Concept of Operations

The Concept of Operations provides response agencies with a guide to the way a hazard incident may be approached. In this regard, a three-levelled system of response is used depending on the severity of the emergency. These three levels are: 

A Level 1emergency is a localized incident. Such incidents are within the capacity of the local government authorities and other first responder agencies within a Municipality, or the Tobago Emergency Management Agency in the case of Tobago. The first responder agencies may include the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service (TTFS) and the Health Services, as necessary. At Level 1, the Emergency Operations Centre of the Municipal Corporation or Tobago will be activated as needed to coordinate the Regional, Borough or City response.

At Level 2, the emergency or disaster event usually affects two or more municipal regions/Tobago, or while confined to one municipality, may be of a very serious nature (that is, have the potential for significant loss of life or damage to property, environment or economy). In such instances, the response can be dealt with using municipal and national resources.

If it is perceived that a Level 1 incident has the potential to escalate to a Level 2 event, the ODPM’s National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) would be notified and become partially activated. This activation would facilitate the closer monitoring of events and initiate preparation for response should the Level 1 response become overwhelmed. (The NEOC is explained in the next section.) At Level 2, greater resources would be required for damage assessment, search and rescue, security/ crowd control, relief supply distribution, etc., depending on the type of incident.  The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) usually becomes involved at this level.

At Level 3, should the national resources become overwhelmed, the President will declare a national emergency. In such a scenario, the ODPM, through the Ministries of National Security, Foreign Affairs and Finance, will coordinate the acquisition of regional and international aid assistance.