Have you ever wondered who ensures your safety during the awe-inspiring moments of a solar eclipse? Behind the scenes, emergency management departments work tirelessly to prepare for such celestial events, which draw crowds and create unique challenges. These unsung heroes employ strategies to manage visitor influx, ensure public safety, and enable everyone to enjoy the spectacle safely. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the efforts of these dedicated professionals and the innovative tools they use.
Information Sharing: Keeping the Public Informed
Long before the day of an eclipse, emergency managers are busy sharing vital information to prepare the public. They review their Hazard Mitigation Plan or Hazard Vulnerability Assessments, often using Juvare solutions like WebEOC® or eICS™, to carefully review what could go wrong and make sure that there is adequate interagency coordination. Either directly or indirectly, they run comprehensive education campaigns using advanced platforms to reach everyone effectively. Tools like WebEOC and JX Collaborate™ help them stay aligned on safety protocols, traffic management plans, and emergency contacts so they are all sharing the latest updated, information. Thanks to these efforts, you’re likely to know the proper methods to view the eclipse, understand potential traffic issues, and know whom to contact in an emergency.
Coordinated Efforts Across Jurisdictions
Considering that solar eclipses can affect large geographical areas, coordination across various jurisdictions is critical. Emergency management departments establish unified command structures and Multiagency Coordination Groups (MAC Groups) to ensure a unified response. This level of planning involves multiple agencies, including transportation departments, to facilitate decision-making and resource sharing. Preparedness and response professionals use WebEOC for structured real-time collaboration such as understanding the status of key infrastructure or road closures, and JX Collaborate for securely communicating with each other. Most states in the country use EMResource® for hospital bed capacity sharing, and should an event cause a surge in patients, they can easily let each other know that patients need to be routed or rerouted to facilities with sufficient capacities. Several states have been proactive and have automated this information sharing so that it does not even require a person to share data as they have already agreed to share with each other!
Alerting and Notifications: A Critical Component
To ensure public safety during the eclipse, emergency managers implement a variety of alerting systems. Whether through SMS alerts, social media, sirens, billboards, or local broadcasting networks, they make sure critical information reaches you on your phone, tablet, or desktop. Solutions like Juvare Alerts™ enable rapid notification and response, allowing emergency leaders to manage incidents effectively and ensure that everyone has the information they need to stay safe. Sometimes, information is more sensitive and needs to be shared broadly but still to a limited audience that has been vetted (for example, public health officials, or licensed providers). In those cases, solutions like CORES HAN™ ensure that healthcare provider communities receive timely updates is a broad group of people need to be provided important information.
A Moment of Appreciation
As we look forward to the next solar eclipse, it’s important to recognize the extensive planning, coordination, and communication is undertaken by state and local government emergency management departments. Their efforts ensure our communities remain well-informed, coordinated, and safe. Next time you find yourself marveling at the beauty of a solar eclipse, take a moment to appreciate the emergency managers and the advanced solutions like WebEOC, EMResource, CORES HAN, and Juvare Alerts that help make such experiences safe for everyone. Their dedication to our safety allows us to enjoy these celestial events with peace of mind.
