Management of the LAEMSA Emergency Operations Center

LAEMSA partially activated the LADHS EOC. Staff felt that the police would quickly bring the incident under control. Seven staff members were called in, fewer than would be available for a major event. Well established and tested emergency procedures designed for responding to an earthquake were used to set up and operate the EOC. Staff time was committed to obtaining hospital bed and casualty data, responding to media, Office of Emergency Services' and EMSA requests for information, and responding to specific problems. The DHS EOC is located at LAC-USC Medical Center, a few miles from the County Sheriff's EOC. A dedicated telephone line connects them. The EOC has provisions for amateur radio communications, ReddiNet and HEAR, special health service emergency frequency. The EOC has no permanent large status boards, provisions for hanging maps, projection screens, TVs, or quickly expandable telephone service. The space is not sound proof. There are no computers or other means for rapidly recording and processing information. Due to an earlier fire at their headquarters, LAEMSA converted the EOC into office space and moved staff members in. This further complicated the situation. LAEMSA has since corrected many of these problems, but requests for a larger EOC have not been fulfilled due to budgetary constraints.

Medical Care for the Injured

Continue to Coordination with the City and County EOCs

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