STORY TYPE: Homeland Responder Brief #120

SEGMENT TITLE: NIMS/ICS 100: An introduction to the Incident Command System (ICS)

TRANSCRIPT:
Leonard Deonarine, Certified NIMS/ICS Instructor and Consultant:

ICS is a standardized, on-scene, all-hazard incident management concept. It allows users to adopt an integrated organizational structure to match the complexities and demands of single or multiple incidents without being hindered by jurisdictional boundaries.By using management Best Practices, ICS helps to ensure the safety of responders and others; the achievement of tactical objectives; the efficient use of resources. Remember we are all working to save lives, protect property, and to save the environment.ICS has considerable internal flexibility. It can grow or shrink to meet different needs. This flexibility makes it a very cost-effective and efficient management approach for both small and large situations.Before we go too much further, this would be a good time to give you a little background information. To understand where we are now, you have to know where ICS came from:The Incident Command System (ICS) was developed in the 1970s following a series of catastrophic fires in California's urban interface. Property damage ran into the millions, and many people died or were injured.

The personnel assigned to determine the causes of this disaster studied the case histories and discovered that response problems could rarely be attributed to lack of resources or failure of tactics. Surprisingly, studies found that response problems were far more likely to result from inadequate management than from any other single reason. When it came to weaknesses in incident management, here's what the study cited as contributing causes:

• Lack of Accountability
• Poor Communication
• Lack of a Planning Process
• Overloaded Incident Commanders
• No Method to Integrate Interagency Requirements

- ICS is designed to be interdisciplinary and organizationally flexible.

- ICS meets the needs of incidents of any kind or size.

- It allows personnel from a variety of agencies to meld rapidly into a common management structure.

- It provides logistical and administrative support to operational staff.

- It also saves money by avoiding duplication of efforts.

Manageable Span of Control: Manageable span of control is essential to successful operations in incident command. I personally have my own management style when it comes to small emergencies I've developed over time. I'm sure your have a personal incident management style of your own you've developed over time. I call mine the star technique. When something goes wrong on the home front, or in small business situations, I step forward to center stage and take charge of the event. I give instructions and orders in each key direction, telling people exactly what I want to get done. For an incident or event where there are only two to three direct reports, it's a small more routine event, that works very well. The problem is as the event gets larger, as there's more stress involved, as resources escalate, that will not work. Because of the problem of span of control. It's a management principle that is well documented. You can only control something in the area of three to seven direct reports, activities, functions or resources. Beyond that you become overwhelmed and cannot effectively manage those resources. Some resources are over-utilized and wear out, and other resources you'll ignore or you lose track of. Following good span of control guidelines means that, based on the type of incident, the nature of the tasks, and the hazards or safety factors impacting, you may have to select a smaller span of control. Going from the seven down closer to the three as far as the number of subordinates. In order to get there you simple appoint more supervisors below you so that less people are impacting you directly with reports, and issues, problems and concerns. Span of control is a key principle of successful incident management.

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