SEMS and Mutual Aid
The California Standardized Emergency Management System establishes a hierarchical organization structure for emergency response. The hierarchy has five tiers: field, local government (city), operational area (county), region, and state. Incident command, resource allocation, mutual aid, and other facets of emergency response follow this hierarchy.
Santa Clara County ARES/RACES operations follow this structure, both during and between emergencies. Radio operators belong to a local jurisdiction ARES/RACES group. There is no county-level ARES/RACES membership concept. In the field, operators report into the local jurisdiction EOC, which reports into the county EOC. Other than the leadership, there are no operators who report directly to the county.
Mutual Aid
Resource needs (including personnel) are satisfied at the local level where possible. When a local jurisdiction needs more resources, it escalates to the county ARES/RACES organization. After approval, county ARES/RACES can arrange for mutual aid from other cities. Most of the time, mutual aid requests, personnel assignments, and tracking are handled over the air.
The following is an abbreviated summary of the mutual aid process for Amateur Radio operators. (For the complete procedure, see the RACES Mutual Aid Actions & Responsibilities document.) If a local jurisdiction has exhausted its local amateur radio operators and needs more, then:
At the Requesting Jurisdiction
- Local jurisdiction Radio Officer (RO) creates a RACES/ACS Mutual Aid Request.
- Local jurisdiction Emergency Manager (EM) approves the request.
- The approved RACES/ACS Mutual Aid Request form is sent to the SCCo Op Area Mutual Aid Coordinator: the SCCo RACES Chief Radio Officer (or deputy). Transmission methods include:
- Scan and E-mail to the CRO
- Send via Packet Radio to the CRO at the Op Area EOC
- Fax to the CRO at the Op Area EOC
- Once resources arrive, the local jurisdiction RO regularly reports on status of received mutual aid resources.
At the Operational Area (County) EOC
- The Op Area CRO receives and reviews the mutual aid request and forwards to the SCCo Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for approval.
- If amateur radio has not already been activated, the CRO also forwards a request for RACES/ACS activation to SCCo OEM.
- Upon approval, the CRO notifies the EC/RO from the requesting jurisdiction.
- The county Resource Net is activated to make assignees, activate and track the movement of mutual aid operators.
- The EC/RO from the other (unaffected) jurisdictions in the Op Area are also notified and requested to solicit operators and have them join the Resource Net.
At the Other Jurisdictions
- Upon request from the Op Area CRO, each EC/RO activates their phone tree, radio nets, or other method of notifying their members that mutual aid help is needed.
- Operators are instructed to check into the Resource Net if available for assignment.
Individual Amateur Radio Operators
- Radio operators available for assignment check into the county Resource Net.
- The Resource Net will verify DSW status and credentials and seek to match the right operators to the mutual aid request.