Community Safety & Warnings
The agency that the SES works with for weather forecasting and official severe weather warnings.
What is the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM)?
The person who establishes the incident objectives, strategies, and priorities, and is responsible for overall management of the incident.
Who is the Incident Commander (IC)?
The number of supervisors an individual should report to, a principle known as Unity of Command.
What is One (or 1)?
The name of the highest-ranking officer in charge of the entire NSW SES organisation.
Who is the Commissioner?
The SES service number people should call for non-life-threatening flood or storm assistance.
What is 132 500?
The key document the Incident Controller is responsible for ensuring is prepared and distributed regularly to inform the IMT about the current situation.
What is a Situation Report (SitRep)?
The functional area responsible for the acquisition and provision of human and physical resources, facilities, services, and materials.
What is Logistics?
The specific term for the legal authority granted to the SES to direct or control the movement of persons or vehicles in a flood or storm area.
What is a Direction (or Power of Direction)?
The term for water that has risen above the banks of a creek, river, or other watercourse.
What is a Flood?
The specific role that is responsible for providing coordinated support to the combat agency Incident Controller and is typically fulfilled by the NSW Police.
Who is the Emergency Operations Controller (EOCON)?
The name for the internal direction of an organization's members and resources, which operates vertically within the agency, unlike Control.
What is Command?
The specific name for the highest-level operational committee that advises the Minister on all state emergency management matters.
What is the State Emergency Management Committee (SEMC)?
The common name for the phenomenon where an intense rainstorm occurs in a very localised area, causing flash flooding in hours.
What is a Rain Bomb (or Cloudburst)?
The mandated structure used for the Incident Action Plan (IAP) and briefings, which includes Situation, Mission, Execution, Administration, Command & Communication, and Safety.
What is the SMEACS format?
The specific term for the AIIMS concept that ensures an incident structure is established with only the management tiers necessary for the complexity of the event, avoiding over-structuring.
What is Scalability?
The name of the document, established under the SERM Act, that details the roles and responsibilities of all combat and support agencies in an emergency.
What is the State Emergency Management Plan (EMPLAN)?
The specific term for the psychological and physiological response experienced by emergency responders to repeated, prolonged exposure to trauma.
What is Vicarious Trauma (or Secondary Traumatic Stress)?
The IC must ensure this formal process occurs between the outgoing and incoming Incident Controller when the complexity of the incident demands a more skilled IC.
What is a formal handover (or Transfer of Control)?
The full name of the organization that developed and maintains AIIMS, representing the fire and emergency services of Australia and New Zealand.
What is the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC)?
The legal instrument used to formally assign the role of Combat Agency for floods and storms to the NSW SES.
What is the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 (SERM Act)?