Winging it is not an emergency plan

May 15, 2014

Winging it is not an Emergency Plan

ICS/UC for all levels and jurisdictions

Michelle Perin

Incident Command System/Unified Command (ICS/UC) is an efficient tool used to manage emergency responses especially those that are multi-jurisdictional. The concept of ICS was born over forty years ago in 1970 after a devastating 13 day wildfire in California. Since that time, the concept has evolved to a manageable, efficient and effective system applicable to all public safety at the federal, state, county and local levels. In 2003, President George W. Bush issued the Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-5 establishing a single, comprehensive national incident management system (NIMS). A year later, Homeland Security after close collaboration with a variety of state and local government officials issued the NIMS. ICS/UC is a part of NIMS. Since that time, agencies large and small have been training on and utilizing ICS/UC with great success. It is no longer just at the federal level but can be used to manage emergency responses of multiple jurisdictions and disciplines, both public and private. Most recently, active shooter incidents are being prepared for through NIMS/ICS training.  

Most people associate ICS/UC with enormous events such as natural disasters like Super Storm Sandy. In natural disasters, major declarations come into play and involve the Federal Emergency Management Team (FEMA). The objectives and tasks are often set by the governor or state representatives and priorities are established to support the common goals. Regardless, all incidents begin at the community level and often agencies, both volunteer and career, fire, police and city services are the first to respond. Their initial response means they are the ones who determine command, designate an Incident Commander (IC) and establish ICS/UC. ICS is about making sure everyone is on the same sheet of music explains Willie Nunn, Federal Coordinating Officer, FEMA. “The advantage of simple things like common terminology, common equipment and communications.” ICS establishes, under the IC, an Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance/Administrative Sections. Current ICS practices evolved from decades of lessons learned. “Unified Command is part of ICS,” states Nunn. “It allows ICS to work in a non-duplicating fashion. Without UC, in large events, we’re going to exhaust every resource.” Even with UC, there is always a lead agency. Everyone has a say but one the most appropriate always leads.  

In the early 1970s, the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department developed the Fire Ground Command System (FGCG) with concepts similar to the commonly used FIRESCOPE ICS. This evolution brought ICS out of the wildlands and into the city. Phoenix (AZ) Police Department now utilizes ICS/UC as well. “When we got involve in the early 90s and we worked with Phoenix Fire to bring it over and work for us, what we learned from the fire department was it took them about ten years to get comfortable with it,” Sergeant Tommy Thompson, PIO, Phoenix Police states. “It all started with being able to account for firefighters. In many ways that’s not different from the police department. If we set up a perimeter, a fire perimeter or a police department perimeter for a barricade or a shooter, you need to make sure you’re accounting for your people, for their safety and how much time they are spending on the scene.” You have to ask if they need incident support or water, he adds. “The city has an all-hazard incident team. We run out of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) co-located with fire.” The nature of the event determines the lead agency. For example, an active shooter would indicate police as lead where as the recent ethanol spill at the Phoenix rail yard indicated fire as lead. Phoenix also has Terrorism Liaison Officers (TIO) as part of their ICS structure. “This could be a fire individual or a police officer or anyone from another jurisdiction,” Thompson explains. “Their role is to provide background information and to get all the information they can.” He furthered the need to recognize the variety of agencies that can be part of ICS, including streets, transportation, health department and county flood control. “It could be ten to twelve agencies,” he says. “Typically they come in as liaisons but that’s huge with the coordination between the agencies.” Nunn agrees it has to be a coordinated effort. “Knowing who is supporting the command and who is supported is important,” he adds.

Not just for the big Stuff

Thompson states Phoenix uses ICS several times a week. He says the most beneficial incidents are ones where they are working with other jurisdictions either during an incident or a planned event. Not everyone was on board with the idea when it was first implemented. “When we were bringing ICS over to the City of Phoenix, we were having trouble selling the old guard that you could actually plan events,” he explains. “For example, when Officer Kolodziej was shot and killed by a sniper. The old guard stated you can’t plan for these types of events. You have to fly by the seat of your pants. That is absolutely ludicrous. You need to manage your people and your resources.” Nunn reiterates that ICS can be used daily. “One thing is even the smallest incident at the lowest level ICS can come into play because it’s so scalable,” he says. “It’s scalable to the point it could be one, two or three people. It can be complex, but you can scale it too.” ICS gives standards that allow for flexibility depending on the agencies involved and the type of incident. “It gives us standards to deviate from,” explains Nunn. “People know the chain of command, the communication and how it should operate. It gives us a standardized approach. All incidents can benefit from it. Especially when the President went and said NIMS/ICS was the standard.”

When agencies use ICS for smaller events and for planned events, public safety is practicing how they play. “Using ICS on all the calls helps you know what to do when the bigger things happen,” explains Marybeth Oleary, External Affairs Officer, FEMA. Oleary has a background in the fire service. Nunn, on the other hand, has a military background. Regardless, both agree. “We’re taught to train the way we fight,” explains Nunn. “A lot of the small things, you wouldn’t want to do some of the things but you can go through the practice using what you can so it’s not foreign to you.” Making ICS procedures second nature is important to its success.  

Playing nice in the Sandbox

One of the most complicated things about ICS involves the relationships between jurisdictions and disciplines. “We have something that perplexes me across the nation where some of those fire departments and police departments have friction and don’t get along,” explains Thompson. “In Phoenix, we look at it as one public safety team.”  He described this relationship with an example of the ICS/UC developed during the 2011 MLB All-Star Game hosted in Phoenix. “We had daily public safety briefings with the community,” Thompson explains. “The Fire PIO and I stood side by side.” Depending on the message that day, either Thompson or the Fire PIO would talk. “We met at our press room. We had a Phoenix Police Department logo and a Fire logo and then we evolved into the Incident Management Team (IMT) with both our logos together. We work together.”

During Sandy, one of the major issues was defining chain of command. “When you get out to the places where you have branches and divisions, you might have the same type of person in each of those places,” explains Oleary. “We had to work hard that those chains of command didn’t get fouled up because there were functional areas and there were geographical areas. It’s pretty universal.” Understanding each other’s roles and responsibilities is essential. “As FEMA, we’re just one part of the team,” states Nunn. “We’re not THE team. It’s about relationships and knowing where we fit into those relationships.” He explains how the Department of Defense might come to the task force with a two-star general but rank doesn’t enter into the ICS/UC equation. “He’s there for a specific role and task,” Nunn states. “It’s important to know who is there to support the IC.” Things go well when team members talk and does not go well when they don’t explains Oleary. “There have been a few times that players have said they are too busy and that is when I’ve seen it fall apart,” she says. “They don’t see the value in sitting at the table with all the other players.” You also have to have the right players at the table adds Nunn. “They are only a member if they have a role in fulfilling a priority and helping lay out the objectives.”

Talking the Talk

Historically, even when agencies work well together communication has been an issue. “Especially in big events, we have a lot of players,” explains Nunn. “As the incident grows and grows, we need to make sure everyone is communicating and that it’s centering around people’s authorities.” Success depends on coordinating and communicating. In large events like Sandy, the non-functional communication infrastructure was replaced with mobile resources. “We engaged the private sector,” explains Nunn. “We’re equipped with satellite phones and mobile response vehicles. What helps all of this is to get some sort of doctrine procedure to makes sure that as we progress through this we have alternating ways to communicate. We put in repeaters and worked together.” But what about on a smaller scale? Oleary explains it can be as easy as everyone bringing their equipment to the table. “We had liaisons from other agencies come to our joint field office and they bring their equipment with them and we talk to people,” explains Oleary. “We get people together in a room and that overcame the lack of interoperability.” With the changes coming with FirstNet and the focus on the necessity of interoperability since tragedies such as 9/11, communication between agencies, including fire, police and other critical infrastructure agencies is seeing marked improvements. As more agencies train and utilize ICS/UC, public safety will be more prepared for both small and large emergency incidents.

Nunn suggests that the three most important components to successful UC/ICS are good relationships to start out, communications and understanding the roles and responsibilities which create the common operating picture. With ICS, agencies utilize common terminology, increased accountability, clear chain of command and supervision and an orderly, systematic planning process. Resources, including personnel and equipment are utilized with maximum efficiency. “The key thing in today’s world is if a fire department or police department cannot get along shame on them,” states Thompson, “because we are all part of a public safety team. Our communities deserve that and egos need to be set aside. If there is bad blood that created this thing, sit down and break bread so you can get on the same sheet of music. When there’s chaos, depending on the call, it’s just a matter of seconds if the police department is there first or the fire department is.” He concludes that although police officers and firefighters have different functions, they have similarities too. “We bring calm to chaos,” he says. Ability to work together within ICS/UC brings about the best outcome not only to all the departments involved but the community as a whole.   

Sponsored Recommendations

Build Your Real-Time Crime Center

March 19, 2024
A checklist for success

Whitepaper: A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

July 28, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge

A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

June 6, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge.

Listen to Real-Time Emergency 911 Calls in the Field

Feb. 8, 2023
Discover advanced technology that allows officers in the field to listen to emergency calls from their vehicles in real time and immediately identify the precise location of the...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Officer, create an account today!