Incident Commander Essay

It should be a customary practice to set up an IMS (Incident Management System) and have a designated incident commander during any event where continuous attention and significant resources are needed to save lives, property, communities, and preserve evidence during an incident. The use of an incident command allows for strategic decisions to be made and what necessary resources are wanted to preserve life and property (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1999). During an attack involving the use of WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction), it is imperative that the IMS be set up to ensure that the scene is managed by a single person (Incident Commander) to avoid any confusion on who is in charge and making the necessary judgment calls. This incident commander should also try to minimize the incident by choosing one or two radio frequencies for certain (plain talk) radio traffic, to avoid confusion. When first responders respond to a terrorist attack involving WMD’s, a priority should be to figure out what the hazards are and
where they are found, so that the scene can be properly controlled. An incident commander should be named at once with both law enforcement and fire services. This will certainly change to a joint incident command in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) with an event of this scale.
An incident commander allows manageable span of control over an incident.
If the incident is complex and has multiple scenes, creating more than one division of command that will report to a single, overall incident commander, should be considered. The nature of the attack and type of weapon (mechanical, biological, chemical, nuclear/radiological) will have a significant impact on patient care. If there is concern that secondary contamination is likely, citizens will need to be sheltered in place until proper decontamination zones and CCP’s (Casualty Collection Points) have been organized. Depending on the size of the attack and number of casualties, triage areas should be set up until further medical evaluation can be directed. The incident command post and its personnel, should be positioned where they will not become victims of a secondary attack or collapsed buildings, and should be upwind from the scene of a chemical or biological
hazard.
Once an incident has been found to be a terrorist event involving WMD, the first incident commander that was chosen will more than likely relinquish his/her responsibilities, and the incident will be moved to a JOC (Joint Operation Center), where joint incident command will take place including decision makers from many different agencies that will all have a significant role in bringing the incident to a successful resolution. There is a necessity to share information with the proper agencies, either in preparation for a terrorist event or responding to one. The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and other federal agencies will need to have distinct knowledge of the circumstances to deliver resources, and if necessary, lead the investigation (Newman et al., 2008). The key players involved and the processes that must be followed, should have already been discussed prior to the incident and part of the EOP (Emergency Operation Plan) for the city, county, or state.