ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- When a disaster strikes, response must be quick and effective all while the everyday mission continues. This takes enhanced coordination, between the people working the scene and a small team to help make decisions.

They are the Emergency Operations Center and they aid the base during emergency operations.

The EOC is the hub of information and area responsible for handling the immediate situation with base resources during incidents.

“The EOC functions more on a tactical level as far as supporting an incident,” said Samuel Hawkins, 97th Civil Engineer Squadron emergency management installation manager. “Let’s say a tornado came through the base, the EOC would handle recovery and restoration of the base.”

The EOC uses a series of checklists to guide their way through a multitude of emergencies. The checklists provide different squadrons with different tasks to aid in emergencies. For example, Security Forces checklists might be locking down the scene of an incident or coordinating with outside authorities while the Medical Group will focus on how to support injured.

The EOC team then sends out information to direct what members should be doing in an emergency.

“The EOC is a trusted source of information closest to the incident that will tell people what you need to do,” said Hawkins. “If you are getting your information from outside sources during an emergency that cannot be traced back to the EOC, there’s a high probability that it’s not accurate.”

With the vital role the EOC plays, members need to be trained often.

“Once you are appointed, the first thing EOC members have to do is get trained within 60 days,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Heather Sofranac, 97th CES emergency management journeyman. “We also have training offered monthly, quarterly base exercises and tabletop exercises during some of the monthly trainings.”

The intense training is necessary because when disaster strikes, there might not be a second chance. Even during the exercises, the EOC can be very fast paced environments with a multitude of things happening at once.

“It is actually a little hectic because you have a lot of people in there having a lot of conversations and going back and forth to complete checklist items,” said Sofranac. “Each member will work together on some of the checklist items and knock a lot of them out at the same time. We do try to keep a lot of the chatter at a minimum so we can focus on what the EOC director and EOC manager wants done.”

Whether during an emergency or an exercise, the EOC will be there to direct base actions and relay information during an emergency, making the EOC a vital part of Altus AFB’s emergency operations.