EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTIONS - CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS

The Emergency Support Function, or "ESF" is a mechanism that consolidates multiple agencies that perform similar or like functions into a single, cohesive unit to allow for the better management of emergency response functions.  Rather than task a specific agency to perform a required task, an ESF Manager determines within the ESF group which agency or grouping of agencies would be in the best position to address the requirement based on the existing circumstances.  What works best at one point in a disaster may not be the best option at a future point in the operation.  The ESF Manager may be a TEMA employee or an ESC from another state agency (depending largely on the size of the response).

The ESF concept was developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the late 1980s to address the potential management concerns that would be necessary to coordinate a federal response to a catastrophic earthquake in California.  FEMA subsequently implemented the ESF concept in the development of its Federal Response Plan.  Tennessee was one of the first states to develop a state-level emergency management plan around the ESF concept.

The ESF Concept of Operations document describes how the ESF concepts are applied to the situation in Tennessee.  TEMA took the federal ESF structure and modified it to fit the requirements and management style of the agency as it applies to managing large scale disasters.  This document is also a part of the Tennessee Emergency Management Plan.