If the crisis at hand, requires multiple agencies, community support services, etc.; it will likely trigger the need for a Joint Information Centre (JIC).

The Basic Guidance for Public Information Officers (PIOs), National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) - FEMA 517/November 2007 provides us with useful definitions and a description of the function of the JIC (see our Resource Section for full document).

Our experiences as participants and coordinators of a JIC, span a range of emergency incidents, exercises and scales of operations from incident specific to international events.

The common factor always, is the multiple agency and community participation.

Examples of some of these experiences include the following:

• evacuation of First Nation communities from remote locations due to flooding,
• public communications on major wildfires in British Columbia with multiple provincial fire agencies,
• testing communication operations for community diseases (SARS, Avian Influenza) and nuclear incidents,
• mobile JIC operations on a federal/provincial/municipal/first nation emergency exercise in Northwestern Ontario,
• communications during the 2010 G8/G20 international summit meetings in Toronto.

We have seen the movement from physically gathering PIO staff in one JIC operations room, to working through the virtual JIC functions online.

In each case, there are lessons to be learned...the degree of pre-planning and testing of communication systems, may minimize the chances of technical failures however, it does not guarantee a seamless operation.

There have been failures of computer networking, over burdened telephone systems, no printers operating etc. On this technical side of the equation, we have learned to arrive prepared to function as a single unit bringing your own familiar and tested equipment including a backup cell phone.

 

 

On the human interaction side, you can ensure that JIC participants are clearly identifiable through name tags and desk signs specifying the operations functions e.g. media relations desk, writing, social media operations. This signage allows for the relatively seamless shift changes and alternates, to take their positions without significant confusion.

Pulling together all PIOs as a cohesive team is fundamental to meeting successfully the challenges of any emergency incident. The other side of that coin is that you need to be meeting the needs of your home agency/organization. Here is where the liaison role becomes paramount. You need to make ensure that the collective intelligence gathering is shared with all other agencies in a timely manner.

We will speak to the respective positioning of each PIO and of emergency responders when media enquiries pressure them for answers, a bit later in this project. As well we will provide some idea of a workable layout of a JIC...so stay tuned in.