The following is an interview with Vicki Travis, the WebEOC Administrator for Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. With a population of 140,000 spread across 823 square miles, emergency operations in the parish require a system that ensures seamless coordination. In this interview, Vicki shares how Juvare’s WebEOC has revolutionized emergency management operations in her jurisdiction and offers valuable insights for other emergency professionals considering WebEOC.
What do you love most about Juvare’s WebEOC?
What is there not to love about this software? In a parish as large as ours, WebEOC enables seamless collaboration across the community and ensures a unified approach. It allows us to maintain a shared operating picture, both for daily operations and emergency events, ensuring no critical task is overlooked.
How has WebEOC improved emergency management operations in Tangipahoa Parish?
For 20 years, I documented incidents using pen and paper. That changed in 2018 when WebEOC was introduced. It significantly improved our time management, provided real-time road updates via Waze, and allowed for efficient online situation reports (SITREPs). With over 200 trained users, we have eliminated paper-based documentation—although we still keep it as a contingency plan.
Can you describe a specific situation where WebEOC was instrumental in your response efforts?
During Hurricane Ida, a private owner evacuated several nursing home residents to a shelter in our parish. Unbeknownst to us, the shelter quickly became overcrowded as additional facilities evacuated more residents there. The situation escalated, and the Office of Public Health had to shut down the shelter. When the Attorney General’s Office requested all documentation from our Emergency Operations Center, we used WebEOC to perform a facility word search, printed the necessary records, and delivered them promptly—no further questions asked. This level of documentation and retrieval would have been impossible without WebEOC.
What sets Juvare software apart from other emergency management tools you’ve used?
Previously, Tangipahoa Parish relied on Google Forms, Docs, and Sheets. WebEOC, however, allows each assigned user to create their own workflow and private records while maintaining accessibility and security. The flexibility it provides is unmatched.
How does WebEOC enhance collaboration among your team and partner agencies?
WebEOC strengthens partnerships by allowing agencies to log activities and resource requests in real time. This collaboration ensures agencies work together before, during, and after an incident. It also supports compliance with FEMA’s data requirements, ensuring accurate documentation for federal disaster assistance and funding eligibility.
You’ve trained 219 users on WebEOC—what has been the biggest challenge and success in that process?
The biggest challenge has been users remembering their passwords! To address this, we offer one-on-one training, recognizing that people learn at different paces. Success comes from our hands-on approach—users retain information better when they enter data themselves. We also provide refresher courses in May and record Google Meet training sessions for later reference. The real success is in the relationships we’ve built with our WebEOC users, working together to document incidents, save lives, and protect property.
How do you ensure that new users quickly adapt to the platform?
Building strong relationships with participating agencies has been key. By guiding them step by step, I’ve established trust. WebEOC has been actively promoted in meetings and annual Hurricane Kickoff events. Training is tailored to agency needs, whether one-on-one, in groups, or on-site. Our outreach extends to Fire and Police Departments, Municipalities, State Agencies, Nonprofits, Private Sectors, and Hospitals. With annual planning, training, and exercises, adaptation to WebEOC has been seamless.
What advice would you give to another jurisdiction considering WebEOC for emergency operations?
Without WebEOC, emergency operations risk communication gaps, duplicated efforts, and missing documentation. I highly recommend visiting a jurisdiction that effectively uses WebEOC to its full potential and requesting a live, hands-on demonstration. Seeing it in action is the best way to understand its value.
What feedback have you received from team members about using WebEOC?
Our team fully supports WebEOC. It enables users to efficiently enter, retrieve, and file information during incidents, making it invaluable across agencies.
How has the training process evolved over time, and what best practices have emerged?
Regular training has kept users engaged and familiar with the software. Participation in Emergency Operations Center activities has helped users become more comfortable with WebEOC, making navigation easier. Consistency in training has ensured that our team is always prepared to respond effectively.
If you could describe WebEOC’s impact on your jurisdiction in one sentence, what would it be?
When a disaster strikes and the whole world is silent, WebEOC becomes a powerful tool because every voice matters.
The Impact of WebEOC
WebEOC has fundamentally transformed emergency management in Tangipahoa Parish, providing a structured and efficient approach to incident response and resource management. Through hands-on training, strong partnerships, and real-world applications, Vicki Travis and her team have demonstrated how WebEOC enhances collaboration and readiness. For jurisdictions looking to improve their emergency operations, WebEOC offers an essential tool to streamline coordination and documentation, ensuring no detail is missed in critical moments.
