Road-Weather Management | Safety and Incident Prevention | Regional and Statewide Coordination
Construction and Work Zone Management | Data Management | Asset Management | Enabling Activities
Emergency Management Program Area
Emergency Management encompasses public safety, emergency management, and other allied agency systems that support disaster response and evacuation, security monitoring, and other security and public safety-oriented operations technology activities. The area includes the functions associated with fixed and mobile public safety communications centers including public safety call taker and dispatch centers operated by police (including transit police), fire, and emergency medical services. Emergency management includes the functions associated with Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) that are activated at local, regional, state, and federal levels for emergencies and the portable and transportable systems that support Incident Command System (ICS) operations at an incident.
VDOT recently released its long-term action plan to improve emergency response and to refocus on its critical emergency response mission statewide. The plan outlines 13 action steps detailing the VDOT commitment to focus on its vital role as an emergency response agency. The emergency plan outlines action items for four classes of incidents: weather related, major and minor crashes, hazardous materials, and terrorist attacks. The central themes of the statewide plan are to:
- Improve communications with the public and media to guarantee they are informed about the impact incidents are having on transportation safety
- best practices statewide for consistent, dependable, and timely response to incidents
- Adopting the National Incident Management System principles and procedures applicable to all incidents and recognizing VDOT’s role as a first responder agency
- Improving and institutionalizing incident response training
- Improving coordination with and support for other state, federal and local agencies involved in incident response.
Under the leadership of the VDOT Central Office, NRO will support the planning and implementation of the statewide emergency response plan by implementing a number of actions. In this strategic plan, those actions have been subdivided into this program area (Emergency Management) and the related Incident Management and Road Weather Management Program Areas.
Coordinated emergency response in Northern Virginia involves multiple stakeholders in the region and NRO will continue to participate in CapWIN and the planned MATOC center.
The following strategies carry out emergency management related activities:
- Regional Evacuation Route Management
- TOC as Incident Command Post
- Public Information Protocols and Procedures for Emergency Management
- Enhanced Use of Evacuation Planning Analysis Tools
Market Packages
The market packages most associated with emergency management include the following:
- EM01 - Emergency Call-Taking and Dispatch
- Emergency Call-Taking and Dispatch - Fairfax County
- Emergency Call-Taking and Dispatch - NRO
- Emergency Call-Taking and Dispatch - VSP
- Emergency Call-Taking and Dispatch - WMATA
- EM02 - Emergency Routing
- Emergency Routing - Fairfax County
- Emergency Routing - NRO
- Emergency Routing - VSP
- Emergency Routing - WMATA
- EM05 - Transportation Infrastructure Protection
- EM07 - Early Warning System
- EM08 - Disaster Response and Recovery
- EM09 - Evacuation and Reentry Management
- EM10 - Disaster Traveler Information