life of the crisis.
The actions that are taken by an Incident Commander (IC) in conjunction with staff and ground personnel reduce the impact significantly, providing that the IMS method is used. If no IMS method is utilized, the incident will eventually peak and cause more death and destruction. This is not to say that all types of incident management will reduce the negative effects. A haphazard or unproven IMS method might allow this lifecycle to peak much in the same manner as no intervention. For that reason, a proven IMS method is needed to reduce the lifecycle of an incident.
2.2 Common Attributes of an Incident
As we consider managing an emergency incident, it should be realized that all emergency incidents have three common attributes (or themes) that remain synonymous with each and every crisis. They are
Chaos
Uncertainty
Complexity
The objective of incident management is to create order where there was once chaos, to produce predictability and stability where there was uncertainty, and to build simplicity out of what was once complexity. While incident management can be used in planned and nonemergent situations, usually a crisis in public safety will involve an emergency. These crises will be from the daily emergency response calls to incidents that go well beyond the basic call. They may be as simple as a noise complaint, or an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) call that involves a person with an upset stomach, all the way to major events. Major events that require a response may include shootings, domestic disputes, fires, auto accidents, acts of terrorism, civil unrest, disasters, and other similar incidents. These principles that we use to manage everyday emergencies, as well as major incidents, can also be used in many different facets of your personal and professional life.
Incident management can be used, especially in public safety, to address an incident that is based on a public relations problem. This type of crisis could include accusations of racial profiling, improper investigations, maltreatment of a mentally disabled individual, sex in agency headquarters (or vehicles), or some other problem.
Another way incident management can be utilized revolves around being the new chief officer in charge of an agency, or a new division, and you want to change the status quo. You can use one of several IMS methods to help create an organizational hierarchy using a chart that identifies duties and responsibilities. Additionally, if you are the new chief officer, and you are changing the way business is done, you can write protocols for each level of the hierarchical chart, or for each position. In doing so, if someone is moved from one position to another, the job they are taking will have protocols, job descriptions, and duties. By utilizing IMS principles, it will allow the new chief officer to have a smooth transition when transferring people between positions, even in day‐to‐day management of an agency.
Thinking beyond the daily management, public safety agencies occasionally must deal with a disaster or crisis. During these times, you may have to make decisions under stress while experiencing inadequate or incomplete information. As the incident continues to go on, more intelligence (or information) will usually become available. Using an IMS method, this information should help guide you manage that specific crisis. It is critical to realize that no two incidents are exactly alike, and what may work for one incident may not necessarily work for a similar incident.
The principles you will learn in this book will assist you dealing with major incidents, small incidents, and even mundane calls. It does not matter if it is an earthquake, a hurricane, accusations of excessive force, a fire apparatus that hits a pedestrian, or even an accusation of violation of constitutional rights, incident management concepts are effective and can help us to manage a broad spectrum of public safety issues.
2.3 The Importance of Knowledge and Experience
In managing an incident, knowledge and experience plays an important role in enjoying a successful outcome. The knowledge and experience needed is not only related to your field, but in the use of incident management. As you gain further knowledge and experience in incident management, it will become increasingly more natural to utilize crisis response management as a tool. If you only use it on occasion, then your knowledge and experience may be insufficient. Perhaps the best way to describe the effects of using incident management as a method to get from a starting point of an incident to the finishing point is to compare IMS to driving an automobile.
When you first start to drive an automobile, it is an uneasy and awkward experience. In most instances, you have to think through what needs to be done to ensure that you do not have an accident. If you take driving lessons only once a month, your skills at driving only slightly improve; however, if you drive daily, your skills tend to improve more, and it becomes less awkward, less frightening, and more like second nature. By driving every day for an extended amount of time, the process becomes second nature, and you do not even think about what you need to do; you just do it while watching for hazards.
This same analogy can be applied to incident management. When you first begin to use an IMS method, it can feel awkward and uneasy. If you use incident management only on occasion, you have to think through what needs to be done to avert a disaster, or to reduce instances of mistakes. If you use those concepts regularly, over time it becomes less awkward, less frightening, and more like second nature. If you use it daily for an extended amount of time, it becomes second nature. Every first responder should strive to make incident management‐second nature so that when a major incident does occur, they better prepared to manage the chaos that ensues.
Similarly, few people would take a single driving lesson, then decide to drive from Boston to Los Angeles. It also would not matter if the driver was a novice or an experienced driver, if they decided to drive from Boston to Los Angeles, it would normally take mitigation measures such as changing the oil, checking tires, and making sure the fluids in the engine compartment were topped off. By the same token, they would plan their route and the entire trip. This might include how much fuel it would take, how far they could drive in a day, what motels they will stay at, and of course, the route they should take.
Much like taking a long trip in a car, using an IMS method should somewhat mimic the process of mitigating problems in advance. We should not expect to be able to competently manage a major incident after only one lesson. We should practice, and practice even more, until we become highly proficient at IMS. Much like checking the oil and tires, we should include mitigation measures in our IMS method, and we should plan before an incident happens, not after we already in the thick of it.
Unfortunately, there are some agencies in public safety who have taken one or two classes, and they think they are competent and proficient enough to drive from Boston to Los Angeles. To put it bluntly, they think they can manage a catastrophic or Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) because they read about it and took a test. They fail to recognize that it takes planning, mitigation, and regular (and ongoing use) of an IMS method in order to be successful for the long trip they may have to face. IMS methods take practice, no matter what the system is named or the country where it originated.
2.4 Case Study: Tokyo Versus Oklahoma City
It is common knowledge that emergency incidents have a certain amount of chaos, uncertainty, and complexity. Usually, the larger the incident, the more these underlying factors present themselves. When we look at how to manage that chaos, uncertainty and complexity, we only need to look at an IMS method. Some might want to question the efficacy, or perhaps the legitimacy of IMS methods. For that reason, a case study was utilized to compare and contrast two incidents; one incident applied an IMS method (Incident Commands System [ICS]), while the other did not utilize any IMS method.
To help you to better understand
