The
Incident Command System (ICS) is the combination of
facilities, equipment, personnel,
procedures, and communications operating within a common
organizational structure, designed to aid in domestic
incident management activities. It is used for a broad
spectrum of emergencies, from small to complex incidents,
both natural and manmade, including acts of catastrophic
terrorism. ICS is used by all levels of government—Federal,
State, local, and tribal, as well as by many private-sector
and nongovernmental organizations. ICS is usually organized
around five major functional areas: command, operations,
planning, logistics, and finance and administration.
A sixth functional area, Intelligence, may be established
if deemed necessary by the Incident Commander, depending
on the requirements of the situation at hand.
Some of the more important “transitional steps” that
are necessary to apply ICS in a field incident environment
include the following:
•
|
recognizing
and anticipating the requirement that organizational
elements will be activated and taking the necessary
steps to delegate authority as appropriate;
|
•
|
establishing incident
facilities as needed, strategically located, to
support field operations;
|
•
|
establishing the use
of common terminology for organizational functional
elements, position titles, facilities, and resources;
and
|
•
|
rapidly
evolving from providing oral direction to the
development of
a written
Incident Action Plan.
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<< Chapter
VII - ONGOING MANAGEMENT and MAINTENANCE
Tab 1 - ICS ORGANIZATION >>
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