Communication and Coordination

Introduction to the Incident Command System

1.   What is IMS?

2.   What is ICS?

a.   Functional areas

b.   Staffing structure

3.   The 14 IMS principles

 

Welcome! In this section of the course, we’ll be talking about the Incident Management System or IMS. We’ll also learn about the Incident Command System or ICS.

 

As a leader in your organization, you may have experience with the IMS and the ICS in your own work. For purposes of Communication and Coordination, these two systems are critical to success.

 

The learning objective of this Module is to provide you with a foundational understanding of the ICS and IMS structure and operations. And how they fit together.

 

We’ll review the importance of the ICS and IMS in managing public health emergencies – and how they can be adapted and scaled to help coordinate the many moving parts of a response.

 

We’ll also discuss the ICS in the context of the IMS. They are not the same thing.

 

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

 

1)   Describe the ICS and the IMS;

2)   Define the five major functional areas within the ICS;

3)    Explain the 14 ICS principles; and

4)   Design a basic ICS structure in your country context

Let’s talk about the Incident Management System.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency defines the IMS as the combination of:

 ·         Facilities;

·         Equipment;

·         Personnel;

·         Procedures; and

·         Communications

 

operating within a common organizational structure, designed to aid in the management of resources during incidents or emergencies. (National Incident Management System, 2017)

 

The key words here are: ‘common organizational structure.’ The IMS is the roadmap that keeps everyone in the response on the same page, so to speak.

 

In any emergency, regardless of size, there are key management functions that must be undertaken. The IMS approach provides a framework that is standardized and, at the same time, flexible to the needs of the event.

 

Under the IMS structure, the question isn’t, “Who’s in charge?”

The question instead is, “Who’s in charge OF WHAT?”

 

The IMS is organized into three major areas:(National Incident Command System, 2018)

 

·         Resource management

·         Command and Coordination – including the Incident Command System

·         Communications and Information Management

Interestingly, the ICS approach came to being as a coordination tool to serve the needs of fire and police departments. In the early 1970s, the West Coast of the United States was suffering from a series of devastating wildfires.

Both governmental and non-governmental agencies sought to help in the response. But there was no common system to support their cooperation. Each agency and organization had its own approach and structure.

 

As you can imagine, this resulted in quite a bit of confusion and miscommunication. Of course, the responders had the best of intentions. But there was no structure in place to ensure that everyone knew his or her roles and responsibilities.

 

An organization of fire chiefs and emergency personnel decided to apply a military management hierarchy to create an integrated framework for participants in the response.

 

Thus, the Incident Command System – or ICS – was born. The ICS provides guidance for how to organize assets and processes to manage non-emergency and emergency events.

 

The ICS was originally created to address:

 

·         Lack of common organization;

·         Poor on-scene inter-agency communications;

·         Inadequate joint planning;

·         Lack of valid and timely intelligence;

·         Inadequate resource management; and

·         Narrow prediction capability. (National Incident Command System, 2018)

 

It is important to note that the ICS is not limited to big operations. As those of you in leadership positions know, the ICS structure is appropriate for managing all types of internal events.

 

It’s a structure that applies in most every emergency situation that requires the coordination of different actors in the pursuit of the same goal.

 

During an emergency, your hospital’s ICS may become part of a larger IMS structure. Your organization’s ICS may become part of a larger national IMS structure. And your country ICS could become part of a global WHO IMS. 

 

So it’s extremely important that the ICS structure at every level is in alignment with the ICS structures of partners.

 

 

We often see the ICS in the context of an organization chart. But it’s much more than an organizational chart. The ICS structure is determined only after key decisions have been made about responding to the event or emergency. For example:

 

·         What are the objectives of the response?

·         What needs to be done to achieve those objectives?

·         What resources are in place to facilitate the achievement of the objectives?

 

The ICS specifies an organizational structure for incident management that integrates and coordinates a combination of procedures, personnel, equipment, facilities, and communications. (National Incident Command System, 2018)

 

The ICS is based on five major functional areas:

 

·         Command

o   The Incident Command sets the objectives and strategies. They have overall responsibility for the management of the incident.

 

·         Operations

o   This functional area conducts operations to reach the incident objectives.

 

·         Planning

o   This area tracks resources, collects and analyzes information, and maintains accurate documentation of events

 

·         Logistics

o   The Logistics area is responsible for arranging resources and services to support the achievement of the incident objectives.

o   Resources include people, equipment, teams, supplies and facilities.

 

·         Finance/administration

o   Here’s the wallet. This functional area monitors costs related to the response – including accounting, procurement, time recording and cost analyses.

 

The command structure is organized around an Incident Commander. He or she is the one who has the authority to establish objectives, make assignments, and manage resources.

 

Let’s remember that the ‘incident’ doesn’t have to be a large operation to apply ICS principles. Let’s say you come upon an auto accident on the street. There are no emergency services around. You make a decision to act. You are therefore the Incident Commander.

 

You may ultimately call upon support staff in one of the five functional areas – Command; Operations; Planning; Logistics; and Finance. But you are the Incident Commander.

 

It does not take a fluorescent vest or a clipboard to be an Incident Commander.

 

The Incident Commander is the only position that is always staffed under the ICS structure. He or she is responsible for all ICS functional areas until he or she delegates one of the functions to someone else.

 

 

As you are now the Incident Commander of the auto accident, you must make decisions:

 

·         What are the objectives of the response?

·         What needs to be done to achieve those objectives?

·         What resources are in place to facilitate the achievement of the objectives?

 

Since no one is hurt, you decide that the priority objective is to get the car off the road. So what must you do – as Incident Commander – to achieve this objective? What resources need to be in place?

 

Let’s say you need a truck to tow the damaged auto off the road. So you may say to a passerby, “Could you kindly call a towing company to come get this car off the road?”

 

You have now delegated the role of arranging resources to your new Logistics Chief. The Logistics Chief then calls the towing company, which will provide the resources to achieve the objective of getting the car off the road.

 

The tow truck driver becomes your Operations Chief because he is tasked with the tactical operation of achieving the objective of getting the car off the road.

 

If you had not organized your response around the objective of getting the car off the road, you may have had different results. If you had said, for example, “There’s been an auto accident! I need all the help I can get!”

 

You may have ended up with a group of schoolchildren on bicycles – people who want to help but don’t know how. And who may not have the skills or tools you need.

 

The auto accident scene may grow in complexity, but the basic ICS structure will accommodate it. As you can see, the ICS structure is adaptable to specific needs.

 

But the objective must be clearly articulated from the beginning.

 

In every case, the Incident Commander is responsible for ensuring the overall safety of the incident, establishing and maintaining liaisons with other agencies participating in the incident, and providing information to stakeholders.

 

Command Staff carry out functions to support the Incident Commander. These positions include:

 

·         the Public Information Officer;

·         Safety Officer; and

·         Liaison Officer.

 

The General Staff consists of staffing for each of the functional areas. They support each individual functional areas of the Incident Command structure. Section Chiefs provides leadership on each single functional area.(National Incident Management System, 2017)

 

·         Command

 

·         Operations

 

·         Planning

 

·         Logistics

 

·         Finance/administration

 

The Incident Management System – or IMS – is the bigger umbrella over the ICS structure. It guides all levels of stakeholders during an emergency – with shared processes, systems and vocabulary. The IMS allows multiple agencies to coordinate command in a disaster situation.

 

The foundation of incident command and coordination under the IMS includes these 14 characteristics: (National Incident Management System, 2017)

 

Before we go any further, let’s all agree that if you’re not using all 14 principles in your preparedness and response activities, you’re not using the Incident Command System. You can’t pick and choose which of these principles to apply – either in preparedness or response. It’s necessary to apply them all. Here are the 14 principles:

 

·         Common Terminology

o   This ensures that everyone uses the consistent terminology to describe common elements in the response.

 

o   ISC itself requires a common terminology.

 

o   If you tell me you’ve got an Incident Command System in place, our common terminology tells me that we’re talking about the same thing.

 

o   We’re talking about the same 14 principles organized around the same functional areas for

o   Command;

o   Planning;

o   Logistics;

o   Operations: and

o   Finance and administration.

 

·         Modular Organization

o   Remember earlier we talked about how ICS must be flexible to the needs of the event.

o   Modular organization allows adaptable responses based on an incident’s size, complexity and risk of hazard.

o   From the national level down the community level, ICS is modular and adaptable.

o   Even in managing a car accident.

 

·         Management by Objectives

o   The ICS is driven by stated SMART objectives – strategic, measurable, achievable (and action-oriented)

o   Then the objectives drive the development of strategies, tactics, and tasks needed in the response.

o   Organizing the IMS response by objective also helps to develop and issue assignments, plans, and protocols.

 

·         Incident Action Planning

o   Every incident should have an action plan.

o   Action plans provide a concise and consistent means of capturing information and communicating objectives.

o   Action plans are not always formal, written documents.

o   However, complex emergencies require written action plans to maintain unity of effort and operations.

 

·         Manageable Span of Control

o   Incident management requires a balance of personnel leadership and staff.

o   U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines recommend that the optimal span of control is one supervisor to 5 subordinates.

o   Of course this is just a guideline. The actual ratios may be much different depending on the situation.

 

·         Incident Facilities and Locations

o   Depending on the nature of the emergency, IMS planning may call for the establishment of locations such as triage areas, staging areas, emergency shelters and distribution points.

o   These are usually separate and apart from the EOC.

 

·         Comprehensive Resource Management

o   These are standard mechanisms to identify requirements, order and track resources

o   Resources may include personnel, equipment, teams, supplies and facilities.

o   For example, an up-to-date inventory and restocking of resources is critical to IMS management

 

·         Integrated Communications

o   Integrated communications are critical in facilitating information sharing, maintaining connectivity, and achieving situational awareness.

o   A common communications plan is one of the most useful tools in your toolbox.

 

·         Establishment and Transfer of Command

o    As we learned earlier, the Command function should be clearly established at the beginning of an incident.

o   The organization tasked with primary responsibility for the incident designates the Incident Commander.

o   When there is a transfer of command, the process should allow for a comprehensive briefing to ensure continuity and safe operations.

 

·         Unified Command

o   A unified command is established when no single jurisdiction, agency or organization has the authority or resources to manage the incident on their own.

o   Unified command allows agencies with different functional responsibilities to work together without impacting their individual agency authority, responsibility or accountability.

 

·         Chain of Command

o   The chain of command is the orderly flow of authority through the hierarchy of the IMS.

o   It allows the Incident Commander to direct and control the flow of actions taken during the response.

 

·         Unity of Command

o   Unity of command means that all people involved in the response have one designated supervisor they report to.

o   The same supervisor is also the only one to provide work assignments.

 

·         Accountability

o   As part of the ICS structure, everyone must abide by a standard set of policies and guidelines.

o   ICS counts on all involved to take personal responsibility for their own actions.

o   Supervisors must record and report resource status changes as they occur.

 

·         Dispatch/Deployment

o    Resources should be deployed only when they are requested or dispatched by an appropriate authority through established resource management systems.

o   Resources include people.

o   So should people show up at an incident without being requested or dispatched?

 

·         Information and Intelligence Management

o   Incident management must establish a process for gathering, analyzing, sharing, and managing incident-related information and intelligence.

 

The IMS approach is internationally recognized as best practice for emergency management. (WHO Emergency Response Framework, 2017) It is scalable to events of every size, and it provides a roadmap for successful collaboration and cooperation.

 

Thank you for joining us for this part of the course. Next up: We’ll talk about IMS in the context of public health emergencies. Thank you again for joining us.

 

 

 

References

 

National Incident Command System. (2018).  Retrieved from https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/icsresource/assets/ics review document.pdf.

National Incident Management System. (2017). Federal Emergency Management Agency Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1508151197225-ced8c60378c3936adb92c1a3ee6f6564/FINAL_NIMS_2017.pdf

.

WHO Emergency Response Framework. (2017). Geneva: World Health Organization.