VA Business Toolkit
Citizen Corps
How can we make this site better?
Let us know ...
Finance Division • Human Resources • Local Support Services Division • Office of Training and Exercises • Operations Division • Preparedness Division • Public Affairs Office • Recovery and Mitigation Division • Technological Hazards Division
When disaster strikes, response needs to be fast, efficient and effective. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management manages and staffs the Virginia Emergency Operations Center (VEOC), which serves as the operations center for state efforts before, during and after emergencies and disasters strike or threaten Virginia..
Located in a secure facility on the grounds of the Virginia State Police Headquarters in Richmond, Va., the VEOC is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to calls for assistance from 141 local governments throughout Virginia.
As the State Search and Rescue Coordination Center, the VEOC provides ready access to and coordination for statewide search and rescue activities. The VEOC also provides the emergency communications support for the agency's Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Program, receiving calls, dispatching Regional Hazmat Officers and coordinating the response to local hazardous materials emergencies.
During a disaster, representatives from state and federal agencies and private and nonprofit organizations work at the VEOC to form the Virginia Emergency Response Team (VERT). VERT personnel ensure needed resources are provided to disaster stricken areas, coordinating everything from sandbags and generators to bulldozers for debris removal and helicopters for rooftop rescues. A state-of-the-art mobile command post is also available to assist with extended field operations.
The initial VEOC was a small bunker that housed offices and the state communications center, built in 1951. Since then, VDEM has grown to adopt an all-hazards approach to emergency management, and although the bunker was upgraded through the years, it became crowded and outdated. During disasters, the VEOC was so crowded that operations spread throughout the Virginia State Police Academy. The bunker prevented cell phone use and flooded during emergency operations as Tropical Depression Gaston drenched Richmond.
In September 2003, ground was broken for the new VEOC and construction was completed in January 2006. The $13 million project created a joint, multi-function, multi-purpose facility designed and constructed in partnership with the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, with input from local and state agency partners.
Watch Center: The Watch Center is the emergency point of contact for the Commonwealth of Virginia. It connects the VEOC to local emergency managers throughout the state, to other state agency emergency operations centers and to partners at the federal level. Staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week the Watch Center coordinates day-to-day operations, situational assessment, alert and warning, coordination, resource management, operational planning and reporting, and external relations.
In the event of unmet needs at the local level, each affected locality can contact their local liaison in the VEOC, who will ensure that each request is appropriately documented so the requirements can be assigned to an appropriate resource provider.
The Watch Center staff has instant communication with Emergency Operations Facilities at the Surry and North Anna power stations and local Emergency Operations Centers through Instaphones, coordinating information and assessment.
Planning Section: During a disaster, critical information is distilled at regular intervals to document past, present and future actions, plans and decisions of responders at the local, state and federal levels. Data is funneled into decision-making products such as situation reports, spot reports and briefings that are used to support the governor, his cabinet and other state leaders in making decisions.External Affairs: In the Joint Information Center, or JIC, Public Information Officers (PIO) from State agencies work together to ensure the most accurate, up-to-date information is available to the public. These officers represent each organization involved in a response effort, or the Virginia Emergency Response Team. Information is disseminated from the JIC through press releases, Emergency Alert System messages and interviews with the media.
In this room, JIC staff can monitor information from the media to confirm that the message is consistent and correct. Inaccurate reports and rumors are addressed quickly, thanks to eight television monitors that can display up to 35 different broadcasts simultaneously. The JIC is able to monitor broadcasts from northern Virginia, the Hampton Roads area, Richmond and Roanoke. DVD burners allow staff to review any broadcast for use as teaching tools and historical documentation.
Virginia Public Inquiry Center: JIC staff also operates the Virginia Public Inquiry Center, where citizens can call to ask specific questions during a disaster.
Legislative Affairs: Public information officers keep local elected officials, members of the General Assembly and members of Congress apprised of ongoing relief efforts during disasters and conduct VIP tours as needed.
Operations: On the Operations Floor, the individual Emergency Support Functions (ESF) ensure the needs of the Commonwealth are addressed quickly and efficiently during a disaster or emergency. Each task is assigned to one of seventeen ESFs covering every aspect of an emergency response effort, from sheltering disaster victims to long-term community recovery.
In this open work area, State agencies and private organizations active in the response effort, comprising the Virginia Emergency Response Team (VERT), work together to provide supplies, equipment and/or personnel wherever they are needed.
Responders are connected via a computer network, a digital phone system and Crisis Management software systems that allow them to view the situation status, document actions and track the status of resource requests. This system is complemented by other systems such as the Virginia Interoperability Picture for Emergency Response (VIPER). VIPER is Virginia’s common operating picture on a geospatial platform that can display near-real time information in a myriad of ways for multiple functional areas and decision making levels in the situation.
Executive Conference Room: State leaders use this space as their "situation room." Here, they receive up-to-the-minute situational information about the disaster and make decisions about the strategic and operational priorities for the event.
This room is equipped with state of the art communications equipment to include a Video teleconference suite, facilitating information sharing and situation awareness with federal, state and local partners.