Emergency Management Area (EMA) Coordinator Program
EMA Coordinator Position DescriptionEmergency Management Area Coordinators (EMACs) have been selected largely from the pool of Building Coordinators (BC’s) for each EMA. They are recruited to volunteer for this position by the Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP). EMACs are the next level of emergency coordination, integrating the various regions of the campus into networks. This position is that of a voluntary “essential service provider” on the Berkeley campus during regular work hours. In a major emergency, the EMA Coordinator’s role could continue for a period of up to 72 hours. EMA Coordinators are responsible for reporting to the Incident Command Post in their EMAs Assembly Area during a disaster and providing a communications link between the population in their EMA and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
In a DisasterEach EMA Coordinator will have a battery operated 800 MHz radio and, in some cases, a megaphone, to facilitate communication with EMA occupants and the campus EOC. EMA Coordinators should prepare an action plan and become familiar with the Building Coordinators in their EMA, to facilitate identifying and reporting EMA needs and situation status in the event of a disaster. In a major earthquake, EMA Coordinators shall report to their EAA and collect information from Building Coordinators on the status of people and buildings in their area. EMA Coordinators will communicate with the EOC by radio to relay messages and other status information. Information from the EOC may also be relayed to the EMA Coordinator, providing information on shelter, first aid, assistance centers, evacuation routes etc. In order to build a strong network, EMA Coordinators are asked to establish and maintain a communications network and meet periodically with their Building Coordinators. The EMA Coordinators will work closely with Police Department Incident Commanders, who have operational responsibility for field management of the event.
Alternate EMA Coordinators will perform these functions in the event the primary Coordinator is unavailable. Alternates should be familiar with the storage location for the EMA’s communications equipment to ensure that the EMA Coordinator role will be performed during a disaster. Depending on staff availability, some EMAs will have more than one Alternate, and multiple radios within the EMA.
Testing and TrainingA test of hand-held radios will be performed periodically, with advance notice from OEP. At the announced time, EMACs and/or their Alternates should turn on their radios and tune to the pre-designated talkgroup (this varies by radio type). OEP will call each EMA, sequentially, to verify that the radios are functioning properly. Alternate EMACs with dedicated radios will also be called during the test, so that the performance of all equipment is verified. It is expected that drills will take about 10 minutes. In addition to these drills, EMA Coordinator meetings may be called periodically for the discussion of issues relevant to the Coordinators/Alternates or to offer specialized training.
Emergency Management Area Maps:If you have questions about the EMA Coordinator program or would like to be an EMAC, please contact the OEP office at (510) 642-9036.
EMA Map Index
To improve the effectiveness and delivery of emergency services, the campus has been divided into Emergency Management Areas (EMA's.) The boundaries of these areas on the central campus are shown on this map. In a major emergency information, assistance and resources will be coordinated at centralized sites indicated by the circled numbers within each EMA. For those in off-campus leased space, the nearest EMA should be used to coordinate information during a major emergency. For more information about other Emergency Management Areas that are off-campus, please contact OEP at oep@berkeley.edu or by phone at (510) 642-9036.
Emergency Management Area Maps by EMA Area (PDFs)
The images below are pdf and best for viewing on computer screen or printing on letter-sized paper. For more images of EMAs, suitable for download to your photo gallery application and upload to and viewing on your mobile device, see the Campus Safety Information Brochure page.
