Emergency Operations Centre

What is an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)?

The Incident Command System (ICS) is a comprehensive management scheme used around the world to ensure a coordinated and organized multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional response and recovery to any and all emergency incidents.  

In British Columbia, ICS has been adapted by the Provincial Government into a model called the BC Emergency Management System (BCEMS) which outlines standard practices for emergency response.

The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is a streamlined organizational model of the BCEMS that prioritizes critical processes for crisis and emergency response. EOCs can be a physical or virtual location where staff provide support to front-line responders and work on coordination and sequence management; and where subject matter experts can be co-located for quick access and sharing of ideas.

SFU and the EOC model

• The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is a standard structure of BCEMS used by every level of government, response agency and critical infrastructure provider.
• The EOC model prioritizes information sharing and decision-making in a crisis.
• Because we all use the same model and processes, we are inter-operable in an emergency. It allows SFU to be a player in a vast network of regional, provincial, and federal responders.

Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Essentials Course

It is important to be familiar with the tools, processes, and available resources SFU utilizes when responding to emergencies. Gain a deeper understanding on EOC functions and operations, why this model is used by the university, and the role SFU plays together with other stakeholders in a crisis and emergency response and recovery.

This course is open to all faculty & staff and can be completed within 30 – 45 minutes. If you have questions or experience difficulties while taking the course, contact srs_em@sfu.ca.