The coastal area of San Mateo County, California is very susceptible to isolation as the result of natural or man-made disasters. Services are provided to the region by a number of agencies including the City of Half Moon Bay, the County of San Mateo, and several special districts. The problem that was addressed in this research project was the lack of a single emergency operations center (EOC) to coordinate the disaster response of the many agencies in the region. The purpose of this research was to establish an agreement among the various agencies and jurisdictions that serve the area to participate in a regional emergency operations center. This project utilized action research methodology and answered the following questions: 1. Which agencies should participate in a regional EOC? 2. What is the appropriate command structure for a regional EOC? 3.Are other fire protection districts in California participating in regional EOCs; and, if so, what command structure are they using? 4. What existing facility could best be utilized as the regional EOC? 5. Would there be value in participating agencies using a department operations center (DOC) in addition to the EOC? The procedures followed included reviewing current literature applicable to the research questions. Significant documentation was discovered relating to EOC participation, the Incident Command Sustem, EOC facilities, and the EOC/DOC relationship. Two questionnaires were distributed. One was sent to response agencies on the San Mateo Coast to determine their interest in participating in a regional EOC and to also identify which agencies had facilities that could possibly serve as an EOC. The second questionnaire was sent to 50 fire protection districts throughout the State of California.This questionnaire asked if other fire protection districts were participating in regional EOCs, and, if so, what type of incident command structure they utilized. The research for this project also included a meeting with the coast-side agencies interested in participating in the regional EOC and numerous conversations with fire chiefs and emergency management professionals regarding the subject matter of the research questions. The results of the research indicated that there was wide spread interest among agencies on the San Mateo County coast to participate in a regional EOC, and recent legislation in California had provided a framework for a command structure that would be acceptable to all agencies. The questionnaire sent statewide indicated that many fire districts were participating in EOCs with other agencies and that a variety of command structures were being used.The research also identified only two facilities adequate for use as an EOC. Finally, the utilization of DOCs was proven to be of value for agencies managing numerous tactical operations in a major emergency. The primary recommendation made as a result of this research project was to go forward with the agreement to establish a regional EOC for the San Mateo County coast. A draft agreement for participation was prepared and most response agencies have agreed to participate. Further recommendations include using a "unified command" and an Inter-agency Coordination Group in the EOC whenever more than one agency had jurisdictional responsibility for an emergency incident. A primary EOC facility was identified for the region, as was an alternate EOC. Finally, most of the response agencies agreed to utilize DOCs in addition to participation in the EOC.