The National Command Centre (NCC), established in 2006 when Qatar was hosting the Asian Games, has a very important function in Qatar. Anytime an urgent situation becomes a risk to someone’s life or property, the NCC steps in to manage a coordinated response to both local and national emergencies by constantly working with other national agencies - Ministry of Interior, Qatar’s Emergency Service Centre, Hamad Medical Corporation and Lekhwiya Internal Security Forces - to evaluate the situation and implement the appropriate timely response. (Esri)
Other partners include the Traffic, Civil Defense, Fear, Coastal and Border Security, Criminal Investigation, Capital Security Administration, Rayyan Security Administration, South Security Administration, North Security Administration, Dukhan Security Department, Preventive Security Department and the Criminal Evidence and Information Administration.
The NCC headquarter stands on 2,877.09 square meters is secured by high walls and a comprehensive surveillance system, and is one of the largest such operations within the region. Since its inception, the NCC has been equipped with the latest equipment, mechanisms, devices and state-of-the-art technical systems that contribute to facing disasters and crises in Qatar. (MOI)
The NCC operates through a constructive strategy; an integrated work team and achieving security goals. It aims to provide security, community service, crime prevention, and protection of lives and property. To consolidate its mission, the Centre has adopted an effective and modern work system that contributes to a comprehensive national security system with the participation of the relevant military and civilian agencies.
The NCC has three main departments which perform the following duties;
This department develops security plans for operations in coordination with the security departments of various ministries, governmental and private institutions during major incidents, crises and disasters, and covers the official events of the country. It is responsible for security supervision all over the country and notifies senior MOI officials as soon as any major accident, crisis or disaster occurs.
This department is concerned with the management of human resources. It follows up on the administrative orders and decisions of the Centre in coordination with the MOI and updates organisational structures based on established development plans. It is also responsible for coordinating and implementing public relations and NCC's media activity in coordination with the relevant MOI department.
This department provides the required security information to the relevant MOI departments and meets their data needs, especially during accidents and crises. It monitors and analyses all security data and information, classifies statistical indicators, prepares studies, statistical data and periodic reports on accidents and submits them to the competent authorities.
The Emergency Service receives calls, reports and complaints about different types of incidents in Qatar 24 hours round-the-clock, which are followed up on screens in the Central Operations Room, and immediately delegates the incidents to the relevant authorities and is the link between the public and the security departments: police rescue, traffic, civil defence, coast and border security, Lekhwiya and the ambulance service.
It is also tasked with receiving emergency calls from people with hearing impairments through video, SMS or e-mail, dealing with them and providing them with the necessary assistance.
The Emergency Service has a number of specialised translators who deal with receiving reports and complaints in several different languages. These include English, French, Filipino, Urdu, Farsi and Pashto.
The Deaf Emergency Service is considered a national project to reach a better level of services for those with hearing impairments. When this group is subject to an accident or incident, they are unable to use the normal emergency service, so the Deaf Emergency Service provides them with special emergency service.
There are three ways to use the service: SMS accurate details like the type of problem and emergency services required on 992, e-mail [email protected] or video recording using 3G Cameras from the computer or mobile phone and then sending the recording to 992 (Hukoomi Qatar). These mediums make it easy for those with hearing impairments to get emergency assistance when needed
The Emergency Relief Service is a humanitarian service that's available round-the-clock and enables the elderly, people with special needs and those with chronic diseases who are exposed to accidents or incidents that require emergency intervention to request for help in emergency situations through an easy-to-use device. Since it may be hard for this target group to call the Emergency Service Department at 999, the Emergency Relief Service is available at the touch of a button.
The NCC's emergency room has a database for the elderly which includes the health number, date of disease, and type of disability (if any) and this helps to accelerate the Emergency Relief Service's response to any report that comes from this group of people. (Hukoomi Qatar)
The Early Warning System is an automated system that connects the Central Operations Department with banks, shops, establishments and vital facilities in the country. This system receives warnings as soon as an incident like fire takes place or there is an attempt to commit a crime like theft, etc. Through this system, the authorities can determine the location of the incoming warnings and immediately take action.
The Najm System determines the location of the incident or accident directly using geographical data and shows them on one digital map which represents the actual situation on the ground. Then, the report is transferred to the command and control room to determine the appropriate security patrols that will be directed to follow up on the report quickly. The system also provides tools for monitoring performance at all stages. (MOI; S&D Magazine)
The NCC is one of the key institutions in Qatar that's helping the battle against the COVID-19. There are over 20 security and civil districts working under the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management which receive information from various regions of the country in terms of COVID-19. The NCC receives information through cameras that are spread all over Qatar, the drones that roam around the country to monitor COVID-19 violations, and through reports that are received by the robot Al-Asas. In addition, the NCC receives communications through the emergency number as well as through reports that are dispatched to the NCC by the Qatar police force.
Sources: Esri; MOI; Hukoomi Qatar; S&D Magazine; MOI; Hukoomi Qatar
Cover image credit: MOI
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