Services:
Client
City of Petaluma, CA
Challenge
Petaluma’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) staff lacked clear, position-specific guidance to ensure consistent performance across operational periods.
Solution
IEM developed position-specific EOC checklists, tested the created documentation through a tabletop exercise, and refined them using an After-Action Review (AAR).
Outcome
Petaluma gained streamlined, role-specific EOC checklists and an actionable AAR to strengthen future response.
Although an emergency operations center (EOC) is the operational backbone of emergency management, an EOC is only as effective as the people and tools behind it. A trained workforce equipped with the right resources is what turns a room full of stations into a coordinated response. IEM helps jurisdictions build exactly that, strengthening the teams, tools, and capabilities that let an EOC perform when it counts.
Recognizing the Need: Clear, Position-Specific Guidance
At the request of the City of Petaluma, IEM evaluated the City’s capabilities and resources and found an opportunity to give staff clearer direction in their roles. Our experts developed position-specific checklists, an essential tool that helps EOC staff understand exactly what their roles require, locate available resources, align their functions with the rest of the team, and maintain consistency across multiple operational periods. When a real activation hits, that clarity is the difference between hesitation and decisive action.
The IEM Approach: A Credentialed Team with Real-World Experience
IEM’s preparedness team includes Certified Emergency Managers (CEM), Master Exercise Practitioners (MEP), and Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)-trained staff with hands-on experience staffing EOCs, leading disaster operations, and managing federally funded recovery programs. We put that real-world expertise to work building practical, customized checklists designed for the City’s specific EOC, tools that align with established doctrine and, just as importantly, that staff will genuinely use.
The IEM Impact: Checklists Tested Through Exercise and After-Action Review
IEM does not just deliver plans to sit on a shelf. We test them, practice them, and build on them. After developing the EOC position-specific checklists, our experts led the City of Petaluma through a tabletop exercise to familiarize staff with the job aids and put their capabilities to the test. Through our robust after-action review (AAR) process, we gave the City a clear picture of its strengths, its areas for improvement, and specific recommendations for EOC position planning going forward. Rather than just a set of checklists, we provided a tested, refined tool the City can trust and keep building on.
We move emergency planning from fill-in-the-blank templates to actionable solutions built on local capabilities.
Why Emergency Managers Choose IEM for Training and Exercise Programs
- Plans built for your jurisdiction. Designed around your local capabilities and resources, designed to grow with your program.
- Credentialed planning and exercise professionals. CEM, MEP, and HSEEP-certified experts with real-world emergency management experience.
- Tailored training and exercises. Plans are tested and improved through a progressive series of training and exercises that grow your team’s capabilities.
- Capabilities assessed and strengthened. AARs and Improvement Plans (IP) that help jurisdictions identify and test capabilities, refine plans, and strengthen response and recovery.
Sharper checklists. Tested through exercise. A more prepared EOC.
Connect with IEM’s preparedness expert to build an EOC ready for anything.
Case Studies
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