the NIMS that provides a set of standardized organizational structures such as the Incident Command System (ICS), multi-agency coordination systems, and public information systems as well as requirements for processes, procedures, and systems designed to improve interoperability among jurisdictions and disciplines in various area, including:training; resource management; personnel qualification and certification; equipment certification; communications and information management; technology support; and continuous system improvement.

Standardized Terminology: commonly accepted language that is consistent with policies, plans, or procedures in the NIMS and NRP to facilitate multi-agency, multi-disciplinary or multi-jurisdictional communications during an incident.

Strategic: Strategic elements of incident management are characterized by continuous long-term, high-level planning by organizations headed by elected or other senior officials. These elements involve the adoption of long-range goals and objectives, the setting of priorities; the establishment of budgets and other fiscal decisions, policy development, and the application of measures of performance or effectiveness.

Strike Team: A set number of resources of the same kind and type that have an established minimum number of personnel.

Terrorism: Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, terrorism is defined as activity that involves an act dangerous to human life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or key resources and is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State or other subdivision of the United States in which it occurs and is intended to intimidate or coerce the civilian population or influence a government or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnaping.

Threat: An indication of possible violence, harm, or danger.

Training: Specialized instruction and practice to improve performance and lead to enhanced emergency management capabilities.

Training Curriculum: A course or set of courses designed to teach personnel specific processes, concepts, or task-oriented skills.

Tribal: Any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community (including any Alaskan Native Village as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act) that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.

Unified Area Command (UAC): A Unified Area Command is established when incidents under an Area Command are multi-jurisdictional. (See Area Command.)

Unified Command (UC): An application of ICS used when there is more than one agency with incident jurisdiction or when incidents cross political jurisdictions. Agencies work together through the designated members of the UC, often the senior person from agencies and/or disciplines participating in the UC, to establish a common set of objectives and strategies and a single IAP.

Unit: The organizational element having functional responsibility for a specific incident planning, logistics, or finance/administration activity.

Unity of Command: The concept by which each person within an organization reports to one and only one designated person. The purpose of unity of command is to ensure unity of effort under one responsible commander for every objective.

Volunteer: For purposes of the NIMS, a volunteer is any individual accepted to perform services by the lead agency, which has authority to accept volunteer services, when the individual performs services without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services performed.

WAHVE: Washington State Registry for Volunteers. This differs from SCMRC.