EOC Activation Levels

The Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operates at one of three levels of readiness in order to carry out its mission. These levels are described below and are patterned to closely match the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) EOC activation levels to maintain consistent definitions.

The Miami-Dade DEM is constantly monitoring the County for threats, unusual events, or situations. An DEM Duty Officer is on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is advised of any such events by the Miami-Dade Alarm Office, State Warning Point, concerned citizens, or other agencies. The Duty Officer also has the responsibility to monitor and follow-up on any threat, unusual event, or situation that has the potential to impact Miami-Dade County such as media reports, weather advisories, etc.  It is important to note that although the DEM is constantly monitoring the progression of events within the County, the EOC is not considered activated.  During day-to-day operations where no specific situation is occurring, the EOC is not activated.

The expected or actual severity of the incident is paramount in determining the level of activation.  The Director of the DEM or designee, in conjunction with the Mayor and County Manager, has the responsibility for determining whether the DEM should increase or decrease its level of activation. The purpose of activating the EOC as a result of a disaster is to centralize response and recovery decisions, plans, and operational activities in order to maximize the efficiency, quality, and quantity of resources.

There are 3 levels of activation:

Level 3: Monitoring & Assessment
Level III is typically a monitoring and assessment phase where a specific threat, unusual event, or situation, is actively monitored by the DEM. 
 
Level 2: Partial
Level II partial activation is typically limited agency activation. DEM staff and ESF lead agencies with a role in the incident response are activated and required to report to the EOC. 
 
Level 1: Full-Scale
In a full-scale activation, the EOC is activated on a 24-hour schedule due to an imminent threat or occurrence of a disaster.

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