Intermediate Incident Command System for Expanding Incidents: ICS 300 Review, Study notes of Logistics

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ICS Review Document

E XTRACTED FROM - E/L/G 0300 I NTERMEDIATE I NCIDENT COMMAND S YSTEM FOR E XPANDING

I NCIDENTS ,

ICS 300

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• National Incident Management System Table of Contents
  • NIMS Management Characteristics
  • Common Terminology
  • Modular Organization
  • Management by Objectives
  • Incident Action Planning
  • Manageable Span of Control
  • Incident Facilities and Locations
  • Comprehensive Resource Management
  • Integrated Communications
  • Establishment and Transfer of Command
  • Unified Command
  • Chain of Command and Unity of Command
  • Accountability
  • Dispatch/Deployment...................................................................................................
  • Information and Intelligence Management
• ICS History and Features
  • Incident Command System........................................................................................
  • Incident Complexity, Complex Incidents and Incident Complex
  • Position Titles
  • ICS Organizational Structure and Elements
  • Overall Organizational Functions
  • ICS – Who Does What?.............................................................................................
  • Incident Commander
  • Incident Management Team
  • Command Staff
  • General Staff
  • Public Information Officer Responsibilities.................................................................
  • Safety Officer Responsibilities
  • Liaison Officer Responsibilities
  • Assistants
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  • Additional Command
  • Operations Section Chief Responsibilities
  • Planning Section Chief Responsibilities.....................................................................
  • Logistics Section Chief Responsibilities.....................................................................
  • Finance/Administration Section Chief Resposibilities
  • Intelligence/Investigations Function
  • Deputies
  • Assistants
  • Technical Specialists
  • Agency RepresentaMultives
  • Incident Action Planning Process
• Unified Command..........................................................................................................
  • Shared General Staff Sections
  • Coordinated Resource Ordering
  • Responsibilities of the Incident Commander and Unified command
  • Authority
  • Advantages of Using Unified Command
• Air Operations Branch
  • Common Types of Aviation Operations
• Presidential Directives
• ICS Forms

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NATIONAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

National Incident Management System (NIMS) is the culmination of more than 40 years of efforts to improve interoperability in incident management. This work began in the 1970s with local, state, and Federal agencies collaborating to create a system called Firefighting Resources of California Organized for Potential Emergencies (FIRESCOPE). FIRESCOPE included ICS and the Multiagency Coordination System (MACS). In 1982, the agencies that developed FIRESCOPE and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) created the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS), in part to make ICS guidance applicable to all types of incidents and all hazards. Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive #5 (February 2003), the Federal government created the National Incident Management System (NIMS). This system directed the creation of a comprehensive, national approach to incident management. Recognizing the value of these systems, communities across the Nation have adopted NIMS. The most current revision of NIMS was released in October 2017.

NIMS Management Characteristics

The following characteristics are the foundation of incident command and coordination under NIMS and contribute to the strength and efficiency of the overall system:

• Common Terminology
• Modular Organization
• Management by Objectives
• Incident Action Planning
• Manageable Span of Control
• Incident Facilities and Locations
• Comprehensive Resource Management
• Integrated Communications
• Establishment and Transfer of Command
• Unified Command
• Chain of Command and Unity of Command
• Accountability
• Dispatch/Deployment
• Information and Intelligence Management

Common Terminology

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Every incident should have an action plan; however, not all incidents need written plans. The necessity for written plans depends on incident complexity, command decisions, and legal requirements. Formal IAPs are not always developed for the initial operational period of no-notice incidents. However, if an incident is likely to extend beyond one operational period, becomes more complex, or involves multiple jurisdictions and/or agencies, preparing a written IAP becomes increasingly important to maintain unity of effort and effective, efficient, and safe operations.

Staff in EOCs also typically conduct iterative planning and produce plans to guide their activities during specified periods, though these are typically more strategic than IAPs.

Manageable Span of Control

Maintaining an appropriate span of control helps ensure an effective and efficient incident management operation. It enables management to direct and supervise subordinates and to communicate with and manage all resources under their control. The type of incident, nature of the task, hazards and safety factors, experience of the supervisor and subordinates, and communication access between the subordinates and the supervisor are all factors that influence manageable span of control.

The optimal span of control for incident management is one supervisor to five subordinates; however, effective incident management frequently necessitates ratios significantly different from this. The 1:5 ratio is a guideline, and incident personnel use their best judgment to determine the actual distribution of subordinates to supervisors for a given incident or EOC activation.

Incident Facilities and Locations

Depending on the incident size and complexity, the Incident Commander, Unified Command, and/or EOC director establish support facilities for a variety of purposes and direct their identification and location based on the incident. Typical facilities include the Incident Command Post (ICP), incident base, staging areas, camps, mass casualty triage areas, points-of-distribution, and emergency shelters.

Comprehensive Resource Management

Resources include personnel, equipment, teams, supplies, and facilities available or potentially available for assignment or allocation. Maintaining an accurate and up-to- date inventory of resources is an essential component of incident management. Section II, the Resource Management component of this document, describes this in more detail.

Integrated Communications

Leadership at the incident level and in EOCs facilitates communication through the development and use of a common communications plan, interoperable communications processes, and systems that include voice and data links. Integrated

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communications provide and maintain contact among and between incident resources, enable connectivity between various levels of government, achieve situational awareness, and facilitate information sharing. Planning, both in advance of and during an incident, addresses equipment, systems, and protocols necessary to achieve integrated voice and data communications. Section IV, the Communications and Information Management component of this document, describes this in more detail.

Establishment and Transfer of Command

The Incident Commander or Unified Command should clearly establish the command function at the beginning of an incident. The jurisdiction or organization with primary responsibility for the incident designates the individual at the scene responsible for establishing command and protocol for transferring command. When command transfers, the transfer process includes a briefing that captures essential information for continuing safe and effective operations, and notifying all personnel involved in the incident.

Unified Command

When no one jurisdiction, agency or organization has primary authority and/or the resources to manage an incident on its own, Unified Command may be established. In Unified Command, there is no one “commander.” Instead, the Unified Command manages the incident by jointly approved objectives. A Unified Command allows these participating organizations to set aside issues such as overlapping and competing authorities, jurisdictional boundaries, and resource ownership to focus on setting clear priorities and objectives for the incident. The resulting unity of effort allows the Unified Command to allocate resources regardless of ownership or location. Unified Command does not affect individual agency authority, responsibility, or accountability.

Chain of Command and Unity of Command

Chain of command refers to the orderly line of authority within the ranks of the incident management organization. Unity of command means that each individual only reports to one person. This clarifies reporting relationships and reduces confusion caused by multiple, conflicting directives, enabling leadership at all levels to effectively direct the personnel under their supervision.

Accountability

Effective accountability for resources during an incident is essential. Incident personnel should adhere to principles of accountability, including check-in/check-out, incident action planning, unity of command, personal responsibility, span of control, and resource tracking.

Dispatch/Deployment

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Information and Intelligence Management

The incident management organization establishes a process for gathering, analyzing, assessing, sharing, and managing incident-related information and intelligence. Information and intelligence management includes identifying essential elements of information (EEI) to ensure personnel gather the most accurate and appropriate data, translate it into useful information, and communicate it with appropriate personnel.

Note that in In NIMS, “intelligence” refers exclusively to threat-related information developed by law enforcement, medical surveillance, and other investigative organizations.

ICS HISTORY AND FEATURES

Incident Command System

ICS is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of on-scene incident management that provides a common hierarchy within which personnel from multiple organizations can be effective. ICS specifies an organizational structure for incident management that integrates and coordinates a combination of procedures, personnel, equipment, facilities, and communications. Using ICS for every incident helps hone and maintain skills needed to coordinate efforts effectively. ICS is used by all levels of government as well as by many NGOs and private sector organizations. ICS applies across disciplines and enables incident managers from different organizations to work together seamlessly. This system includes five major functional areas, staffed as needed, for a given incident: Command, Operations, Planning, Logistics, and Finance/Administration. A sixth ICS Function, Intelligence/ Investigations, is only used when the incident requires these specialized capabilities.

Incident Complexity, Complex Incidents and Incident Complex

Incident Complexity is the combination of involved factors that affect the probability of control of an incident. Many factors determine the complexity of an incident, including, but not limited to, area involved, threat to life and property, political sensitivity, organizational complexity, jurisdictional boundaries, values at risk, weather, strategy and tactics, and agency policy. Incident complexity is considered when making incident management level, staffing, and safety decisions.

Incident complexity is assessed on a five-point scale ranging from Type 5 (the least complex incident) to Type 1 (the most complex incident).

Various analysis tools have been developed to assist consideration of important factors involved in incident complexity. Listed below are some of the factors that may be considered in analyzing incident complexity:

• Impacts to life, property, and the economy

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• Community and responder safety
• Potential hazardous materials
• Weather and other environmental influences
• Likelihood of cascading events
• Potential crime scene (including terrorism)
• Political sensitivity, external influences, and media relations
• Area involved, jurisdictional boundaries
• Availability of resources

Complex Incidents are larger incidents with higher incident complexity (normally Type 1 or Type 2 incidents) that extend into multiple operational periods and rapidly expand to multijurisdictional and/or multidisciplinary efforts necessitating outside resources and support.

According to NIMS 2017, Incident Complex refers to two or more individual incidents located in the same general area and assigned to a single Incident Commander or Unified Command.

Position Titles

Organizational Element Leadership Position Title Support Positions Incident Command Incident Commander Deputy Command Staff Officer Assistant Section Chief Deputy, Assistant Branch Director Deputy Divisions/Groups Supervisor N/A Unit Unit Leader Manager, Coordinator Strike Team/Resource Team/Task Force

Leader Single Resource Boss

Single Resource Boss, Leader N/A Technical Specialist Specialist N/A

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• Unit: The organizational element with functional responsibility for a specific incident planning, logistics, or finance/administration activity.
• Task Force: Any combination of resources assembled to support a specific mission or operational need. A Task Force will contain resources of different kinds and types , All resource elements within a Task Force must have common communications and a designated leader.
• Strike Team/ Resource Team: A set number of resources of the same kind and type that have an established minimum number of personnel, common communications, and a designated leader. In the law enforcement community, Strike Teams are sometimes referred to as Resource Teams.
• Single Resource: An individual, a piece of equipment and its personnel complement, or a crew/team of individuals with an identified work supervisor that can be used on an incident.

Overall Organizational Functions

ICS was designed by identifying the primary activities or functions necessary to effectively respond to incidents. Analyses of incident reports and review of military organizations were all used in ICS development. These analyses identified the primary needs of incidents.

As incidents became more complex, difficult, and expensive, the need for an organizational manager became more evident. Thus, in ICS, and especially in larger incidents, the Incident Commander manages the organization and not the incident.

In addition to the Command function, other desired functions and activities were to:

• Delegate authority and provide a separate organizational level within the ICS structure with sole responsibility for the tactical direction and control of resources.
• Provide logistical support to the incident organization.
• Provide planning services for both current and future activities.
• Provide cost assessment, time recording, and procurement control necessary to support the incident and the managing of claims.
• Promptly and effectively interact with the media, and provide informational services for the incident, involved agencies, and the public.
• Provide a safe operating environment within all parts of the incident organization.
• Ensure that assisting and cooperating agencies’ needs are met, and to see that they are used in an effective manner.

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ICS – Who Does What?

Incident Commander

The Incident Commander is technically not a part of either the General or Command Staff. The Incident Commander is responsible for:

• Having clear authority and knowing agency policy.
• Ensuring incident safety.
• Establishing an Incident Command Post.
• Setting priorities, and determining incident objectives and strategies to be followed.
• Establishing the ICS organization needed to manage the incident.
• Approving the Incident Action Plan.
• Coordinating Command and General Staff activities.
• Approving resource requests and use of volunteers and auxiliary personnel.
• Ensuring after-action reports are completed.
• Authorizing information release to the media.
• Ordering demobilization as needed.

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Public Information Officer Responsibilities

• Determine, according to direction from the IC, any limits on information release.
• Develop accurate, accessible, and timely information for use in press/media briefings.
• Obtain IC’s approval of news releases.
• Conduct periodic media briefings.
• Arrange for tours and other interviews or briefings that may be required.
• Monitor and forward media information that may be useful to incident planning.
• Maintain current information, summaries, and/or displays on the incident.
• Make information about the incident available to incident personnel.
• Participate in planning meetings.

Safety Officer Responsibilities

• Identify and mitigate hazardous situations.
• Ensure safety messages and briefings are made.
• Exercise emergency authority to stop and prevent unsafe acts.
• Review the Incident Action Plan for safety implications.
• Assign assistants qualified to evaluate special hazards.
• Initiate preliminary investigation of accidents within the incident area.
• Review and approve the Medical Plan.
• Participate in planning meetings.

Liaison Officer Responsibilities

• Act as a point of contact for agency representatives.
• Maintain a list of assisting and cooperating agencies and agency representatives.
• Assist in setting up and coordinating interagency contacts.
• Monitor incident operations to identify current or potential interorganizational problems.
• Participate in planning meetings, providing current resource status, including limitations and capabilities of agency resources.

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• Provide agency-specific demobilization information and requirements.

Assistants

• In the context of large or complex incidents, Command Staff members may need one or more assistants to help manage their workloads. Each Command Staff member is responsible for organizing his or her assistants for maximum efficiency.

Additional Command

• Staff Additional Command Staff positions may also be necessary depending on the nature and location(s) of the incident, and/or specific requirements established by the Incident Commander. For example, a Legal Counsel may be assigned directly to the Command Staff to advise the Incident Commander on legal matters, such as emergency proclamations, legality of evacuation orders, and legal rights and restrictions pertaining to media access. Similarly, a Medical Advisor may be designated and assigned directly to the Command Staff to provide advice and recommendations to the Incident Commander in the context of incidents involving medical and mental health services, mass casualty, acute care, vector control, epidemiology, and/or mass prophylaxis considerations, particularly in the response to a bioterrorism event.

Operations Section Chief Responsibilities

The Operations Section Chief is responsible for managing all tactical operations at an incident. The Incident Action Plan (IAP) provides the necessary guidance. The need to expand the Operations Section is generally dictated by the number of tactical resources involved and is influenced by span of control considerations.

Major responsibilities of the Operations Section Chief are to:

• Assure safety of tactical operations.
• Manage tactical operations.
• Develop the operations portion of the IAP.
• Supervise execution of operations portions of the IAP.
• Request additional resources to support tactical operations.
• Approve release of resources from active operational assignments.
• Make or approve expedient changes to the IAP.
• Maintain close contact with IC, subordinate Operations personnel, and other agencies involved in the incident.

Planning Section Chief Responsibilities

The Planning Section Chief is responsible for providing planning services for the incident. Under the direction of the Planning Section Chief, the Planning Section collects

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• All off-incident resources.

Major responsibilities of the Logistics Section Chief are to:

• Provide all facilities, transportation, communications, supplies, equipment maintenance and fueling, food and medical services for incident personnel, and all off-incident resources.
• Manage all incident logistics.
• Provide logistical input to the IAP.
• Brief Logistics Staff as needed.
• Identify anticipated and known incident service and support requirements.
• Request additional resources as needed.
• Ensure and oversee the development of the Communications, Medical, and Traffic Plans as required.
• Oversee demobilization of the Logistics Section and associated resources.

Finance/Administration Section Chief Resposibilities

The Finance/Administration Section Chief is responsible for managing all financial aspects of an incident. Not all incidents will require a Finance/Administration Section. Only when the involved agencies have a specific need for finance services will the Section be activated. Major responsibilities of the Finance/Administration Section Chief are to:

• Manage all financial aspects of an incident.
• Provide financial and cost analysis information as requested.
• Ensure compensation and claims functions are being addressed relative to the incident.
• Gather pertinent information from briefings with responsible agencies.
• Develop an operating plan for the Finance/Administration Section and fill Section supply and support needs.
• Determine the need to set up and operate an incident commissary.
• Meet with assisting and cooperating agency representatives as needed.
• Maintain daily contact with agency(s) headquarters on finance matters.
• Ensure that personnel time records are completed accurately and transmitted to home agencies.
• Ensure that all obligation documents initiated at the incident are properly prepared and completed.

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• Brief agency administrative personnel on all incident-related financial issues needing attention or followup.
• Provide input to the IAP.

Intelligence/Investigations Function

The collection, analysis, and sharing of incident-related information are important activities for all incidents. Typically, staff in the Planning Section are responsible for gathering and analyzing operational information and sharing situational awareness, and staff in the Operations Section are responsible for executing tactical activities.

However, some incidents involve intensive intelligence gathering and investigative activity, and for such incidents, the Incident Commander or Unified Command may opt to reconfigure intelligence and investigations responsibilities to meet the needs of the incident. This may occur when the incident involves a criminal or terrorist act and/or other non-law-enforcement intelligence/investigations efforts such as epidemiological investigations.

The purpose of the Intelligence/Investigations function is to ensure that intelligence and investigative operations and activities are properly managed and coordinated to:

• Prevent and/or deter potential unlawful activity, incidents, and/or attacks;
• Collect, process, analyze, secure, and disseminate information, intelligence, and situational awareness;
• Identify, document, process, collect, create a chain of custody for, safeguard, examine and analyze, and store evidence or specimens;
• Conduct thorough and comprehensive investigations that lead to the perpetrators’ identification and apprehension;
• Conduct missing persons and mass fatality/death investigations;
• Inform and support life safety operations, including the safety and security of all response personnel, by helping to prevent future attacks or escalated impacts;
• Determine the source or cause of an ongoing incident (e.g., disease outbreak, fire, complex coordinated attack, or cyber incident) to control its impact and/or help prevent the occurrence of similar incidents.

The Incident Commander or Unified Command makes the final determination regarding the scope and placement of the Intelligence/Investigations function within the command structure. The intelligence/investigations function can be incorporated as an element of the Planning Section, in the Operations Section, within the Command Staff, as a separate General Staff section, or in some combination of these locations.