Skip to main content

Create a VEOC session

Initiate a VEOC session by naming it, setting the type and time zone, adding a situation summary and safety briefing, attaching files, and clicking Initiate.

Written by Phil Wheaton

Create a VEOC session

Creating a session takes one dialog: name it, set the type and time zone, brief your responders, attach files, and click Initiate. The invite prompt opens next, so your team is mobilized within a minute of starting.

This article covers the full Virtual Emergency Operations Centre (VEOC) session dialog. For a quick reference on session creation across the platform, see Create a session.

Before you start

You need a credentialed account with VEOC access. Any credentialed user can initiate a session. See Credentialed vs non-credentialed users.

Steps

  1. Open VEOC and click Initiate Session. The session dialog appears.

  2. Enter a Session Name. Pick a name every user will associate with the emergency or its location, for example Gas Release Fox Creek. You can rename it later if you have Initiator or Administrator rights.

  3. Select a Session Type: Test, Training, Exercise, Emergency, or Confidential. The type does not change any functionality. It is a visual designation so everyone can tell a drill from the real thing when browsing sessions.

  4. Set the Time Zone where the emergency is taking place. Timestamps and operational periods follow it.

  5. Write the Situation Summary & Safety Briefing. This is what responders read the moment they join, so lead with what happened, where, and what is dangerous. If you hold an IAP licence, these values also pre-fill the auto-generated ICS 201 form.

  6. (Optional) Click Select File to attach documents or pictures (.docx, .doc, .jpg, .pdf), up to 50 MB per file. Name each one so users know what they are opening. Any default session documents your administrator configured attach automatically.

  7. Click Initiate. The session is live and the Add Users prompt opens.

  8. Invite your team. The full walkthrough, including contact lists, Observer mode, and the callout message, is in Invite and add users to a session.

On mobile: open the H2CommandCentre app, select VEOC, then Create New Session. The fields are identical; Initiate Session takes you straight to the invite screen.

After you initiate

You land on the session dashboard. First moves: set the emergency level, assign positions, and post your first Forum message.

Related

Did this answer your question?