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Lesson 1: ICS Overview
Lesson Overview
The ICS Overview lesson introduces you to:
- The background and development of ICS.
- ICS as the standard for emergency management across the country.
- ICS as interdisciplinary and organizationally flexible.
- Applications of ICS.
This lesson should take approximately 30 minutes to complete. Remember, you must complete the entire lesson to receive credit.
The Incident Command System (ICS)
An incident is an occurrence, either human caused or by natural phenomena that requires action by emergency service personnel to prevent or minimize loss of life or damage to property and/or natural resources.
Examples of incidents include:
- Fire, both structural and wildfire
- Hazardous material situations
- Search and rescue
- Oil spills
- Pest eradication
- Control of animal diseases
- Planned events, such as parades or political rallies just to name a few.
Because of today’s budget constraints, limited staffing of local, State, and Federal agencies, it’s not possible for any one agency to handle all the management and resource needs for the increasing numbers of incidents nationwide. Local, State, and Federal agencies must work together in a smooth, coordinated effort under the same management system.
The Incident Command System or ICS is a standardized, on-scene, all-risk incident management concept. ICS allows its users to adopt an integrated organizational structure to match the complexities and demands of single or multiple incidents without being hindered by jurisdictional boundaries.
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.
History of the Incident Command System (ICS)
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 incident failures could rarely be attributed to lack of resources or failure of tactics.
What were the lessons learned? Surprisingly, studies found was that incident failures were far more likely to result from inadequate management than from any other single reason.
Weaknesses in incident management were often due to:
- Lack of personnel accountability, including unclear chains of command and supervision.
- Poor communication due to both inefficient uses of available communications systems and conflicting codes and terminology.
- Lack of an orderly, systematic planning process.
- No common, flexible, predesigned management structure that enables commanders to delegate responsibilities and manage workloads efficiently.
- No predefined methods to integrate interagency requirements into the management structure and planning process effectively.
A poorly managed incident response can be devastating to our economy, the food supply, and our health and safety. With so much at stake, we must effectively manage our response efforts. The Incident Command System, or ICS, allows us to do so. ICS is a proven management system based on successful business practices. This course introduces you to ICS and the vital role that you can play.
ICS Built on Best Practices
ICS is:
- A proven management system based on successful business practices.
- The result of decades of lessons learned in the organization and management of emergency incidents.
This system represents organizational “best practices,” and has become the standard for emergency management across the country.
Applications for the Use of ICS
Applications for the use of ICS have included:
- Routine or planned events (e.g., celebrations, parades, and concerts).
- Fires, hazardous materials, and multicasualty incidents.
- Multijurisdiction and multiagency disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and winter storms.
- Search and rescue missions.
- Biological pest eradication programs.
- Biological outbreaks and disease containment.
- Acts of terrorism.
ICS and USDA
Dr. Bill Smith USDA, Veterinary Services
“The first time I really used ICS was in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in response to a low path influenza outbreak.
The ICS allows us to organize and plan to make sure all the major tasks that need to be done are identified and someone is charged to make sure it’s done and then with that, with the hierarchy with the organization structures, who you report to is done and we can organize it. So, it’s flexible in that you can use them for small outbreaks, big outbreaks. It has a self contained organizational system built into it, can be used for any, any type of animal health event, it doesn’t have to be disease of magnitude. It could be as simple as moving an area office if you will or a Federal office or moving people, so on and so forth. One disease outbreak or a huge disease outbreak, it doesn’t matter, that’s how I would define the beauty of the flexibility of it.”
Dr. Carey Floyd Oklahoma Department of Agriculture
“We first started with our training with ICS during the time that the foot and mouth outbreak was going on in England because it was apparent that an outbreak like that would be too big for us to handle as we’d always handled disease outbreaks here in the United States and so we did training, we put together a team here in Oklahoma that has both State and Federal employees on it and we were able to use our training when we had a herd of elk that had chronic wasting disease so we used our ICS training to plan the depopulation of those animals.
The best thing is it’s very clear who is in charge of each part of the response. There’s not any doubt about the responsibilities of each individual in each of those positions and what they are supposed to do. So it’s very clear who does which part of the response.”
Van Bateman USDA, Forest Service
“The way the system is built it is very good at gathering the information that you need to do the job. The problem they had at the World Trade Center is a long campaign for FDNY is, they are on the fire 24 hours, 36 hours. When we got there they had no way to gather information or plan and that’s basically what we did for them. It took us a while to get our foot in the door but once we got our foot in the door and showed them that we could plan out the next 24 hours, the next 36 hours, if something happened out there, they would know who’s working in that area, what equipment they had, what equipment they didn’t have, what they needed and once they saw that what became a reluctant partnership became a very strong partnership.
Since the World Trade Center there’s been a group of us last year that went back and we’re training the entire Fire Department of New York in it. Also we did do some training with the Department of Agriculture from Oklahoma, not the Federal but the State. That’s when hoof-and- mouth disease was big and they were thinking maybe they were going to have to use it in hoof- and-mouth disease.”
ICS Features
In this course, you will learn about the following ICS features:
- ICS organization
- Incident facilities
- Incident action Plan
- Span of control
- Common responsibilities
Lesson Summary
You have completed the ICS Overview lesson. This lesson addressed how:
- ICS is a standardized management tool designed to allow its users to adopt an integrated organizational structure flexible enough to meet the demands of small or large emergency or nonemergency situations.
- Identification of areas of management weakness resulted in the development of ICS.
- ICS represents organizational “best practices,” and has become the standard for emergency management across the country.
- Designers of ICS recognized early that it must be interdisciplinary and organizationally flexible.
- Applications of ICS have included planned events, natural disasters, and acts of terrorism.
The next lesson will provide an overview of the ICS organization and introduce the Incident Commander and Command Staff.
Five Major Management Functions
There are five major management functions that are the foundation upon which the ICS organization develops. These functions apply whether you are handling a routine emergency, organizing for a major nonemergency event, or managing a response to a major disaster. The five major management functions are:
- Incident Command
- Operations
- Planning
- Logistics
- Finance/Administration
Management Function Descriptions
Below is a brief description of each ICS function:
- Command: Sets incident objectives and priorities and has overall responsibility at the incident or event.
- Operations: Conducts tactical operations to carry out the plan. Develops the tactical assignments and organization, and directs all tactical resources.
- Planning: Prepares and documents the Incident Action Plan to accomplish the incident objectives, collects and evaluates information, maintains resource status, and maintains documentation for incident records.
- Logistics: Provides support, resources, and all other services needed to meet the incident objectives.
- Finance/Administration: Monitors costs related to the incident. Provides accounting, procurement, time recording, and cost analyses.
Activity
The ICS Management Functions can be applied to something as common as planning a vacation. For each ICS Management Function, list the vacation activities that you would perform.
Management Function Vacation Activity Command Establish a budget and select the destination. Operations Select the method of travel, determine the route to the destination, and operate the vehicle. Planning Find the most expedient route to the destination, determine whether there is any current road construction or other obstacles, and determine how many miles will be traveled. Logistics Arrange for vehicle, fuel, lodging, and food. Finance/Administration Pay for the trip.
Organizational Structure – Incident Commander
On small incidents and events, one person, the Incident Commander, may accomplish all five management functions. In fact, the Incident Commander is the only position that is always staffed in ICS applications. However, large incidents or events may require that these functions be set up as separate Sections within the organization.
Organizational Structure—ICS Sections
Each of the primary ICS Sections may be subdivided as needed. The ICS organization has the capability to expand or contract to meet the needs of the incident.
A basic ICS operating guideline is that the person at the top of the organization is responsible until the authority is delegated to another person. Thus, on smaller incidents when these additional persons are not required, the Incident Commander will personally accomplish or manage all aspects of the incident organization.
ICS Span of Control
Another basic operating guideline concerns the supervisory structure of the organization.
Span of control pertains to the number of individuals or resources that one supervisor can manage effectively on emergency response incidents. Maintaining an effective span of control is particularly important on incidents where safety and accountability are a top priority.
Maintaining Span of Control
Maintaining adequate span of control throughout the ICS organization is very important.
Effective span of control on incidents may vary from three to seven, and a ratio of one supervisor to five reporting elements is recommended.
If the number of reporting elements falls outside of these ranges, expansion or consolidation of the organization may be necessary. There may be exceptions, usually in lower-risk assignments or where resources work in close proximity to each other.
ICS Organizational Components
Sections: The organizational levels with responsibility for a major functional area of the incident (e.g., Operations, Planning, Logistics, Finance/Administration). The person in charge of each Section is designated as a Chief.
Divisions: Used to divide an incident geographically. The person in charge of each Division is designated as a Supervisor.
Groups: Used to describe functional areas of operations. The person in charge of each Group is designated as a Supervisor.
Branches: Used when the number of Divisions or Groups extends the span of control. Can be either geographical or functional. The person in charge of each Branch is designated as a Director.
Task Forces: A combination of mixed resources with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a Task Force Leader.
Strike Teams: A set number of resources of the same kind and type with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a Strike Team Leader.
Single Resources: May be individuals, a piece of equipment and its personnel complement, or a crew or team of individuals with an identified supervisor that can be used at an incident.
Roles and Responsibilities
You should now be familiar with the basic ICS organizational structure, the five major management functions, and the principle of span of control.
In this section, you'll learn about the expansion of the ICS organization and the roles and responsibilities of the Incident Commander and Command Staff.
Incident Commander’s Overall Role
The Incident Commander has overall responsibility for managing the incident. The Incident Commander must be fully briefed and should have a written delegation of authority. Initially, assigning tactical resources and overseeing operations will be under the direct supervision of the Incident Commander.
Incident Commander
“My job is to provide the overall leadership for incident response. I am able to delegate my authority to others to manage the ICS organization. Like any other organization, I have bosses too. I take general direction and receive my delegation of authority from the responsible agency or jurisdiction administrator or administrators, and I am accountable to them. It’s important to note that these agency or jurisdiction administrators may or may not include my real-life boss. For example, the jurisdiction administrators for an incident might include Department of Agriculture agency heads as well as representatives from State and local government.
It’s also important that my staff knows that they have the authority of their positions, even if it’s not the same authority that they have at home.”
Incident Commander Responsibilities
In addition to having overall responsibility for managing the entire incident, the Incident Commander:
- Has responsibility for ensuring incident safety, providing information services to internal and external stakeholders, and establishing and maintaining liaison with other agencies participating in the incident.
- May have one or more Deputies from the same agency or from other agencies or jurisdictions. Deputy Incident Commanders must be as qualified as the Incident Commander.
Incident Commander
“As the Incident Commander, I am responsible for all activities and functions until I staff them. So, one of the first things I do is assess my need for staff. I know that for an incident that is both complex and long-term, I will need more staff. In addition, I may decide that I need a Deputy.
Also, I establish incident objectives for the organization based on the direction given by agency directors. The type of plan depends on the magnitude of the incident. During a complex incident, I’ll direct my staff to develop a written Incident Action Plan. The beauty of ICS is that you can tailor your organization to match the need.”
Selecting and Changing Incident Commanders
As incidents expand in size, change in jurisdiction or discipline, or become more complex, command may change to a more experienced Incident Commander.
Rank, grade, and seniority are not the factors used to select the Incident Commander. The Incident Commander is always a highly qualified individual trained to lead the incident response.
Transfer of command at an incident always requires that there be a full briefing for the incoming Incident Commander and notification to all personnel that a change in command is taking place.
Meet the Command Staff
Public Information Officer
“I report directly to the Incident Commander and advise him or her on issues related to information dissemination and media relations. I am the primary contact for anyone who wants information about the incident and our response to it. I serve both an external audience through the media, and an internal audience including both incident staff and agency personnel. It’s very important for me to coordinate with other information staff to ensure that we do not issue confusing or conflicting information. Since the Planning Section is gathering intelligence and other information pertinent to the incident, I get a lot of my information from them. Accurate information is essential. In the end, the Incident Commander will approve all information that I release. During a complex incident, I will probably need several Assistant Public Information Officers to help me.”
Safety Officer
“My job is to make sure everyone does the job safely and gets home in one piece. I advise the Incident Commander on issues regarding incident safety, but I would like to emphasize that safety is everyone’s responsibility. I work very closely with Operations to make sure that our people in the field are as safe as possible under the circumstances, including wearing appropriate protective equipment and implementing the safest tactical options. I conduct risk analyses and implement hazard mitigation measures. I normally do this through the planning process, but I do have the authority to stop any unsafe activity that I observe. While a lot of my attention is focused on Operations, I am also concerned about safety for the rest of the organization. I minimize other employee risk by promoting safe driving habits, eliminating tripping hazards, ensuring safe food handling, things like that. I spend a lot of time out of the command post looking at what’s going on. During a complex incident, I will need quite a few assistants to be my eyes and ears.”
Liaison Officer
“I’m the go between. I assist the Incident Commander by gathering information about agencies that are supporting our efforts on this incident. The Incident Commander’s time is devoted to managing the incident, so my job is to serve as a facilitator for cooperating and assisting agencies if they are not represented in the command. I provide briefings to agency representatives and work with them to address their questions and concerns about the operation. I ask agency representatives about restrictions on their resources that may impact how we can use them or special support requirements that they might have. I also ask about availability of any other specialized resources they might have that may prove useful. What I don’t do is try to coordinate their tactical activities. Operations needs to do that. During a complex incident, I may have a lot of agency representatives, but I can usually handle the job myself.”
Lesson Summary
You have completed the ICS Organization: Part I lesson. The lesson addressed the:
- Organizational structure of ICS.
- Five major management functions.
- Principle of span of control.
- Use of position titles.
- Roles and responsibilities of the Incident Commander and Command Staff.
- Selection and transfer of Incident Commanders.
The next lesson will provide an introduction to the General Staff and the expansion and contraction of the ICS organization.
Operations Section Chief
The Operations Section Chief will develop and manage the Operations Section to accomplish the incident objectives set by the Incident Commander. The Operations Section Chief is normally the person with the greatest technical and tactical expertise in dealing with the problem at hand.
Operations Section Chief
“I’m responsible for developing and implementing strategy and tactics to carry out the Incident Objectives. This means that I organize, assign, and supervise all of the tactical field resources assigned to an incident, including air operations and those resources in a staging area.
I work very closely and coordinate my activities with the other members of the Command and General Staff.”
Operations Section: Maintaining Span of Control
The Operations function is where the tactical fieldwork is done. Therefore, most incident resources are assigned to the Operations Section. Often the most hazardous activities are carried out there. Because of this, it is necessary to monitor carefully the number of resources that report to any one supervisor. The following supervisory levels can be added to help manage span of control:
- Divisions are used to divide an incident geographically.
- Groups are used to describe functional areas of operation.
- Branches are used when the number of Divisions or Groups extends the span of control and can be either geographical or functional.
Operations Section: Divisions
Divisions are used to divide an incident geographically****. The person in charge of each Division is designated as a Supervisor. How the area is divided is determined by the needs of the incident.
The most common way to identify Divisions is by using alphabet characters (A, B, C, etc.). Other identifiers may be used as long as Division identifiers are known by assigned responders.
The important thing to remember about ICS Divisions is that they are established to divide an incident into geographical areas of operation.
Operations Section: Groups
Groups are used to describe functional areas of operation. The person in charge of each Group is designated as a Supervisor.
The kind of Group to be established will also be determined by the needs of an incident. Groups are normally labeled according to the job that they are assigned (e.g., Sampling Group, Disposal Group, etc.). Groups will work wherever their assigned task is needed and are not limited geographically.
Operations Section: Divisions and Groups
Divisions and Groups can be used together on an incident. Divisions and Groups are at an equal level in the organization. One does not supervise the other. When a Group is working within a Division on a special assignment, Division and Group Supervisors must closely coordinate their activities.
Operations Section: Establishing Branches
If the number of Divisions or Groups exceeds the span of control, it may be necessary to establish another level of organization within the Operations Section, called Branches. The person in charge of each Branch is designated as a Director. Deputies may also be used at the Branch level.
Operations Section: Expanding and Contracting
The organization within the Operations Section reflects the objectives established by the Incident Commander. The Operations organization usually develops from the bottom up and may include:
- Task Forces: A combination of mixed resources with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a Task Force Leader.
- Strike Teams: A set number of resources of the same kind and type with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a Strike Team Leader.
- Single Resources: May be individuals, a piece of equipment and its personnel complement, or a crew or team of individuals with an identified supervisor.
The Incident Commander or Operations Section Chief at an incident may work initially with only a few single resources or staff members.
The Operations Section usually develops from the bottom up. The organization will expand to include needed levels of supervision as more and more resources are deployed.
Task Forces are a combination of mixed resources with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a Leader. Task Forces can be versatile combinations of resources and their use is encouraged. The combining of resources into Task Forces allows for several resource elements to be managed under one individual’s supervision, thus lessening the span of control of the Division/Group Supervisor.
Strike Teams are a set number of resources of the same kind and type with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a Strike Team Leader. Strike Teams are highly effective management units. The foreknowledge that all elements have the same capability and the knowledge of how many will be applied allows for better planning, ordering, utilization and management.
Single Resources may be individuals, a piece of equipment and its personnel complement, or a crew or team of individuals with an identified supervisor that can be used at an incident.
As we covered earlier, it is important to maintain an effective span of control. Maintaining span of control can be done easily by grouping resources into Divisions or Groups.
Another way to add supervision levels is to create Branches within the Operations Section.
