SECURITY
The Incident Command System and How it Relates
to Tribal Properties
by Jim Wanser
D
uring the 1970s a series of wildfires in California resulted
in millions of dollars in damages, multiple injuries and
deaths. During the investigations that followed the catastrophic
losses incurred by these fires, several problems came to light.
Because of the size of the fires, crews were brought in from all
over the West Coast. Each responding department had its own
command structure, communications system and terminology.
The individual departments tended to follow only the orders
of their own commanders. This resulted in a mishmash of
conflicting orders. When problems arose in the field, emergency
communications were delayed or nonexistent due to incompatible radio systems. In a fast moving wildfire situation this
proved fatal in many cases. During subsequent years the fire
services, along with other emergency preparedness groups, have
worked to try to resolve the problems observed in California.
After the 9/11 disaster it was discovered that most of the problems
from the 1970s still existed. In New York City the police
department and fire department still could not communicate
because they did not have access to a common radio frequency.
In 2003 the federal government created the National
Incident Management System (NIMS) to utilize best practices
in creating a national consistent approach to emergency
management. The Incident Command System (ICS) is one of
the six components of NIMS. ICS establishes a standard of
language, command structure, and action for any incident. It
is designed to be usable for any operation from a small auto
accident to a major hurricane. It can be used by fire crews or
police officers responding to a local problem or a major
incident that involves local, state, federal, and tribal lands.
Homeland Security Presidential Directives 5 and 8 (HSPD-5
and HSPD-8) mandate that any agency that receives federal
money for emergency preparedness be trained and utilize the
principles of ICS.
The first thing established by ICS is the use of common
terminology. The use of number systems by police and fire
services has been around for decades. The justification for
giving numbers to types of assignments was lack of radio
bandwidth and the need for privacy from others listening in on
calls. While this might be efficient within a single department, when a new agency arrives on scene plain English is
required. Using plain English everyone responding to the
scene will understand that an officer needs immediate assistance;
they may not understand that 10-13 on the East Coast and 444
on the West Coast may mean the same thing.
The next major sections of ICS deal with the “chain of
command” and “unity of command.” When a single department
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December 2010
arrives on scene the chain of command is clear. It has been established by the standard operating procedure of the department.
What happens when multiple agencies from the same jurisdiction respond? Many times the fight over who is in charge will
delay or disrupt emergency operations. What is the in-charge
person called? Is it one of the fire chiefs, one of the police
commanders, or is it the tribal emergency service commander? Can
new responders identify whom to report to upon arrival?
ICS is scalable. When the first responder arrives on scene
this person is the “incident commander.” As more responders
arrive on scene the incident command may be transferred to
someone with more knowledge or experience. The incident
commander may be the fire chief, police captain, or tribal
emergency preparedness coordinator. The idea is that everyone on scene is responsible to the incident commander no
matter what their agency or jurisdiction. As part of the
reporting structure in ICS, unity of command is stressed.
Unity of command is the idea that each person reports to only
one supervisor. This allows an up and down flow of information without conflicting orders. As part of this concept “span
of control” becomes very important. It has been shown that
one person can only supervise between three and seven
people efficiently. By exercising span of control in ICS, if an
incident requires more personnel than one person can
effectively supervise, additional levels of supervision should be
added. The vehicle accident or house fire will have an incident
commander who will be on scene. A larger disaster such as a
hurricane may require the expansion of the chain of command
into the use of a command staff and general staff. The
command staff consists of the incident commander, safety
officer, and public liaison officer. The general staff can consist
of the planning chief, operations chief, logistics chief, and the
administrative/finance chief. By using this chart ICS can
respond with the appropriate resources.
Now think about the fire, flood, or other disaster that
straddles the jurisdiction of a local city, county, and a tribe. Who
is in charge? Under ICS a unified command can be established
when multiple agencies or jurisdictions are involved. How
these commands are organized will be arranged prior to the
disaster. If the incident involves a fire, it would be logical to
have a fire official as incident commander. In case of a flood
affecting multiple jurisdictions, the county, state or tribal
emergency preparedness coordinator might be the correct
choice. Sometimes the incident commander in a unified
command is established by law. The Federal Bureau of
Investigation is the command authority in the case of a
terrorist attack. In the case of a major fire you might see
qualified individuals the “Train the Trainer” program at EMI
mobile command posts for law enforcement parked next to one
in Emmetsburg MD, or the Center for Domestic Preparedness
for the fire department. While there might be multiple mobile
in Anniston, AL, is available at no cost. p
platforms there will still be only one incident commander. Each
Jim Wanser is Safety Manager at Snoqualmie Casino.
jurisdiction should prepare and coordinate with neighboring
He
can be reached by calling (425) 888-7942 or email
jurisdictions and agencies for as many possibilities as possible.
[email protected].
In the Pacific Northwest emergency preparedness involves the
Port of Seattle, Mt. Rainier and Mt.
St. Helens, (two active volcanoes) earthquakes, and floods.
Training for ICS can be as simple or
advanced as necessary. Anyone who is
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going to work in emergency preparedness
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or emergency services should have basic
training in ICS. The four basic courses are
as follows: Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100, ICS for Single
Resources and Initial Action Incidents,
IS-200, National Incident Management
System (NIMS) An Introduction, IS-700,
and National Response Framework, An
Introduction, IS-800. These four courses
are offered online for free by the
Emergency Management Institute (EMI),
part of FEMA. The ICS-100 course is also
broken down into modules specifically
designed for different agencies such as law
enforcement, healthcare, public works
and higher education. These are just
a few of the almost 100 free online
courses offered on the EMI website,
http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp.
These courses are continually being
updated, offer continuing education
credits, and can be applied towards
college credit.
For those in management positions
within the tribe or other agency, FEMA
offers more in depth training. ICS-300,
Intermediate ICS for Expanding
Incidents, and ICS-400: Advanced ICS
Command and General Staff – Complex
Incidents are offered on an in classroom
basis. These courses will take the manager
through disasters involving multiple
jurisdictions, agencies and for incidents
that last through multiple time periods.
Information on IS-300 and IS-400 can be
obtained from your regional training
council. Information on a “Train the
Trainer” program is available from
Chicago › Detroit › Las Vegas › Miami › Milwaukee
the EMI website or from your state
800.475.2000
emergency preparedness coordinator. For
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