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Ramsey County │ Glossary
<br />Interoperability: The ability of systems, personnel, and equipment to provide and receive functionality,
<br />data, information, and/or services to and from other systems, personnel, and equipment, between both
<br />public and private agencies, departments, and other organizations, in a manner enabling them to
<br />operate effectively together.
<br />Joint Information Center (JIC): A central point of contact for all news media near the scene of a large-
<br />scale disaster. News media representatives are kept informed of activities and events by public
<br />information officials who represent all participating federal, state, and local agencies that are collocated
<br />at the JIC.
<br />Joint Information System (JIS): A structure that integrates incident information and public affairs into a
<br />cohesive organization designed to provide consistent, coordinated, accurate, accessible, timely, and
<br />complete information during crisis or incident operations. The mission of the JIS is to provide a structure
<br />and system for developing and delivering coordinated interagency messages; developing,
<br />recommending, and executing public information plans and strategies on behalf of the IC; advising the IC
<br />concerning public affairs issues that could affect a response effort; and controlling rumors and
<br />inaccurate information that could undermine public confidence in the emergency response effort.
<br />Lifeline: Enables the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and is essential
<br />to human health and safety or economic security. Lifelines are the most fundamental services in the
<br />community that, when stabilized, enable all other aspects of society to function.
<br />Local government: Public entities responsible for the security and welfare of a designated area as
<br />established by law. A county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority, school district,
<br />special district, intrastate district, council of governments (regardless of whether the council of
<br />governments is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under State law), regional or interstate
<br />government entity, or agency or instrumentality of a local government; an Indian tribe or authorized
<br />tribal entity, or in Alaska a Native Village or Alaska Regional Native Corporation; a rural community,
<br />unincorporated town or village, or other public entity.
<br />Mass care: The actions that are taken to protect evacuees and other disaster victims from the effects of
<br />the disaster. Activities include providing temporary shelter, food, medical care, clothing, and other
<br />essential life support needs to those people that have been affected by a disaster or threatened
<br />disaster.
<br />Mass casualty incident: An incident that generates more patients at a time than locally available
<br />resources can manage when using routine procedures. It requires exceptional emergency arrangements
<br />and additional or extraordinary assistance.
<br />Mass fatality incident: Any situation where the number of fatalities exceeds the ability of local
<br />resources to manage the number of fatalities. The primary functions of a mass fatality response are
<br />body recovery, morgue operations, and assisting the decedents' family members and loved ones.
<br />Mitigation: The effort to reduce or eliminate the long-term risks to life, property, and wellbeing of
<br />community members. Mitigation focuses on the premise that individuals, the private sector,
<br />communities, and critical infrastructure are made more resilient when the consequences and impacts,
<br />the duration, and the financial and human costs to respond to and recover from adverse incidents are all
<br />reduced.
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