City/Agency Emergency Operations Center Nets

In order to function efficiently and effectively during a communications emergency, each city/agency Emergency Operations Center (EOC) [or Department Operations Center (DOC)] is expected to maintain simultaneous connectivity with several amateur radio nets. The expected level of monitoring for each of the nets is described below. Some suggestions for personnel assignments are also provided.

Recommended equipment to support these nets can be found here: City/Agency Emergency Operations Center Equipment

All EOCs/DOCs are expected to monitor and participate in these nets for the most basic level of communications.

Continuous

• County Message Net
  • All city/agency EOCs should remain checked-in and continuously monitor the county Message Net.
  • The county Message Net is a voice net and is usually the second net activated during an incident and is primarily used for emergency/immediate traffic.
  • If the packet station is not up yet, then the county Message Net may also be used for non-emergency/immediate communications.
  • Because most message traffic is handled on the Packet Net, the county Message net traffic volume at any individual city/agency EOC is usually low.
  • But because the county Message Net is primarily used for emergency/immediate traffic, it needs to be monitored continuously.
• County Command Net
  • All city/agency EOCs should remain checked-in and continuously monitor the county Command Net.
  • The county Command Net is a voice net and is usually the third net activated during an incident and is primarily used for command-level (management to management) communications and for technical support with data communications.
  • The traffic volume on the Command Net for any individual city/agency EOC is usually very low.
  • But, because the county Command Net is primarily used for important command-level messages or even urgent technical support communications, it needs to be monitored continuously.
• County Packet Net
  • All city/agency EOCs should remain checked-in and continuously monitor the county Packet Net
  • The Packet Net is a data net and is the primary net for message traffic. It is about 15 times faster than voice communications and automates logging, acknowledgments and other EmComm workflow.
  • The 1.25m (220 MHz) access frequencies are recommended for City/EOC packet stations. This is because most individual users will access the packet BBSs on 2m (144-145 MHz).
  • Until the packet station is operational, the voice Message Net will need to be used. This slows down the Message Net for all cities/agencies.
  • For more information, see: Packet BBS Service
• City Tactical Net(s)
  • All city/agency EOCs should check-in and monitor their own Tactical Net(s) according to their own communications plan.
  • Each city/agency typically has one or more tactical nets for coordinating communications and resources within the city/agency.
  • Depending on the communications plan for the city/agency, some or all of the Tactical Nets are monitored at the city's/agency's EOC/DOC.

Occasional

• County Resource Net
  • City/agency EOCs will occasionally need to communicate with the Resource Net at level two. Otherwise, monitoring is optional.
  • The county Resource Net is a voice net and is usually the first net activated during an incident and operates on three levels:
    • Level 1: Information gathering
    • Level 2: City/agency net and/or EOC activation
    • Level 3: Mutual aid resource mobilization, tracking, demobilization
  • Cities/agencies may wish to monitor during Resource Net level one (information gathering) in order to help them assess how widespread an incident may be.
  • When cities/agencies activate their local tactical net, they need to inform Resource Net control (Resource Net level two).
  • Cities/agencies that have requested mutual aid resources may wish to monitor the Resource Net during level three to stay informed about the progress of those resources.
  • But generally, and except for reporting when their local tactical net and/or EOC has been activated, there is no need or expectation for city/agency EOCs to monitor the Resource Net.

Possible

• County EOC-to-EOC Net
  • The EOC-to-EOC radio is a voice net. It is NOT an amateur radio net. It can be used by any EOC personnel for coordination between EOCs.
  • It is listed here because it is an essential radio system associated with the EOC that many cities/agencies locate in the amateur radio room and expect the amateur radio team to handle.
  • The traffic level on the EOC-to-EOC net is typically very low.

City/agency EOCs/DOCs are strongly encouraged to participate in as many of these nets as is possible. Note that the use of these nets requires higher speed access connections. Such connections require a higher degree of planning due to line-of-sight issues.

• County E-mail
  • City/agency EOCs will increasingly want to support standard e-mail since it is commonly used in EOCs/DOCs.
  • Note that e-mail has no EmComm workflow capabilities. So, it is not likely to be used as the primary method for handling official message traffic in the near future. The automated message numbering, tracking (delivery receipts) and logging performed by the Packet BBS system and Outpost packet client are still better for official message traffic.
  • But e-mail can be very useful for sending attachments. For example, if phone service is out, then so is fax. But the document could be scanned and e-mailed.
  • E-mail is also better for 3rd party health and welfare messages since it can handle the various formatting and encoding methods that are part of most Internet e-mail messages today.
  • For more information, see: E-mail Service
• County Intranet
  • Currently, there are no required intranet services.
  • But access to the packet system via a high speed intranet connection is recommended for EOCs.
  • Each EOC/DOC accounts for approximately half of the packet traffic in a city because all other sites in the city typically talk to the EOC/DOC. So, half of the sending and receiving is done by the EOC/DOC. If the city EOC/DOC moves to a high speed connection, approximately half of the traffic for that that city is removed from the VHF packet frequencies. This speeds up communications for the EOC and all others that use the VHF frequencies.
  • For more information, see: Intranet Service
• Public Internet
  • Currently, there are no required Internet services.
  • But city EOCs/DOCs can benefit from an alternate/auxiliary connection to services such as WebEOC.
  • For more information, see: Internet Service

The other types of nets in use throughout the county are listed here for completeness. There is no expectation that a city EOC/DOC would continuously monitor any of these nets.

• County Hospital Net
  • City/agency EOCs with hospitals in their jurisdictions may wish to monitor the county Hospital Net to maintain situational awareness.
  • The county Hospital Net is a voice net used for hospitals to communicate with each other and with the MHJOC (Medical Health Joint Operations Center).
  • However, the hospital net is NOT for hospital-to-city-EOC communications. So city EOCs/DOCs may only monitor the net, if they desire.
  • Generally, there is no need or expectation for city/agency EOCs to monitor the county Hospital Net.

• Voice Personnel
  • Several radios will be needed for continuous and simultaneous monitoring of multiple nets.
  • But separate radios does not mean separate people.
  • For example, as mentioned above, the traffic level for any individual city/agency EOC is typically low on the Message Net (when packet is used) and very low on the Command Net.
  • Some examples of personnel assignments used by different cities:
    • One person handles the county Message Net and Packet Net. A different person handles Command Net and EOC-to-EOC radio, perhaps along with other very low usage nets.
    • One person handles the Message Net and EOC-to-EOC Net. A different person handles the Packet Net and Command Net, perhaps along with other very low usage nets.
    • One person handles the Message Net and the Command Net.
    • Ultimately, the best mix of people and nets will depend on the traffic volume expected at the city/agency, the number of operators available, and the skill of those operators.
  • Our training classes cover tips, techniques and equipment (stereo headsets, splitters, etc.) that can be helpful when working two nets at the same time.
• Data Personnel
  • Most city/agency EOCs can probably use a single operator for data communications. Larger cities should consider two operators.
  • As described above in the Voice section, and depending on traffic volume and other factors, the data communications operator may also monitor a voice net.
  • If higher traffic is expected and/or maintaining multiple printed copies is needed, then an assistant (which need not be an amateur radio operator) can be useful.