ture, actions are motivated as a reaction to incidents
from the immediate scene. Good coordination in civilian structures is better motivated by fostering common
understanding and this is accomplished by creating a
common operating global view that lays out the commander’s intent and strategies. Efficient communication
is an essential ingredient in the development and spread
of common understanding and buy-in. A supervisory
structure such as EOC deals with more strategic issues
and works with a global picture, leveraging external
resources to help on-site response. The actions of the
EOC emanate based on a more reflective and proactive
posture and the EOC commanders typically operate
with a large time window. We have therefore classified
such coordination efforts as “Many-Second Coordination Cycle.” This concept (see Figure 2) is an adaptation
from the work by Lewandowski et al. [ 7] in the area of
survivable autonomic response architecture.
effected, to learn from the incident so as to positively
impact the building of resiliency to better deal with
future incidents. It is also a time to replenish the consumable supplies and to return the response capacity
back to readiness against new incidents in the future.
Unless properly coordinated, the recovery may introduce new “disasters” for the incident victims and tangibly impact the budget.
Framework. In Table 2, we present a framework to
analyze the coordination effort for managing response
to an emergency. We apply the framework to all the
three phases of the emergency life cycle.
APPLICATION OF FRAMEWORK
Here, we demonstrate the real-world application of
the coordination framework presented in the previous section to the “during incident” management of
an actual incident.
To support fast response during complex incidents, responders must
make rapid coordination decisions, which pose constraints on their capabilities to
analyze coordination problems and explore the solution domain.
The concepts of mini-second and many-second
coordination cycle relate to distinct coordination tasks
(operation- vs. managerial-level); constraints (small vs.
large time window, information/intelligence and capability); and outcome quality (poor vs. good). Mini-second coordination addresses immediate response
coordination needs while many-second coordination
oversees and supports the former, for instance with
resources and information.
This division of coordination tasks and responsibility
allows better matches between coordinator expertise
and task requirements [ 1, 10]. Frontline response teams
are trained to excel on domain-specific tasks (like firefighting and rescue) and the coordination of these tasks.
Remote commanders focus on global issues such as
inter-agency coordination, overall logistics, and regulation compliance.
Coordination in Post-Incident Response. Effective
response and recovery is vital to the economic health of
the affected region and also to the mental health of its
citizens. Recovery focuses on the return to normalcy of
the impacted region and people. It is also a phase for
debriefing and pondering the details of the response
At 3:07 P.M. on Wednesday, July 18, 2001, a CSX
Transportation train derailed in the Howard Street
Tunnel under the streets of downtown Baltimore,
MD (see www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publi-
cations/tr-140.pdf). The train was carrying a variety
of freight and hazardous materials, with three locomotives pulling 60 cars. Complicating the scenario
was the subsequent rupture of a 40-inch water main
that ran directly above the tunnel. The flooding
hampered extinguishing efforts, caused several city
streets to collapse, knocked out electricity to approximately 1,200 customers, and flooded nearby buildings. The derailment also interrupted a major
communications line associated with the Internet
and an MCI fiber-optic telephone cable.
During the two-day response, five alarms were
requested with 17 engines, eight trucks, and three
battalions, in addition to the HazMat, EMS, and rescue teams; 150 firefighters were on the scene, working to extinguish the fire. The fire-extinguishing
operations were performed from both ends of the
tunnel as well as through manholes located at
Howard and Lombard Streets. The city of Baltimore