In the Emergency module, a Watch List is available to monitor an incident, a Daily Log event, or an injury/illness occurrence on your desktop. The Watch List is automatically refreshed at designated intervals, providing a real-time view of the situation and the progress being made. The default refresh interval is 20 seconds. Listed below is the data available for viewing, as well as updating, via the Watch List.
Incident record, Daily Log record, Injury/Illness record
Messages
Deployed Personnel, Resources, and Teams
Operational Periods
Active SOPs
Command Hierarchies
In a real sense, the Watch List is the hub of incident information, both when on-going for management and decision-making, and as an archive for future reference. In many cases, the Watch List is the heart of EOC and field command post information, providing up-to-the-minute data for emergency response. It provides the link between the incident's messages, actions, and situation reports and can, therefore, serve to route all accurate information to the appropriate persons. In addition, it provides the means to deploy personnel, resources, and teams, as well as activate SOPs and establish operational periods.
For instruction on incident Watch Lists, click the following links or use the scroll bar to scan the page.
Click Data Entry > Incidents to display the Incidents list. The Watch List is accessed by clicking the incident/Daily Log number link. A separate window is opened with the Incident form automatically displayed. Separate tabs provide access to the Message, Personnel, Resource, Team, Operational Period, Active SOP, and Command Hierarchy data. For notification purposes, a Loading... message appears when the Watch List is refreshed (every 20 seconds by default) regardless of which tab is displayed. Multiple Watch Lists can be opened at one time.
Note:
Incident, Daily Log, and illness/injury records without a link in
the Click for Watch List field
were created without an incident/Daily Log number. Open the Incident
form and assign a number to make the Watch
List available. Incidents created in the Incident module with an
Incident Basic Type other than Daily
Log, Emergency,
Injury/Illness, or Essential Legacy Incident
are not available for viewing with the Watch
List feature. Refer to Incident
Type Layouts and Templates for additional information.
The Watch List Incident tab displays the incident, Daily Log, or injury/illness record. Information can be updated at any time. Refer to Incidents - Emergency Module for editing details, when necessary.
The Watch List Messages tab shows a list of the messages related to the incident, Daily Log, or injury/illness record. The sender, subject, message, date and time sent, priority, and status are provided. New messages are displayed at the top of the list when the Watch List is refreshed. The New field is populated with the word New for a designated period of time, then removed. The default is 5 minutes. An image in one of the following colors identifies each message's priority:
Red = Urgent
Yellow = Normal
Green = Low
Standard search and various filtering options are available to display just the messages of interest at a point in time. Select a Message Type from the list to filter by type. Select the Show messages to me check box to view only those messages sent to the logged-in user. Ascending/descending column sorting is also available; click a column heading to sort by the values in the column.
Reply to existing messages by clicking the Edit button adjacent to the message line item. Use the Add New Message link to open the Message form and create a new message. Refer to Messages for additional information.
The AutoRefresh option allows you to switch between a working mode and the Watch List refresh mode. In the refresh mode, it is possible to use the search, filtering, and sorting options. However, when the Watch List is refreshed and there are new messages, all search/filtered/sorted results could be lost. The list of messages will be reset to display the new ones at the top of the list. By switching to the working mode, you can continue working without interruption. Clear the AutoRefresh check box to switch to a working mode. An alert message is displayed at designated intervals as a reminder that the AutoRefresh option is disabled. The default value is 1 minute.
A Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) has been established as an industry standard of incident notification, enabling the coordination, integration, and monitoring of all types of public warning systems at all levels of government. The Emergency module provides a feature to automatically send a CAP alert for an incident. A report is generated in an XML format that satisfies established requirements. The report contains details about the incident, such as an incident description and status, contact, and location information.
The report is included as an email attachment and sent to the email addresses specified in the configuration file. Instructions for identifying email addresses can be found in Emergency module Installation documentation. For a truly automated feature, the email addresses for all of the contacts on your notification list can be included in the configuration file. Each will receive the report when one is generated. If you maintain separate notification lists for different types of incidents, specify just one address. The report can then be forwarded to the appropriate contacts.
Click the Email CAP Alert button on the Watch List Messages tab to issue a CAP alert.
The Watch List Personnel tab shows a list of the personnel deployed for the incident, Daily Log event, or injury/illness occurrence. Each contact is displayed as a line item that includes the contact's name and ID, deployed state, current location, and primary assignment. Click the Edit button adjacent to a line item to open the Common Deployment form. Use the Emergency Personnel link to select a contact for deployment and the Assign/Release Personnel link to access the incident Command Hierarchy for personnel assignments and releases. Refer to Resource Deployment for information about deploying personnel.
The Watch List Resources tab shows a list of the resources deployed for the incident, Daily Log event, or injury/illness occurrence. Click the Edit button adjacent to a line item to open the Common Deployment form. Use the Resource List link to select a resource for deployment from the Resource Library. The Assign/Release Resource link can be used to access the incident Command Hierarchy and assign and release resources. Refer to Resource Deployment for information about deploying resources.
The Watch List Teams tab shows a list of the teams deployed for the incident, Daily Log event, or injury/illness occurrence. Click the Edit button adjacent to a line item to open the Common Deployment form. Use the Teams List link to select a team for deployment and the Assign/Release Team link to access the incident Command Hierarchy for team assignments and releases. When a team is activated, the team members and resources associated with the team are added to the Personnel and Resources tab, respectively. This process allows individual team members/resources to be independently mobilized and recalled should circumstances warrant such actions. Refer to Resource Deployment for information about deploying teams.
The Watch List Operational Periods tab shows a list of operational periods for the incident, Daily Log event, or injury/illness occurrence. The start date and time, end date and time, and status of each period is provided. Click the Edit button adjacent to a line item to view or edit an existing record. Establish new operational periods by clicking the Create New Operational Period link to open the Operational Period form. Refer to Operational Periods for additional information.
The Watch List Active SOPs tab shows a list of active SOPs for the incident, Daily Log event, or injury/illness occurrence. The name of the SOP, status, and ICS branch are provided. To easily activate an SOP for the incident, select the SOP from the list for the field provided and click the Activate SOP button. Click the Edit button adjacent to a line item to view or edit an existing record. The SOP List link is available to access the SOP list and update SOP information. Refer to Active SOPs for additional information.
The Watch List Command Hierarchy tab shows the hierarchies associated with the incident, Daily Log event, or injury/illness occurrence. Existing hierarchies can be added from the Command Hierarchy Library or new hierarchies can be created. Edits can be made to a hierarchy at anytime during the incident. Once a hierarchy has been associated with an incident, Daily Log event, or injury/illness occurrence, it becomes part of the incident, Daily Log, or injury/illness record, i.e., any changes made do not affect the copy in the library. Each hierarchy name associated with the record is a link to view or edit the Command Hierarchy. Refer to Command Hierarchy Library and Resource Deployment for additional information.
To add command hierarchies
from the Command Hierarchy libraryClick the Watch List Command Hierarchy tab.
Click Add from Library and select one or more Command Hierarchies by clicking the check box adjacent to the line item.
Click Add
Selected Items.
Each hierarchy selected is displayed as a line item on the Watch
List Command Hierarchy tab. Click the hierarchy name link to
view the hierarchy.
Click the Save button on the Watch List Command Hierarchy tab.
Note:
Refer to Command
Hierarchy Library when adding new Command Hierarchies.
