GlossaryEmergency management
Emergency Operations Plan
An Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) explains how a jurisdiction or organization will coordinate responsibilities, resources, and actions during emergencies.
An Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) explains how a jurisdiction or organization will coordinate responsibilities, resources, and actions during emergencies. It establishes arrangements before an incident and can include annexes for particular functions or hazards. An adopted plan describes intended responsibilities; it does not prove that every capability was available or every action performed.
What a plan contains
Federal Highway Administration emergency-management training explains the role of an Emergency Operations Plan in setting responsibilities and coordinating response. An EOP can explain activation, coordination, communications, resource requests, and relationships among responding organizations. Its exact structure follows the jurisdiction's planning approach.
For interpretation, identify the approving authority, effective date, revision history, and relevant annex. A public base plan may not contain every operational attachment. A missing detail in the public copy should not automatically be treated as evidence that no procedure exists.
Example
Hypothetical example: A city's EOP assigns shelter coordination to one office and transportation support to another. During a storm, an incident action plan gives those offices specific objectives for the next operational period.
The EOP establishes broader responsibilities; the incident plan applies them to current work. Neither document alone establishes how many people were transported or sheltered. Completed activity and service records provide those results.
Common confusion
An incident action plan concerns a particular incident and time period. An EOP provides the broader framework. An evacuation notice gives current protective instructions rather than restating the entire plan.
A continuity plan focuses on maintaining essential organizational functions. It can connect with an EOP while addressing a different planning question.
Reading scope
Use the edition in force during the event being studied. Later revisions may respond to lessons from exercises or actual incidents. Distinguish a draft, adopted plan, training scenario, and completed after-action assessment when describing readiness.