Incident Command System - Term Paper Example

 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Reasons for an Incident Command system 3 Unity of Command 3 Common Terminology and Quick Response 3 Management and Clarity of Objectives 4 Flexible Disaster Management with ICS 4 Effective Span of Control 4 Integrated Communication and Information Flow 5 Levels of Command 5 Incident Commander 5 Command Staff 5 Safety Officer 5 Public Information Officer 5 Liaison 6 General Staff 6 Operation Section Chief 6 Planning Section Chief 6 Finance Section chief 6 Logistics Section Chief 6 Effective Action Plan 7 Declaration of an emergency 8 Asses and analyze the situation 8 Scene Management 8 Identification of staging Area and creation of Command Structure 9 Incident Command Post 9 Staging Area 10 Base 10 Command & Control system 10 Establishing communication Channels 10 Roles and Responsibilities of different Public Agencies 10 Police 10 Fire Brigade 11 Ambulance Service 11 Local Authority 11 Environmental agencies 12 Utility Companies 12 Media Liaisons 12 Holding Statements 12 Liaison on the Scene 12 Other Agencies 13 Bibliography 13 Introduction Most major incidents can be classified under different stages. These stages include the initial response, the phase of consolidation, the recovery phase and the restoration of normality. It is during the initial response and consolidation that maximum confusion occurs at the scene of the incident. A proper command structure is required to maintain order during these initial stages and ensure the safety of the public and others involved in managing the disaster. Source: (LESLP, 2007) Incident Command system may be defined as a set of policies, procedures, equipments, facilities and personnel who provide an integrated response to an emergency situation under an integrated command structure. (Murphy, 1998).Incident Command Structure provides a first line of defense against any major incident that has occurred. It has been formulated to ensure effective utilization of resources during an emergency. Its main characteristics are fast response and limiting the damage which has occurred due to any disaster. The people who form part of the incident command structure may be drawn from different agencies who do not usually work together but respond to a unified command during the time of an emergency.ICS is the first response to many major incidents which has taken place. It provides an effective organizational structure under which different agencies can work together to provide an effective response to and disaster. Reasons for an Incident Command system Unity of Command Large scale incidents like the one which occurred in buncefield requires response from various agencies. These agencies have to provide relief to the people. There scope of operations is also different from each other. As these agencies usually do not work with each other, there is a scope for conflicting orders being received from different supervisors.ICS (Incident Command System) eliminates this conflict. It provides a unified command system with clear lines of authority being provided. A single command structure during a crisis increases accountability of the concerned parties provides equitable distribution of resources among the various agencies involved in relief work, prevents contradictory orders, improves the flow of information and enhances operational safety. Unity of Command is the fundamental criteria to the ICS chain of command structure. (Walsh, 2005) Common Terminology and Quick Response A major incident like the fire which occurred in Buncefield requires the co-ordination and efforts of different agencies to mitigate. These agencies have different protocols and hence they use different terminology to refer to the same incident. Any confusion arising from such miscommunication can be fatal during such a major incident as time is of prime importance in fighting a major incident like an oil field fire. When different organizations are involved in relief work, the use of a common terminology is essential for proper cohesion among the different team members and to ensure a quick response to the incident .Procedural formalities and delays in understanding what the other agency is trying to say can result in loss of precious lives and delay in fighting against the disaster. Incident Command Structure provides a common glossary to all the different parties involved .This provides uniformity in the names of various resources and how they can be organized and utilized. Use of common terminology is most evident in titles of command in the ICS such as Incident Commander or Section Officer. (Cooper, 2005) Management and Clarity of Objectives Different organizations such as police and fire services have different objectives. These objectives may be at variance from each other at a particular point of time. In normal circumstances different supervisors will give importance to their objectives at the cost of overall objective of containment of the disaster. As the resources are limited, there needs to be a prioritization of objectives. Some objectives which are very important for an organization may not be that important at the time of disaster management. Incident Command System ensures that a proper priority among various objectives is maintained. It eliminates confusion among the different agencies as to which are the most important objectives for disaster management and where should the maximum resources be deployed. (Murphy, 1998) Flexible Disaster Management with ICS ICS is organized in such a way that it remains highly flexible in order to modify itself according to the dynamic needs at the time of a disaster. The command structure can be contracted or expanded as may be needed by the scope of the incident, hazards in managing the disaster of limited availability of resources during disaster management. Incident Command is usually established by the unit which arrives first at the scene of the incident. It works on the principal of activating only those posts which are required at the time .More posts are activated or removed as the need arises. The full ICS organization is usually staffed in the most severe of the incidents. (Erickson, 1999) Effective Span of Control ICS stipulates that any particular individual should not be made supervisor of more than 7 personnel during a disaster. If more that these numbers of people are reporting to the individual he is over worked and over loaded with responsibilities which can lead to fatigue and breakdown. The quality of decisions needed during an emergency is very high.ICS ensures this quality of decisions.It suggests a creation of an additional post if the span of a supervisor is more than 7 people. It also suggests the dissolution of a post if the span of people under his control is less than 3 people. This flexibility if the Incident Command Structure ensures that personnel involved in an emergency situation like the oilfield fire are neither overworked nor are they sitting idle at the time when every single resource needs to be effectively utilized. (International Association of Fire Chiefs, 2008) Integrated Communication and Information Flow ICS ensures that there is uniformity in the flow of information from the disaster site to the different agencies involved. It is said that the any disaster can be controlled by mankind if there is enough information. Disasters are usually made bigger than they are by miscommunication and wring information flowing around. It creates rumors which are detrimental to effective disaster management.ICS ensures that information flows through a unified command structure which ensures that all the different agencies involved are on the same page and know exactly what needs to be done. (Phelan, 2008) Levels of Command Incident Commander Most major incidents involve a single incident commander. Although some may require 2 commanders in case the incident cannot be handled by one. Once of these is usually made an assistant incident commander to maintain the unified command structure. Incident commander is the final decision authority in disaster management. Sometimes in place of a single incident commander, a unified command body is created at the top which consists of representatives from different organizations involved in disaster management. This structure is not encouraged which constitutes a decision making body at the top as it defeats the purpose of quick reaction at the time of disaster. If the disaster is spread over a large area; then it might be feasible to create multiple area commanders who handle different areas where disaster has struck. These area commanders should also report to a commander at the top who should manage resource allocation among the different area commanders. Command Staff Safety Officer Safety Officer reports to the incident commander and is responsible for ensuring the safety of all the personnel who are working to mitigate the disaster. Public Information Officer Public information officer is the single point of information for all involved in the disaster management. He provides information to all external agencies such as media and also the internal agencies who are involved in the work of managing the disaster. Liaison A liaison acts as the single point of contact for all agencies that are not part of the ICS but are helping in disaster management. His job is to coordinate these different agencies so that there is no repetition of efforts and no wastage of resources among the organizations which are trying to help in maintaining order and solving the problem. General Staff Operation Section Chief He is the head of operations which are involved during the disaster. He is usually given a set of objectives from the command staff and the incident commander which are to be achieved in a given time frame to reduce the effect of the disaster. He has to give directions to all the agencies and personnel involved in order to meet these objectives. Planning Section Chief His main responsibilities include finding out about the status of all the resources which are available to the command structure for disaster mitigation and also to report the overall status of the incident. Finance Section chief Finance section chief is responsible for maintaining a record of all the costs which have been incurred during the management of the disaster. He also has the responsibility of arranging finances from the concerned authorities in case there is any shortage of funds during the management of the disaster. Logistics Section Chief He has the responsibility of arranging all the resources and support required by the various agencies during the disaster. Below the General Staff are the various divisions which are arranged and formed according to different situations and disasters. A sample command structure is shown below which can be used for disaster management in incidents such as the one which occurred in Buncefield. Source: (Cooper, 2005) Effective Action Plan An Incident action plan ensures that everyone is working towards the same goal in order to solve the problems arising out of the disaster and there is no miscommunication among the various agencies involved in the disaster management. An effective incident plan consists of different measurable strategic objectives which have to be achieved in a limited time frame which is called as the operational period. The action plan is usually prepared by the planning section. Incident action plan should be effectively able to answer the following four questions – a) Objectives of the disaster management team which should be measurable. B) Division of Responsibilities among the different members and agencies involved. c) Communication among the agencies. d) Procedures for safety of personnel involved in disaster management. The following action plan could have been implemented in the case of fire at Buncefield Declaration of an emergency It is the responsibility of the first officers who arrive at the scene to assess the situation and see if a declaration of emergency is required. Once an emergency is declared by an officer Incident command system needs to be put in lace now. The senior most officers at the scene assume the role of the incident commander until he is relieved of his duties by another senior officer. Asses and analyze the situation After analyzing the emergency situation and declaration of emergency, the first officers who arrive at the scene need to collect as much information as possible from the scene. This information needs to be transferred to command control quickly to facilitate relief work later. The information which needs to be collected includes the approximate number of dead and injured possible hazards at the scene of the incident which the safety personnel should be aware of, various access routes which can be used by different emergency services and which are the best routes for them to access the site quickly and easily. Type of the incident and the type of damage which the incident has caused needs to be conveyed by these officers. They also need to asses various types of emergency services which might be required to fight the disaster and they should contact these emergency services and call them at the site of the disaster. This initial assessment needs to be provided by the first officers on the scene .This assessment might change as more senior officers arrive at the scene but it provides a basic framework of the procedures which need to be followed and the risks involved in managing the incident. It also gives an indication of the size of the incident and all the resources which will be required to fight the disaster. Scene Management Managing the scene is the second most important job of the agency and the officers which arrive first on the scene. Various levels of cordons should be established by the officers. These cordons are essential in order to guard the scene , protect the public who has been engulfed in the disaster and the public which is outside , control the sightseers , prevent unauthorized access which might hamper with the relief work , facilitate the investigation of the incident , facilitate and coordinate the various emergency services which may be required at the scène. Different cordons need to be established according to the need of the situation. An example of how various cordons needs to be established is given here – Source: (LESLP, 2007) Identification of staging Area and creation of Command Structure After cordoning off the area where the incident has occurred, the next step should be to find area near the sites which can be used for different facilities required to fight the disaster. Incident Command Post The first step should be creating an incident command post. This is the place where the incident commander operates from and gives directions. The command post may be located in a vehicle, tent, trailer or a building but it should be created immediately and the senior most officers at the scene should be given responsibility of incident commander till a more senior officer arrives at the scene. (Murphy, 1998) Staging Area Staging area is created where tactical resources are stationed as they wait for orders and deployment during disaster. Some incidents may require more than one staging area. This decision should be taken immediately by the incident commander and the staging area should not be changed unless it is absolutely essential to do so. Base Base is an area from where logistic support is provided to the entire operation. It should be near to the staging area and should be well connected to the outside world. It should have easy access to both the incident site and outside resources for effective management and providing of resources for disaster management. Command & Control system Once staging areas and base have been identified by the incident commander, he should quickly assign responsibilities to other officers. Incident Commander should select the main officers required for disaster management like safety officer, public information officer, liaison, operation chief, planning chief, logistics chief and the finance chief. Once these officers have been selected by the incident commander; they should be provided with clear objectives which each of them needs to achieve in a limited time frame. Each officer then should be responsible for creating his own command structure below him and translating the objectives given to him to the team below him. Command and control system should be established as quickly as possible to prevent duplication of efforts and reduce confusion at the site. (Somerset County Council, 2006) Establishing communication Channels Once the command and control structure has been established a unified communication channel needs to be created by the officers assigned the responsibilities .This communication channel needs to be created by them to ensure the smooth flow of information among the different agencies which are involved in the disaster management. Roles and Responsibilities of different Public Agencies Different agencies are involved in managing a disaster of large size such as the one which occurred at Buncefield. Various agencies which will be involved and their roles in disaster management are listed below – Police Police is usually the first respondent in the case of any emergency. The first incident commander is also a police officer. The various responsibilities of police officers at the scene are – (Berry, 2008) Saving life of citizens with the help of other emergency services. Cordoning of the area in order to ensure smooth functioning and creation of the Incident command System Prevention of Crime and to maintain law and order at the site of the incident. Short term measures in order to restore some sort of normalcy in the area so that rescue work can be carried out unhindered. Collection and distribution of information regarding the damage to property and loss of lives and injuries to people. Investigation of the incident and to find the cause of the incident tills some other committee or provisions are made for investigation by higher authorities. Arrest and prosecution of people who might be involved in the creation of the disaster or who try to sabotage the relief work. Fire Brigade Responsibilities of fire brigade at the sight of incident are – (Head of Modernization , Newport Local Health board, 2007) Fire fighting and bringing the fire under control at the sight of the incident Fire Department should assume the responsibility of ensuring safe working conditions for all the personnel who are involved in disaster management in the inner cordon. Hazmat services should also be the responsibility of the fire department. They should ensure that workers involved in disaster management are properly protected against any hazardous substances and materials at the site. Search and rescue of people trapped in the incident. Ambulance Service To make sure that deceased and injured people are taken to the nearest health care facility available. Emergency Treatment at the site of injured people. To link with local hospitals and provide them information of the services required. (Somerset County Council, 2006) Local Authority Provide general support to all the emergency services involved in the work of disaster management. Co-ordinate and direct the efforts of voluntary organizations such as Red-Cross Need to provide for welfare of displaced people and provide all kind of support needed to family of deceased and injured. Once emergency services finish their work, local authorities need to supervise the recovery phase of the incident by creating a recovery working group. Environmental agencies Need to provide guidelines to protect the general public, water bodies in vicinity of the site and the environment as a whole. Will coordinate with the emergency services and provide them help in limiting the harmful consequences on the environment in any. Will help the local authorities in re-establishing normalcy in the environment. Utility Companies All utility companies such as water, electricity need to provide temporary provisions to the emergency services in case some of these utilities have been disrupted due to the incident. They also need to assess the damage done to the utilities and ensure that normal services of these utilities are returned once recovery of the incident has taken place and normalcy returns. Media Liaisons Any major incident will attract a lot of media attention. All types of information will be needed and required by the media. Effective handling of the media is a necessity during such an incident. This prevents any rumors from floating among the public and prevents rumors. Prevention of rumors is essential to ensure the safety of public. It is also essential to ensure that emergency services can carry out their work effectively without being disturbed. Media can also be used by officers to warn the general public and provide them information on what procedures to follow if the incident effects them in nay way. It also provides the people of the casualty figures and the whereabouts of their loved ones if they had been involved or caught in the incident. Holding Statements Once the incident command structure has been created; the public information officer should be responsible of coordinating with the media. He should consult with all the different agencies and officers who are involved in the relief work and give a holding statement to the media which should inform them about the initial state of the incident and what relief work is being carried out. Once the statement has been issued all the agencies involved should be informed of the same to ensure uniformity in the flow of information to the outside world from the site of the incident. Liaison on the Scene Public Information Officer needs to liaison with all the different kinds of media personnel who are present at the site in order to ensure that contentious or contradicting information is not conveyed by the media to the public. Other Agencies If local authorities are involved in the incident, they will normally send their own information officer to the scene. This information officer by any agency should not be working independently but should work along with the Public information officer created in the Incident Command Post. Bibliography Berry, C. (2008). A Guide to emergency Action Planning. North Carolina: N.C Department of Labor . Cooper, D. C. (2005). Fundamentals of search and rescue. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Erickson, P. A. (1999). Emergency response planning for corporate and municipal managers. California: Academic Press. Head of Modernization , Newport Local Health board. (2007). Major Incident Plan. Newport: Newport Local Health Board. International Association of Fire Chiefs. (2008). Fundamentals Of Fire Fighter Skills . Washington D.C.: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. LESLP. (2007). Major Incident Procedure Manual Seventh Edition. London: TSO. Murphy, J. (1998). Rapid Incident Command System. London: PennWell Books. Phelan, T. D. (2008). Emergency Management and Tactical Response Operations: Bridging the Gap . USA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Somerset County Council. (2006). Major Incidents - A Guide for Local business. Somerset County: Somerset County Council. Walsh, D. W. (2005). National incident management system: principles and practice. Washington D.C: Jones & Bartlett Publishers,. Read More