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The Roman Catholic Diocese of
Galveston-Houston Disaster Response Plan calls for the formation and
operation of an Incident Command Center (ICC) to be operated jointly by the
Diocese, the Society of St. Vincent DePaul and Catholic Charities of the Diocese
of Galveston-Houston. The ICC is the central point for diocesan disaster
response operations. The purpose of this central point is to ensure coordinated
response when the emergency involves more than one parish, department, or agency
and requires resources from several areas. Coordination and allocation of all
resources will be through the ICC function leaders and the ICC Coordinator to
provide for the most efficient management of response resources. The ICC key to
the successful response operation. With decision and policy makers located
together, personnel and resources can be used efficiently. Coordination of
activities ensures that all tasks are accomplished and duplication of effort is
minimized. During disaster situations, certain departments
of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Catholic
Charities, and SVDP will be required to relocate
their center of control to the ICC. Department or
agency heads or other officials legally
administering their office may perform emergency
function(s) on their own initiative if, in their
judgment, the safety or welfare of others
(particularly visitors or clients) are threatened.
The ICC Coordinator should be notified as rapidly as
possible.
Most emergencies or
disasters will require a graduated response
involving only those persons necessary to handle the
situation. For this purpose, four levels of response
will be used:
Level One Emergency. A level one emergency is a
common emergency situation that occurs on a frequent
basis (e.g. “unruly” visitor who can be “talked
down” by staff, minor property damage such as an
accidental window breakage). The responsibility for
control of the incident rests with the responding
department. Completion of an incident report is
necessary.
Level Two Emergency. Should an incident remain
unresolved, the emergency status will rise to a
level two emergency (e.g., intruder becomes violent,
serious injury or property damage requiring medical
or police intervention). Level two incidents involve
routine assistance from other agencies (police,
ambulance, etc.). Control is still the
responsibility of the responding department.
Notification of the Office of Risk Management is
necessary. Completion of an incident report is
necessary.
Level Three Emergency. Should the incident begin or
escalate to a situation where non-routine assistance
is required or anticipated, a level three emergency
will be declared. The ICC will activate at this
level. A level three could be a major single site
event or a widespread disaster. This level of
emergency will be used for all natural or man-made
disasters.
Level Four Emergency. This level of emergency is
used for catastrophic diocesan-wide or regional
events. The ICC may not be activated until the
immediate danger is passed.
Depending upon the
severity and magnitude of the emergency or disaster
(see levels of emergency described above),
activation of the ICC may not be necessary, may only
be partially required or may require full
activation. Partial activation would be dictated by
the characteristics of the disaster and would
involve only those persons needing to interact in
providing coordinated response. In some emergencies,
this may involve only a Crisis Action Team (CAT)
comprised of the personnel in the responding
department(s).
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