Emergency incidents that require the specialized planning and responding skills of industrial hygiene and OEHS professionals are occurring with greater frequency. It is incumbent upon professional first responders and planners to ensure that we can easily integrate ourselves into the response system. Two of the most important aspects of planning for and responding to wildland fires, hurricanes, hazardous materials incidents, confined space rescues, and other events are the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Education and training in ICS and NIMS are required for all responders, including IH and OEHS professionals, regardless of the role they play within the incident response.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICS AND NIMS In 1970, the Laguna Fire burned more than 175,000 acres of California forest. At the time, it was the third largest wildland fire in California history. After-incident reviews of the fire identified the following issues with the response:

• poor communication
• lack of an orderly, systematic planning process
• no prepared plan for the integration of agencies and resources into a common management structure and planning process
• “freelancing” by individuals without direction from a central command and without coordination with other first responders
• lack of common terminology
• lack of accountability, including unclear chain of command and supervision

Following the Laguna Fire, a group of response agencies, referred to as FIRESCOPE, gathered to evaluate these problems and develop a management system that would improve the response to similar incidents. These efforts led to the creation of the Incident Command System. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, ICS became the most recognized and accepted management system for responding to emergency events within the emergency response community.

The need for a comprehensive National Incident Management System was identified following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. ICS became an integral part of NIMS, and the system was expanded to include local governments, industries, and businesses in addition to typical emergency response agencies.

INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM ICS is a management system that provides a clear and concise framework for planning for, responding to, and controlling an emergency incident. ICS is designed so that it:

• meets the needs of a jurisdiction to cope with incidents of any kind or complexity (that is, it expands or contracts as needed)
• allows personnel from a wide variety of agencies to combine rapidly into a common management structure using common terminology
• provides logistical and administrative support to operational staff
• is cost effective by avoiding duplication of efforts and continuing overhead
• provides a unified, centrally authorized emergency organization

ICS seeks to address the deficiencies identified by FIRESCOPE by establishing a management structure comprising five divisions: Command, Logistics, Operations, Planning, and Administration and Finance. A sixth division, Intelligence and Investigation, may be added to the command structure as dictated by the incident. All personnel within these functional areas need a complete understanding of NIMS and ICS to ensure optimum performance during and after an emergency. Figure 1 presents a simple ICS command structure.

ICS is designed to achieve nine major goals, which are summarized below.

1. Unity of Command Each individual participating in the operation reports to only one supervisor, thus eliminating the potential for conflicting orders. The advantages of unity of command are that it provides accountability, prevents freelancing, improves the flow of information, helps coordinate operational efforts, and enhances operational safety. Unity of command is fundamental to the ICS chain of command structure. 2. Common Terminology Prior to ICS, individual response agencies often developed plans, protocols, and procedures individually. The terminology used by one agency sometimes had different meanings for others, which caused confusion. When different organizations are required to work together, common terminology is essential for cohesion, both within and between organizations responding to the incident. ICS promotes the use of a common terminology and has a glossary of terms that brings consistency to position titles, the description and organization of resources, the type and names of incident facilities, and a host of other subjects. The use of common terminology is most evident in the titles of command roles, such as Incident Commander (IC), Safety Officer, and Operations Section Chief. 3. Management by Objective Emergency incidents are managed by aiming toward specific objectives. For example, in a confined space rescue, multiple objectives such as ventilation, entry, and patient packaging may be required for success. Each objective is ranked by priority. The objectives should be as specific as possible and achievable within the working time frame. Objectives are accomplished by first outlining strategies and then determining appropriate tactics for executing them. 4. Flexible and Modular Organization Incident Command structure can expand and contract according to the incident scope, resources, and hazards. Command is established in a top-down fashion, starting with the most important and authoritative positions. For example, Incident Command is established by the unit that arrives first at the scene of the incident. Only positions that are required at any given time within the incident should be established. In many cases, only a few positions within the command structure may need to be activated, or multiple roles may be completed by a single person. For example, a small chemical spill within a facility might be managed by the OEHS professional serving as the IC with no other roles required.

As an incident grows in size or complexity, ICS can be expanded. The largest and most complex incidents require the filling of the entire ICS staff. As the incident is managed, staffing is reduced until the IC is the only remaining staffed position and the event is terminated.

5. Span of Control “Span of control” refers to the number of subordinates and resources that a single person can manage. ICS has established that each position within the command structure maintain a span of control between three and seven subordinates, with five being optimal. Requiring a single person to supervise more than seven others will result in overloading. In such a situation, the management structure should be expanded to reduce the number of resources to the optimum of five by establishing new teams and units as needed. When the span of control is reduced to fewer than three subordinates, the resources may be absorbed into the next level of command.

6. Coordination Coordination is facilitated by implementing incident action plans, managing resources in a comprehensive manner, and integrating communications. One of the benefits of ICS is that it promotes coordination between organizations that otherwise work together sporadically. Coordination allows for flexibility within ICS and adds expertise by utilizing a range of organizations. However, this networking of ICS organizations can create management challenges. Some participants in incident responses have noted that ICS provides greater benefits when working relationships and training already exist between coordinating organizations. Incidents where working relationships do not already exist typically have more issues with authority and unity of command.

8. Comprehensive Resource Management Comprehensive resource management must be established to ensure that all resources, including physical assets and personnel, are identified, tracked, and accounted for from the inception of the event until they are returned to service. Resources must be tracked and managed properly to prevent failure of the incident action plan.

Resources need to be continuously monitored so they can be effectively deployed during an incident and systematically demobilized as an event is terminated. Assets are categorized as either “staged/available,” for resources that may be assigned; “committed/assigned,” for resources that are actively engaged in supervised field activities; or “out of service,” for resources that currently are neither assigned nor in staging. Resources may be out of service for reasons such as the restocking of supplies, personnel downtime, or damage to equipment.

9. Integrated Communications The ability to communicate effectively is key to the success of an incident response and must be considered early in the planning process. Many agencies that responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks were unable to communicate through an integrated communication system.

An integrated voice and data communications system, including equipment, systems, and protocols, must be developed prior to an incident. Effective ICS communications include three elements: modes, or the hardware systems that transfer information; planning, which accounts for the use of all available communications resources; and networks, which are procedures and processes for transferring information.

The three guiding principles of NIMS are flexibility, standardization, and unity of efforts. These guiding principles are supported by the six basic components discussed below.