The Secretary’s Operations Center (SOC) is the focal point for developing and maintaining domestic and international situational awareness, identifying emerging threats, ensuring appropriate information is disseminated to its partners and keeping HHS-ASPR leadership informed. The SOC staff continually monitors potential problems, developing incidents, and public health emergencies. Working through the Regional Emergency Coordinators (RECs), the Emergency Management Group (EMG) communicates with Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies, NGO centers, and the private sector.
The SOC staff supports and tracks field operations during incidents. The SOC staff ensures the information reported is accurate, concise, timely, relevant, and useful. Situational awareness provides the foundation for subsequent decision making and actions.
The SOC utilizes a well-developed information management approach that includes planning, analyzing, and controlling quality information throughout its lifecycle: creation/collection, integration, analysis, dissemination, storage, and archiving. The EMG ensures that the appropriate information is shared with HHS responders; interagency partners; state, local and tribal agencies; NGO centers; and international partners.