Guide to Understanding the Benefits of a Virtual Emergency Operations Center

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has become a staple in emergency management and public safety, and it’s easy to see why. A physical (or, increasingly, mobile) hub where Emergency and Incident Management teams coordinate information and resources during low- frequency, high-risk incidents, the EOC supports incident management activities, up to and including on-scene operations.

The very utility of the approach explains why physical EOCs, in particular, fixed, brick-and-mortar facilities, have proliferated in recent years, not just among government organizations and traditional disaster relief agencies, but in for-profit businesses, as well. After all, physical EOCs help teams, individual organizations, and multiple agencies working in concert mobilize people and equipment for incident responses lasting the entirety of an emergency.