Agenda - City of Santa Monica

STANDARDIZED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
(SEMS)
The Standardized Emergency Management System was formally adopted by the City of
Santa Monica on November 9 th , 1999, for managing response to multi-agency and
multi-jurisdiction emergencies and to facilitate communications and coordination
between all levels of the system and among all responding agencies.
SEMS (Government Code Section 8607(a)) incorporates the use of the Incident
Command System (ICS), the Master Mutual Aid Agreement and existing mutual aid
systems, the Operational Area Concept and multi-agency or inter-agency coordination.
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) was formally adopted by the City of
Santa Monica on March 28 th , 2006. NIMS principles and components have been
integrated into the planning for emergency preparedness, response, and recovery of the
Santa Monica Multi Hazard Functional Emergency Plan.
SEMS consists of five organizational levels: field response, local government,
operational area, regional and state.
Field Response Level
The field response level is where emergency response personnel and resources carry
out tactical activities. SEMS and NIMS regulations require the use of the Incident
Command System (ICS) at the field response level of an incident. The ICS field
functions are: command, operations, planning/intelligence, logistics and
finance/administration.
Requests for any resources or support that cannot be obtained at the field level are sent
to the City Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Local Government Level
Local governments include cities, counties and special districts. Local governments
manage and coordinate the overall emergency/disaster response and recovery activities
in their jurisdictional EOC. Local governments are required to use SEMS when their
EOC is activated or a local emergency is proclaimed in order to be eligible for state
funding of response-related personnel costs. Local governments shall provide the
following functions in the EOC: management, operations, planning/intelligence, logistics
and finance/ administration.
19