COMMUNICATIONS

PRIMARY:    County Emergency Communications Director

SUPPORT:   County Sheriff’s Office

County Public Information Office

                       County Communications Shop

                       Municipal Police

                       Civil Air Patrol Liaison       

RACES Liaison

I.  INTRODUCTION

Communications includes information and reports, surveillance of threatening conditions, and 24-hour radio, telephone, internet, and teletype capability.  Greenwood County assistance under this function consists of the utilization of equipment and personnel essential to coordinate and disseminate information before, during and after an impending or actual disaster situation.  In the event normal emergency preparedness communications channels become overburdened or destroyed, other Greenwood County Department channels shall be utilized as necessary to augment Greenwood County communications; assist Municipal and County law enforcement, firefighting, search and rescue; lifesaving, etc; and disseminate instructions and operational guidance relating to disaster relief.

II. MISSION

To provide a means of defining, specifying, and performing the functions of communication through coordination with appropriate federal, state, county, and municipal departments and organizations to minimize loss of life and property in the event of an emergency or disaster.

III. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS

      A. The County Emergency Communications Director is responsible for coordinating all ESF-2 administrative, management, planning, training, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery activities to include developing, coordinating, and maintaining the ESF-2 SOP.  All ESF-2 supporting departments will assist the County Emergency Communications Director in the planning and execution of the above.  All ESF-2 personnel will be trained on the principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and integrate those principles into all ESF-2 planning and response operations. Reports to the EOC Manager and is a member of the Logistics Group.

      B. The County Emergency Communications Director will coordinate with all supporting and other appropriate departments/agencies and organizations to ensure communications readiness during disasters or other emergency situations.   

      C. In the event of an imminent or actual emergency/disaster, the County Emergency Communications Director will initiate actions appropriate to the functions of communications.  Every effort will be made to support local equipment and personnel needs when requested and to integrate Municipal resources when appropriate to a regional or Greenwood Countywide response.

      D. In coordination with, and in support of, the Greenwood County Damage Assessment Team (DAT), ESF-2 will assess the situation (both pre- and post-event), and in coordination with Municipal emergency management officials, develop strategies to respond to the emergency. 

      E.  The Mobile Command Post (MCP) an asset of the County Sheriff’s Office may be made available and ESF -2 needs to be prepared to support disaster operations utilizing that resource.  These vehicles will be utilized to:

            1. Support municipal and county government emergency communications in the event of a catastrophic system failure as a result of an actual disaster.

            2. Use to provide on-the-scene coordination of Greenwood County emergency forces participating in emergency operations.

      F. Contact with the surrounding counties Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) and State EOC shall be maintained.

      G. Municipal governments shall prepare plans and procedures for employment of local emergency communications, utilizing all available systems and networks.  Personnel and facilities shall be organized and exercised to provide centralized communications on a 24-hour-a-day basis.

      H. Agreements and contracts shall be made to ensure equipment and system maintenance is available on a 24-hour-a-day basis.  Alternate communications systems shall be identified, maintained, and tested quarterly for use in the event the existing government systems are damaged and rendered inoperable.  High frequency radio capability will be provided through the SC Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES), which will be supported by the SC Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).

      I. ESFB2 will participate in annual Greenwood County exercise and conduct ESF-2 training and exercises to validate this annex and supporting SOPs.

IV. ESF ACTIONS

Operations necessary for the performance of this function include but are not limited to:

      A. Preparedness 

            1. Identify public and private communications facilities, equipment, and personnel located throughout Greenwood County including emergency communications vehicles or mobile command posts.

            2. Coordinate plans with commercial telecommunications companies to restore services.

            3. Coordinate the acquisition and deployment of communications equipment, personnel, and resources to establish temporary communications capabilities. Be prepared to support the communication nets of fire, law enforcement, EMS and any state or federal agency that may be deployed to support Greenwood County.

4. Develop and coordinate frequency management plans, talk groups, and "trunked" radio for use in disaster areas.

            5. Develop written standard operating procedures manual (SOPs) that details the various requirements of this annex.  The SOPs will be validated annually and revised as necessary to insure procedures are up to date.

            6. Assess pre-event needs and develop plans to pre-stage assets for rapid deployment into disaster areas.

            7. Develop plans to prioritize the deployment of services based on available resources and critical needs.

            8. Plan for operations involving coordination with the Federal Emergency Communications Coordinator (FECC).

            9. Recruit, train, and designate radio operators to operate equipment in the Mobile Command Post (MCP), Greenwood County Assessment Team (CAT) teams, High-Frequency (HF) teams, and the County EOC radio room.

            10. Develop lists of Greenwood County employed radio technicians. 

            11. Develop list of private companies to provide communications assistance during emergencies.

            12. Provide and coordinate reliable links and maintain available support services for Greenwood County disaster communications with Municipal, state, and federal government agencies.

            13. Annually review the Department of Homeland Security Universal Task List and integrate tasks as appropriate.

            14. Ensure all ESF-2 personnel integrate NIMS principles in all planning.  All ESF personnel will complete all required NIMS training, as outlined in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) training guidance. 

            15. Participate in tests and exercises to evaluate the Greenwood County emergency response capability. 

      B. Response 

            1. Conduct communications needs assessment (to include determining status of all communications systems), prioritize requirements, and make recommendations to deploy equipment and personnel to affected area, as required.

            2. Identify actual actions of commercial telecommunications companies to restore services.

            3. Maintain constant two-way communication with all appropriate emergency operating services of Greenwood County and Municipal governments.

            4. Implement frequency management plan in disaster area, including talk groups, and trunked radio, as required.

            5. Provide capability for responsible officials to receive emergency information and communicate decisions.

            6. In coordination with County EOC Operations, assist in the deployment of the Mobile Command Post vehicle, and be prepared to request other mobile command posts vehicles from appropriate agencies and/or State EOC, as required.

            7.  Coordinate with County EOC Operations to determine telephone bridge requirements.

      C. Recovery

            1. Arrange for alternate communication systems to replace systems that are inoperative due to damage from disasters.

            2. Maintain or restore contact with the surrounding counties Emergency Operations Centers and the State EOC as capabilities allow.

            3. Make communications channels available so appropriate information can be disseminated by ESF 15 (Public Information) to the public concerning safety and resources required for disaster recovery.

            4. Maintain or restore contact with all appropriate emergency operations services of Greenwood County government.

            5. Gather communications damage assessment information from public and private organizations (including telephone outages) and report to ESF-5.

            6. Assess the need for and obtain telecommunications industry support as needed.

            7. Prioritize the deployment of services based on available resources and critical needs.

            8. Anticipate and plan for arrival of, and coordination with, State EOC ESF-2 personnel in the County EOC and the Joint Field Office (JFO), if established.

            9. Ensure ESF-2 team members or their departments maintain appropriate records of costs incurred and resources used during the event.

       D. Mitigation

            1. Support and plan for mitigation measures.

            2. Support requests and directives resulting from the concerning mitigation and/or re-development activities.

            3. Document matters that may be needed for inclusion in EOC briefings, situation reports and action plans.

V. RESPONSIBILITIES

      A. County Emergency Communications Director

            1. Identify, train, and assign E911 staff and other personnel to staff ESF-2 in the County EOC, deploy with and support the Sheriff’s Mobile Command Post vehicle, and operate communications equipment for other disaster teams if requested.

            2. Notify all ESF-2 supporting departments/agencies upon activation.

            3. Develop current resource lists for all Greenwood County-owned telecommunications and commercial assets to include availability and points-of-contact for procurement.

            4. Coordinate technician support to maintain Greenwood County wide 24-hour communication support capability utilizing E911 staff.

            5. Obtain technical support from private sector, as required.

            6. Coordinate maintenance of Greenwood County voice, video, data, microwave, and two-way radio systems.

            7. Develop and maintain a frequency management plan, to include possible state assets, talk groups, and trunked radio systems for use in disaster area.

            8. Coordinate contingency radios, cellular phones, satellite phones, and pagers.

            9. In coordination with County EOC, develop lists of emergency communications vehicles and mobile command vehicles available throughout the Greenwood County area; and procedures to request and deploy those assets.

            10. Coordinate with County EOC Operations Group to determine telephone bridge requirements upon County EOC activation. Maintain acceptable level of proficiency in operating the Mobile Command Post Vehicle communications capabilities.

 B.  County Public Information Officer (Sheriff’s Office Information Officer)

      a. Be prepared to provide Sheriff’s Office support staffing personnel and equipment for point-to-point or mobile communications support on a twenty-four hour basis and staffing of ESF - 2, if requested.    

             b. Provide necessary expertise in written communications, announcements and bulletins, as requested.

      C.  County Sheriff’s Office and Municipal Police 

            1. Identify, train, and assign personnel to maintain contact with and prepare to execute missions in support of ESF-2 during periods of activation. 

            2. Provide communications equipment, if resources are available.

      D. Civil Air Patrol

            1. Identify, train, and assign CAP personnel to maintain contact with and prepare to execute missions in support of ESF-2 during periods of activation.  On order, staff ESF-2 in the County EOC.

            2. Provide aerial photography, still and video, do traffic surveillance and damage assessment missions. 

            3. Provide point-to-point high frequency (HF) radio communications assistance. 

            4. Provide support for airborne repeaters. 

      E. Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services/Amateur Radio Emergency Services

            1. Identify, train, and assign personnel to maintain contact with and prepare to execute missions in support of ESF-2 during periods of activation.  On order, staff ESF-2 in EOC.

2. Provide radio communication assistance.

            3. Provide reports from disaster areas. 

            4. Provide radio operators to conduct 24/7 self-sustaining operations in support of emergencies.

VI. STATE/FEDERAL INTERFACE 

      A. This annex is supported by the National Response Plan and SCEOP ESF-2, Telecommunications.  The National and State Plan for Telecommunications Support in Non-Wartime Emergencies serves as a basis for planning and utilization of national and state telecommunications assets and resources in support of the provisions of the Stafford Act in a Presidentially declared emergency, major disaster, extraordinary situation, and other emergencies. 

      B. The Regional Director of FEMA is authorized during or in anticipation of an emergency or major disaster to establish temporary communications and make them available to Greenwood County and Municipal government officials and other persons deemed appropriate To accomplish this support coordination must be made through the State EOC.  

      C. Communications provided under the Stafford Act are intended to supplement but not replace normal communications that remain operable after an emergency or major disaster.  Such emergency communications will be discontinued immediately when the essential communications needs of the federal, state, and local officials have been restored.

      D. For a major disaster a Federal Emergency Communications Coordinator (FECC) will be appointed by the PFO.  The FECC will deploy to the disaster area as the principal Federal telecommunications manager for that area.  The FECC coordinates with the state telecommunications officer to ensure federal communications requirements do not conflict with Greenwood County needs.   

      E.  All ESF-2 personnel will be familiar with the State’s ESF -2 ANNEX, The National Response Plan (NRP) and the corresponding annex  This familiarization will include but not be limited to the make up, functions and responsibilities of the Emergency Response Team B Advanced Element (ERT-A), Interagency Incident Management Groups (IIMG) and the Joint Field Office (JFO).