Safety Update

Safety Update: An Introduction to Incident Command System (ICS)

During a 13 day period of 1970 16 lives were lost, 700 structures were destroyed and over half a million acres were burned in Southern California. While mutual aid agreements were in place the many agencies seldom trained together and it very quickly became clear that each agency had its own terminology, communication infrastructure and policies.

The outcome of these events was the formation of a taskforce called FIRESCOPE (Firefighting resources organized for potential emergencies). The mandate of the taskforce was design a system that would meet four essential objectives.

1. The system must be organizationally flexible to meet the needs of incidents of any kind and size.
2. Agencies must be able to use the system on a day-to-day basis as well as for major emergencies.
3. The system must be sufficiently standardized to allow personnel from a variety of agencies and diverse geographic locations to rapidly meld into a common management structure.
4. The system must be cost effective.

It was from this taskforce that the Incident Command System evolved. So what is the Incident Command System or ICS as it commonly known?

ICS is a proven incident management system used throughout North America for the past 25 years. However, like any other system, time must be invested into learning and practicing it. The beauty of ICS is that it is modular in nature, therefore only pieces of the system that are required are activated. The only position activated during every incident is the Incident Commander.

The oil and gas industry uses various forms of the Incident Command System (ICS) and it is quickly being adopted as the preferred model for emergency management. ICS is a standard for on-scene emergency management. It is specifically designed to allow users to adopt and integrate an organization structure equal to the complexity and demands of single or multiple incidents without being hindered by jurisdictional boundaries.

ICS is not limited to the Fire Service; it is used by first responders, Search and Rescue, Hospitals and industry. In fact, due to its flexible nature you could use it to plan the family wedding! There is a position for Incident Commander/ Operations Section Chief (Wedding Planner), the Planning Section Chief (Bride or Groom), and the Finance Section Chief (Parents).

If you or your organization is interested in learning more about ICS please contact Mike Ross or visit www.ecompliance.ca

About the Author: Mike has over 26 years of practical experience in emergency management as a responder and manager, finishing his public career as the Deputy Chief of Support Services for the City of Lethbridge Alberta Fire and Emergency Services Department. His years of experience are supplemented by extensive courses in the fire, EMS and emergency management fields. Mike is the Manager of Training for EmerGeo Solutions Inc.

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