PICC consolidates emergency response

Published Feb. 18, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Jessica Switzer
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- When emergency personnel respond to an incident, time is of the essence.

Now there's a one stop notification procedure in place to make sure emergency personnel get where they're needed as quickly as possible.

The Peterson Installation Control Center is the high speed, low drag, answer the 21st Space Wing came up with when Air Force Space Command leadership told all of their subordinate bases to consolidate virtual command and control for emergency management functions. AFSPC wanted all subordinate units to have this capability up and running by the end of 2007.

Peterson took this one step further and physically co-located the functions as well as getting them together on line. The physical consolidation was built more around functionality than aesthetics. It was in operation long before AFSPC's Dec. 31 deadline or any other space wing. The PICC was up and running by Nov. 1 in both physical and cyberspace.

"We admit the facility is not pretty but the operation is impressive," said Lt. Col. Marc Peterson, PICC Director.

Putting these agencies together could have been a logistical nightmare, but most of the consolidation was accomplished using supplies that were already in use. All that was really needed was to put them all in one place.

"It couldn't have been accomplished without the tremendous teamwork provided by our civil engineering and communications professionals," Colonel Peterson said.

This integrated and cohesive emergency response effort puts Peterson Air Force Base on the forefront of the movement to consolidate these functions at all bases.

"The Peterson Installation Control Center combines existing emergency management functions under one umbrella organization," Colonel Peterson said. "This helps execute life-saving response rapidly and more effectively."

Previously when an emergency call came in, three separate agencies in three different locations were notified through a number of calls and procedures. Now, one call to one place notifies everyone at the same time.

Two of the tools the Airmen in the PICC use are the Air Force Incident Management System and the National Incident Management System. These systems were designed to handle any incident regardless of cause, size or complexity. They can handle natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes, or man-made accidents like hazardous material spills and acts of terrorism.

"The AFIMS system helps make sure that all of the agencies involved, including our civil counterparts, responding to a major incident can communicate using the same language," said Jackie Richardson, Commander's Senior Staff Manager. "Everyone involved uses the same terminology and compatible equipment so we're complementing each other in an incident instead of fighting to make things work."

AFIMS is different from the national system in that is was specifically designed with Air Force needs in mind.

"The system is designed to keep our command and control requirements intact and allow us to accomplish our critical mission operations while responding to the incident," Mr Richardson said.

In addition to making sure Peterson emergency responders can work with local agencies AFIMS is also a great asset to Airmen.

"It's a great system because it provides consistency from base to base," Colonel Peterson said. "It doesn't matter whether an Airman is at their home station or deployed, at war or at peace, through AFIMS the basic framework of emergency response remains the same."

"Not only did the PICC combine with emergency responders but we also took the initiative and co-located the emergency operations center and the commander's senior staff within the PICC," said Mr. Richardson. "Now the wing commander has one fully integrated and capable C2 node to direct his wing assets to include the many tenant units residing at Peterson."

The EOC consists of the EOC Director, usually a colonel, and 15 Emergency Support Functions.

All these resources combine to provide real-time situation awareness to the wing commander. For example, in a coordinated effort with our civilian emergency counterparts, the PICC uses the Automatic Vehicle Locator. The locator is a GPS system installed in all fire vehicles and ambulances. The AVL allows the commander to view the movement of all these emergency vehicles in near real-time.

"This is a helpful tool to track both military and civilian resources on and off base," Colonel Peterson said. "We can see where emergency response vehicles are at any given time."

This information is available to both the PICC and the Colorado Springs Emergency Operations Centers. For example, if there is an emergency on Peterson requiring transportation to a local hospital, controllers now have near real-time awareness of the ambulance location as it enters the base and proceeds to the scene.

GEOBASE is another tool used extensively by the PICC. GEOBASE is a mapping tool providing a true picture of the required cordon around an incident thereby assisting security forces with establishing entry control points, safe routes to and from the incident, as well as controlling traffic flow in and around the scene.

"The PICC also uses a newly developed E-Collaboration tool, another AFSPC first, built by IBM and approved by DISA. This tool has many more capabilities than we previously saw," said Mr. Richardson. "E-Collaboration provides VTC capabilities both on the classified and unclassified side. It also provides instant chat and instant messaging between our unit control centers and the commanders. Now any GSU commander can provide real-time situation awareness to the wing commander using Voice Over Internet Protocol and web cam video. Geographic separation is no longer an issue with E-Collab."

Another feather in their cap was the addition of a new mission for members of the PICC. The center recently became the installation center for tracking military aircraft that come through the base. Peterson is the second busiest distinguished visitor flight-line in the Air Force. The mission, called KNIGHT OPS, tracked 83 sorties in the first month and continues to track over 100 missions each month.

"We will continue to provide our wing commander's vision of unsurpassed installation support and protection through an integrated and cohesive emergency response capability," said Colonel Peterson. "The key to success is a coordinated effort throughout the wing. Fortunately, we have the most professional personnel available to continue paving the way for Air Force Incident Management ... we will never falter and we will not fail."

Using the PICC to protect Peterson

Using the PICC to protect Peterson

PICC consolidates emergency response