What Is Incident Command System?

The QPS ICS model is based on five interlocking functional roles. These roles are Command, Operations, Planning, Intelligence and Administration and Logistics. Depending on the size and nature of the incident the five roles can be carried out by a single officer or an incident management team with a Police Forward Commander (PFC) who will have overall supervision. (QPS2013a).

The assistance provided for the purpose of helping the victims of a disaster rebuild their homes to the same living conditions they had lived in before the disaster, FEMA assisted 130,000 middle income and low income families rebuild after the Northridge earthquake (Eugene, 2010). FEMA also assisted with the coordinated the response of 27 federal agencies that were involved in the recovery process. The FEMA United States Fire Administration student manual “ICS-300: Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents” (2013) refers to this type of command structure within the Incident Command System is defined as a “Unified Command”. The Unified Command type of management system allows for multiple agencies to work together to plan and strategize but most importantly to be able to collect resources from each agency without having to go through extra steps. This coordination was said to have had a huge benefit by being able to get the funding for repairs and to be able to decrease the time frames set to repair and rebuild the infrastructure (highways and roadways) needed to the get the city moving again. (DeBlasio et al,.

Public safety integration occurs horizontally at the local, state and federal levels of government, and integration also occurs vertically between respective public safety entities at the local, state and federal levels of government. ICS requires a common communications plan and interoperable communications processes and architectures (Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA, 2013). Additionally, ICS states

In the Disaster in Franklin County simulation (Regents of the University of Minnesota [UMN], 2006), there were several key personnel in the incident command team. This concept is utilized in real disasters when the Public

Having adequate resources, including personnel, equipment, and water is essential to a successful operation. Improper implementation of the ICS system, as well as not having accountability for the firefighters involved in a fire as large as the Pawtucket event, are serious safety issues that could have proved disastrous for the firefighters in this incident. Safety is the first rule in firefighting with the end goal that everyone goes

The strong State and Federal Government presence in Oklahoma City helped the response-and-rescue effort. For example, immediately following the explosion, the Oklahoma City Fire Department set up an Incident Command System (ICS) to manage the

The ICS will also help reduce panic with use of proper evacuation and crowd control techniques (Phoenix Police, 2016). Keeping control during an emergency helps show the public that things are under control. COOP on the federal level has been a part of the executive branch and is ready to respond to incidents of weapons of mass destruction. These incidents are different from national disasters because it is a federal crime so federal, local, and or state police agents will be involved collecting and preserving evidence (Publicresourceorg,

Supplies could be needed in one area, but without communication that area might not be able to reach out for those supplies. Communication amongst first responders is important for information sharing, so that information can flow between different jurisdictions and agencies. When looking at the efforts of first responders, communication is the one constant variable, which without communication all efforts would be in vain. (Newman & Clarke, 2008) The National Incident Management System (NIMS) places an emphasis on the importance of communication when dealing with response efforts. The National Incident Management System shows how having a unified command systems can benefit the response efforts to disaster. However, without proper and efficient communication, a unified command system cannot proceed efficiently.

Emergency services face vast difficulties in the operations field when handling emergency situations, whether it comes from handling a minor accident to a catastrophic catastrophy. Many of the difficulties do not come from the actual incident, but instead they arise from forming a rescue team containing different agencies and people. For the benefit off all individuals participating, it is imperative that there be a unified command structure in place to effectively coordinate and oversee the tasks that need to be accomplished. The need of a unified command was seen from the hardships faced in incidents, bringing forth the development of the Incident Command System that was designed to be used in an array of conditions, to bring all

49). In order for all of the leaders of the different infrastructures to be successful at eliminating or mitigating such attacks they will need a common form of communication as all of their systems have been proven to affect each other. One tool to help eliminate such communication barriers is the National Incident Management System (NIMS). This system “is a standardized management plan that provides a core set of concepts for incident command and multi-agency coordination during emergency response” (Kamien, 2012, p. 486). With such systems as NIMS the government realized that no one system can work without the other and if one fails they all fail causing wide spread panic and various other hurdles for emergency responders to respond to. It is up to the government to realize that our world is no longer ran manually, but rather digitally so that we can better prepare for possible cyber attacks on our key critical infrastructures.

As the Disaster Coordinator for the city I am responsible for ensuring the public safety and welfare of the citizens within the city's jurisdiction. This requires me to have a full understanding on my role and responsibilities for managing disaster response and employing resources in order to save lives, protect property, the environment. Additionally I’m tasked to preserve the less tangible but equally important social, economic and political structures. My first reaction was to alert the regional Joint Terrorism Task Force to prepare them for possible activation. Next it is vital to gain situational awareness and develop a Common Operating Picture (COP). This COP is the who, what, where, when and how as it relates to the incident. Situational awareness starts at the incident site and includes continuous monitoring of reporting channels to gain

The book, “National Incident Management System: Principles and Practice,” by Dr. Donald W. Walsh, Dr. Hank T. Christen, Christian E. Callsen, Geoffrey T. Miller, Paul M. Maniscalco, Graydon C. Lord, and Neal J. Dolan, describes ICS as, “…a system for domestic incident management that is based on an expandable, flexible structure…” (Walsh, et al., 2012, p. 12). Due to this flexibility, Walsh et al. state that ICS is commonly used by all levels of government as well as by a number of non-governmental agencies and the private sector. ICS is structured around five sections. These sections are command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration (Walsh, et al., 2012,

The NIMS model of incident Command Systems (ICS) will be used as the framework for all responses to hazardous material releases. This will allow flexibility to rapidly activate and establish an organizational structure around the functions that need to be performed to efficiently mitigate an incident (Washoe County LEPC, 2006).

2. Situational Assessment. Once the Incident Commander arrives on the scene, s/he will need to assess the emergency quickly. Is there still a threat to the general population? Are the casualties identified or does Search & Rescue need to be mobilized? The IC needs to come up with a game plan to save lives, protect property and the environment, meet basic human needs, and stabilize the situation. 5

Establishing the incident command system is first and foremost. The system establishes a common organizational structure that is conducive for different types of agencies as well as multiple jurisdictions to be able to effectively work together in response to the situation. The components of this system include the Incident Commander, who oversees all aspects of the disaster response, operations, planning, logistics and finance/administrative (Briggs & Twomey, 2003).