Rope Fog: Enhancing Unified Multi-Agency Response Coordination

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

The San Bernardino County Fire, Office of Emergency Services (OES) has developed the Responders Organized for Pass Emergencies (ROPE) Field Operations Guide (FOG) for Federal, State, County, Municipal, and Private Sector emergency response organizations responding to daily incidents; or those organizations that are responsible for restoring critical utility and transportation infrastructure in the Cajon Pass/Interstate 15 (I-15) corridor. The Cajon Pass, located in the heart of San Bernardino County is a major transportation and utility corridor for Southern California, connecting the Los Angeles metropolitan area to Las Vegas, the Rocky Mountain states and the Midwest. To start, the Responders Organized for Pass Emergencies (ROPE) Committee, originally consisting of only first responders was expanded to include Federal and State Agencies, County Departments, private sector utility and transportation partners, and local jurisdictions with a vested interest in the Cajon Pass and/or responsibilities for restoring critical infrastructure. End result, OES and the all-inclusive ROPE Committee engaged in an unprecedented two-year planning project that led to the development of a tool for day-to-day response in the Cajon Pass, as well as for a catastrophic regional event, requiring coordinated and unified multi-agency response…The ROPE FOG is that tool.