Some of the more common issues that arise within EOCs during real-world incidents are challenges revolving around

1. Roles and responsibilities of the EOC sta 2. Coordination with outside jurisdictions or agencies 3. Collaboration with dierent agencies within the jurisdiction 4. Unfamiliarity on position requirements and duties 5. Unfamiliarity on how to share situational awareness and common operating

picture 6. Inconsistent planning procedures for future operations or needs 7. Communication challenges within the EOC elements 8. Eective and clear public messaging 9. Managing the incident and eld responders 10. Unfamiliarity for proper resource ordering

Not every EOC will have all of these challenges with every incident, but many will have more than one. Each of these challenges generally is caused by inadequate or unclear

1. Plans, policies, and procedures for both the EOC and the agencies providing stang

2. Organizational structure for the EOC and how it will be expanded, contracted, and organized for a specic incident

3. Clearly dened roles and responsibilities for each position complete with job action sheets, job aids, or checklists

4. Equipment for the EOC and positions to assist in situational awareness 5. Training for EOC sta on all of the above

While it is easy to point the nger at lack of training, it is a much more complex challenge than just simply providing training classes. In the book Principles of Emergency Management, Dr. Michael J. Fagel quotes consultant Art Botterell as saying “no matter who you train, someone else will show up.” Training is dicult to schedule in our complex and busy environments. Everyone is expected to do more with less. We are all required to function on multiple levels in our professional lives while operating in an environment that is not allowed to take a “coee break.” Organizations must continue to operate and cannot be stopped because there is a training class scheduled.