Joint Information Center – How Does It Work?

Communication Emergency Response

Course Summary

There are three sections in this course:

  • Section 1: Defining the Joint Information to the Public
  • Section 2: Getting Information to the Public
  • Section 3: Staffing and Organizational Structure

There are practice activities/exercises throughout the lessons.
These practice activities/exercises will provide you with an opportunity to
apply the knowledge and skills presented in these lessons. There is a Post-test at
the end of lesson 3.

Intended Audience

Local and state public information officers

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able
to:

  • Describe the function of the Joint Information Center
    within the Incident Command System (ICS).
  • Discuss the role of the JIC in coordinating and
    disseminating official information.
  • Describe the JIC organizational structure.
  • Describe the roles and responsibilities of the JIC staff.

Pre-requisites/Learning Level

No Pre-requisites

Competencies addressed

Competencies identified:

  • 1.1
    Solve problems under emergency conditions.

    • 1.1.1
      Recognize emergency conditions and the resulting problems.
    • 1.1.3
      Prioritize problems based on level of hazard and degree of risk.
    • 1.1.8
      Assess information, resources and procedures necessary to address the
      problems in emergency situations.
    • 1.1.9
      Implement action to solve the problems(s) in a timely fashion.
    • 1.1.14
      Recognize the ethical and moral implications of decisions made through a
      chain of command.
    • 1.1.15
      Refer problems that fall outside one’s scope of authority to the
      appropriate person in the chain of command.
  • 1.3
    Facilitate collaboration with internal and external emergency response
    partners.

    • 1.3.2
      Develop partnerships among internal and external emergency response
      partners.
    • 1.3.3
      Develop collaborative emergency response plans and/or policies with
      appropriate internal and external emergency response partners.
    • 1.3.4
      Apply communication strategies to effectively communicate with internal
      and external response partners.
  • 1.4
    Maintain situational awareness.

    • 1.4.3
      Use information and resources that identify changes in the situation
      and/or response.
    • 1.4.4
      Detect cues that the situation may be rapidly changing.
    • 1.4.7
      Distinguish between critical and non-critical elements of the emergency.
    • 1.4.9
      Develop a method for realigning response actions as crisis events evolve.
    • 1.4.11
      Cooperate with others to resolve discrepancies or misperceptions
      regarding elements impacting situational awareness.
    • 1.4.17
      Demonstrate the ability to communicate oral and written information
      impacting situational awareness in a clear, concise, and accurate manner.
  • 1.5
    Demonstrate respect for all persons and cultures.

    • 1.5.2
      Apply principles of cross-cultural communication, equity, social justice,
      and respect for persons.
    • 1.5.3
      Develop partnerships with key stakeholders from diverse populations.
    • 1.5.5
      Develop cross-cultural strategies to address emergency situations and
      disseminate information.
  • 1.6
    Act within the scope of one’s legal authority.

    • 1.6.4
      Respond legally and consistently within the values and mission of one’s
      public health organization.
  • 2.1
    Manage information related to an emergency.

    • 2.1.2
      Distinguish the roles of staff involved in collecting and disseminating
      information for audiences (e.g., self, coordinator, Public Information
      Officer or PIO, technology/IT departments).
    • 2.1.4
      Verify the credibility of information sources.
    • 2.1.5
      Classify information for internal and external audiences.
  • 2.2
    Use principles of crisis and risk communication.

    • 2.2.4
      Deliver messages using the guidelines for crisis and risk communication.
  • 2.3
    Report information potentially relevant to the identification and control
    of an emergency through the chain of command.

    • 2.3.2
      Communicate within the organization’s defined command structure (i.e.
      report up, communicate down).
    • 2.3.5
      Communicate relevant information to personnel in a timely fashion.
  • 2.5
    Manage the recording and/or transcription of data according to protocol.

    • 2.5.1
      Adhere to relevant ethics guidelines, state, and federal laws regarding
      data collection, management, and dissemination.

CEUs Offered

None

Cost

Free

Modality/format

Online Self-Pace

Length

1 hour

Presenter(s) and/or Content
Experts

Technical requirements

  • Adobe Acrobat Reader 
  • Flash Player 
  • Speakers

Registration requirements

Register a free account

Creation and/or update

July 23, 2014

Launch Course