Incident Command System: A Case Study
The Incident Command System (ICS) was first developed and introduced in the 1970’s when a string of catastrophic fires were springing up in California. The destruction of property created by the fires produced skyrocketed in the millions causing many people to be seriously injured or perish during the event. The individuals who were assigned to investigate the cause of these fires in California studied the case histories and discovered that response efforts to battle such catastrophes could be attributed to the lack of resources and the failure of tactics during these operations.
Fast forwarding to 2003, the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5 (HSPD-5) identified steps to improve coordination in response to incidents and it required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate with other Federal departments and agencies. The ICS is designed to be a management system that enables effective and efficient domestic incident management by integrating a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2014). Coordination to a major response will take the full effort from multiple jurisdictions to those from State, local, and tribal governments, thus …show more content…
creating the National Response Framework (NRF) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) will assist in managing emergency operations.
If agencies and departments were not utilizing the ICS, there could be confusion and therefore poor decisions could be made when handling operation procedures.
Incident response without the use of ICS could create a lack of accountability, poor communications, an unsystematic planning process and a failure to reach the desired objective, and the inability to efficiently integrate responders into standard organizational structures and roles (Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, 2013). Since the creation of the ICS has been around for more than 40 years, the concept of the ICS is built on best practices and these practices all stem from lessons learned over the
years.
The use of management best practices regarding the ICS will help to ensure the safety of responders at the scene, achieving response objectives, and the efficient use of resources. The ICS has ben tested in emergency and nonemergency applications by all levels of the government, to include those in the nongovernmental and private sector organizations and it has proven to be effective during emergency operations. The ICS can be used in a number of incidents of any type to include planned events and its applicable to all hazards that may arise such as natural disasters, technological hazards, or human caused incidents such as criminal or terrorist acts.
Ensuring the ICS works relies upon effective incident management with a tight command and control atmosphere especially when managing resources, making decisions, and assigning tasks during pivotal moments of an incident. Even though information is exchanged freely through the ICS structure, strict adherence must be paid to this top-down management approach when managing incidents in the field (Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, 2013). The effectiveness and efficient response to an incident must be a commitment to follow the proper use of command and control tactics at all times.
If a planned event such as the Presidential Inauguration were to take place, the ICS would be used during this momentous event. In November of 2012, the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) integrated the ICS into the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) during the Presidential Inauguration. HSEMA developed position job aids and conducted workshops for each EOC position, as well as conducted team-training workshops and coordinated two functional exercises where the ICS was used and exercised throughout the year (Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency, 2014).
The use of the ICS during this even is tremendous because it relies heavily upon the ability to communicate across all jurisdictions assisting with the event. The principles of the ICS rely on standardization of common terminology, proper use of the Chain of Command structure, integrated communications, and manageable span of control. Communications within the ICS is crucial during any event because the goal is to promote understanding among all parties involved in the managing of an incident.
When the use of plain language is utilized, it eliminates other agencies and departments from using terms and acronyms that might be unfamiliar to those in the field. Terms such as 10-codes or even simple acronyms can have different meaning to other agencies and departments, which could bring about more confusion and delayed response in an emergency. It is very important to always utilize plain language when relaying traffic in person or communicating via radio with various agencies and departments because in the event that a disaster would to occur, responders need to act quickly in order to be effective in their response.
The next ICS principle relies upon the proper use of the Chain of Command during an emergency because this defines who is in charge of a situation and it clearly defines how information should be relayed in this structure, which is a top-bottom and vice-versa style of approach. The chain of command allows for incident commanders to direct and control the actions of all personnel under their supervisor, avoids confusion by requiring orders to flow from supervisors, and provides the basis of a rank structure similar to many Armed branched of the service (Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, 2013). The chain of command will never prevent personnel from directly communicating with each other to request or share information pertinent to the emergency as this allows for a better team building structure across multiple jurisdictions at the scene.
If for example jurisdictions were faced with a terrorist threat or attack, the incident commander through the use of the chain of command, will direct personnel where and how to respond to the situation. Utilizing this principle of the ICS is considered the span and control aspect of a situation. Maintaining the span and control of a situation pertains to the number of individuals or resources, that one supervisor can manage effectively during an incident.
When done properly, effective handling of span and control provides not only safety of all personnel at the scene, but it will ensure accountability is a factor and is a top priority. A terrorist threat or attack can bring about devastation and panic and it might be required for multiple jurisdictions to respond to different areas of the threat zone, thus safety measures and the distance between personnel and resources all influence span of control considerations.
In conclusion, the ICS requires assuming accountability, dispatching and deploying personnel, informing personnel of the situation, assignment, and demobilization. Each phase of the ICS is designed to create a functioning system that agencies and departments can utilize regardless of the situation. The ICS will only work if guiding principles and features are put forth in a seamless fashion and when done correctly, operations in the field and those managing the situation from within the division will provide effective results and manageable goals in the end.
Fast forwarding to 2003, the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5 (HSPD-5) identified steps to improve coordination in response to incidents and it required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate with other Federal departments and agencies. The ICS is designed to be a management system that enables effective and efficient domestic incident management by integrating a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2014). Coordination to a major response will take the full effort from multiple jurisdictions to those from State, local, and tribal governments, thus …show more content…
creating the National Response Framework (NRF) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) will assist in managing emergency operations.
If agencies and departments were not utilizing the ICS, there could be confusion and therefore poor decisions could be made when handling operation procedures.
Incident response without the use of ICS could create a lack of accountability, poor communications, an unsystematic planning process and a failure to reach the desired objective, and the inability to efficiently integrate responders into standard organizational structures and roles (Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, 2013). Since the creation of the ICS has been around for more than 40 years, the concept of the ICS is built on best practices and these practices all stem from lessons learned over the
years.
The use of management best practices regarding the ICS will help to ensure the safety of responders at the scene, achieving response objectives, and the efficient use of resources. The ICS has ben tested in emergency and nonemergency applications by all levels of the government, to include those in the nongovernmental and private sector organizations and it has proven to be effective during emergency operations. The ICS can be used in a number of incidents of any type to include planned events and its applicable to all hazards that may arise such as natural disasters, technological hazards, or human caused incidents such as criminal or terrorist acts.
Ensuring the ICS works relies upon effective incident management with a tight command and control atmosphere especially when managing resources, making decisions, and assigning tasks during pivotal moments of an incident. Even though information is exchanged freely through the ICS structure, strict adherence must be paid to this top-down management approach when managing incidents in the field (Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, 2013). The effectiveness and efficient response to an incident must be a commitment to follow the proper use of command and control tactics at all times.
If a planned event such as the Presidential Inauguration were to take place, the ICS would be used during this momentous event. In November of 2012, the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) integrated the ICS into the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) during the Presidential Inauguration. HSEMA developed position job aids and conducted workshops for each EOC position, as well as conducted team-training workshops and coordinated two functional exercises where the ICS was used and exercised throughout the year (Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency, 2014).
The use of the ICS during this even is tremendous because it relies heavily upon the ability to communicate across all jurisdictions assisting with the event. The principles of the ICS rely on standardization of common terminology, proper use of the Chain of Command structure, integrated communications, and manageable span of control. Communications within the ICS is crucial during any event because the goal is to promote understanding among all parties involved in the managing of an incident.
When the use of plain language is utilized, it eliminates other agencies and departments from using terms and acronyms that might be unfamiliar to those in the field. Terms such as 10-codes or even simple acronyms can have different meaning to other agencies and departments, which could bring about more confusion and delayed response in an emergency. It is very important to always utilize plain language when relaying traffic in person or communicating via radio with various agencies and departments because in the event that a disaster would to occur, responders need to act quickly in order to be effective in their response.
The next ICS principle relies upon the proper use of the Chain of Command during an emergency because this defines who is in charge of a situation and it clearly defines how information should be relayed in this structure, which is a top-bottom and vice-versa style of approach. The chain of command allows for incident commanders to direct and control the actions of all personnel under their supervisor, avoids confusion by requiring orders to flow from supervisors, and provides the basis of a rank structure similar to many Armed branched of the service (Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, 2013). The chain of command will never prevent personnel from directly communicating with each other to request or share information pertinent to the emergency as this allows for a better team building structure across multiple jurisdictions at the scene.
If for example jurisdictions were faced with a terrorist threat or attack, the incident commander through the use of the chain of command, will direct personnel where and how to respond to the situation. Utilizing this principle of the ICS is considered the span and control aspect of a situation. Maintaining the span and control of a situation pertains to the number of individuals or resources, that one supervisor can manage effectively during an incident.
When done properly, effective handling of span and control provides not only safety of all personnel at the scene, but it will ensure accountability is a factor and is a top priority. A terrorist threat or attack can bring about devastation and panic and it might be required for multiple jurisdictions to respond to different areas of the threat zone, thus safety measures and the distance between personnel and resources all influence span of control considerations.
In conclusion, the ICS requires assuming accountability, dispatching and deploying personnel, informing personnel of the situation, assignment, and demobilization. Each phase of the ICS is designed to create a functioning system that agencies and departments can utilize regardless of the situation. The ICS will only work if guiding principles and features are put forth in a seamless fashion and when done correctly, operations in the field and those managing the situation from within the division will provide effective results and manageable goals in the end.