A central component of the Emergency Management Division is the County's Emergency Operations Center, or "EOC".  The EOC becomes the seat of county government and the single coordinating and warning point for any large-scale emergency in Washtenaw County.

The EOC is normally staffed during business hours, but it remains staffed for approaching severe weather and it can quickly be activated with numerous government officials for any emergency twenty-four hours a day.  The EOC can operate for an extended period, as needed.




The Emergency Communications Center ("ECC") is the technology arm of the EOC.  Without solid communications during a crisis, it would be impossible to provide assistance to local governments and incident managers in the field, and very difficult to provide the public with official information.  The EOC also functions as a critical link with state and federal agencies during a catastrophic event.

The ECC and EOC are connected to an automatically switching 600 Kilowatt emergency generator and a 20 KVA UPS for surge protection and continuous operation.

Some of the systems available in the ECC are:

• Radio communications consoles with capabilities on all public safety frequencies

• Amateur radios (multiple bands)

• Short and long range High Frequency communications with federal response agencies

• Several modes of secure satellite communications

• National Weather Service NOAAport Doppler weather radar, infrared satellite imagery and teletype

• Advanced weather station including lightning detection

• Quick-call and community siren warning system

• Emergency Alert System encoder/decoder

• Primary and backup telephone system

• Group text messaging server

• Fax machines

• Internet

• Hazardous materials response databases

• Commercial facility emergency plans and maps

• Geographical Information Systems mapping and display

Follow this link for more information about the EOC's technologies