up with the changes to the IMS methods that were used, Bangladesh also received training on the new Hospital Incident Command System (HICS). In June 2014, a total of 29 healthcare workers from seven major healthcare facilities, attended a five‐day training (ADPC, 2014a). From research conducted on the use of Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) method, Bangladesh continues to not only train on this IMS method but also to widely implement it as part of the standard in healthcare facilities across this nation.
3.6 Brunei
Like many countries, Brunei utilizes ICS method as a management framework to integrate personnel, equipment, procedures, facilities, and communications when responding to incidents. Prior to the implementation of ICS, the country saw many issues with multiagency responses that were quite similar to the problems faced in the United States prior to FIRESCOPE.
According to a research project based at the University of Brunei (2015), it was not uncommon for incidents in Brunei to have multiple Incident Commanders (IC's), who would at times argue or cause confusion. Sometimes this confusion was based on differing operating procedures. Because different disciplines had different organizational structures, this too added to the chaos and confusion. Additionally, information sharing was limited, so there was often a lack of thorough situational awareness. This too often led to more chaos and confusion, and it led to putting operational personnel at a higher risk (Soe et al. 2015).
Brunei also suffered from inadequate forms of communication hardware and incompatible communications frequencies. Much like the wildfires in California, various agencies would arrive on scene and would be unable to communicate with each other. They also each had their own vernacular, which did not coincide with each other. Even if these agencies did communicate with each other, there were issues with effectively communicating. They often lacked the ability or willingness to coordinated planning with each other. Essentially, every agency was doing what they felt was best, while ignoring the other agency(s). This was primarily because there were unclear lines of authority that identified who should be in charge of an incident (Soe et al. 2015).
After signing the ASEAN Agreement, the Government of Brunei decided to address the weaknesses they found in incident management. The Brunei National Disaster Management Center began working collaboratively with the US Forestry Department to create an IMS method that met the needs of the country in 2009. As with any IMS method, everyone must be on the same page for it to be effective, so the initial starting point of creating an IMS method for the Nation of Brunei was to organize resources. This led to the framework of National Standard Operation Procedures (NaSOP). This further led to important factors in ICS including creating collaboration, reporting mechanisms, and common language as well as the terminology to be used in disaster management (Soe et al. 2015).
In 2011, Brunei National Disaster Management Center began conducting seminars, workshop, tabletop exercises, and simulation exercises in all four of Brunei's districts. The concepts were simple, by teaching and promoting the use of ICS, first responders will begin to grasp and use this method of incident management. This was a starting point, and according to a published report by the University of Brunei (2015), much progress has been made. The report also points out that there is more work to be done. This research paper points out that the initiative was not completely implemented to cover all incidents, and it does not involve nongovernmental organizations. The report puts part of the blame on the responding agencies by stating, “Silo mentality of the different government agencies hinders cooperation. In times of disasters, all agencies involved have to work together and should be able to take orders from the incident commander. Those in command of respective agencies prefer to use old, more familiar methods, rather than ICS” (Soe et al. 2015, p. 31). This is a common problem that occurs when changes happen.
Brunei also took steps early in the process to integrate healthcare facilities into disaster response. As early as 2005, the Brunei Ministry of Health had implemented a disaster management plan for the entire country, and all healthcare facilities were required to follow that guidance. In the disaster plan, learning and utilizing the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) method was required.
The Brunei IMS method has one major difference from most systems currently in use. Whenever a disaster happens, whether in a hospital, a specific area, or even the whole country is affected, the National Disaster Management Center is the coordinating body for all disaster response. How this differs from most countries that have coordinating centers is that the Brunei Disaster Management Center guarantees that all aspects of managing a disaster are multiple ways. They include adherence to written policies, strategies, and the various practices implemented (and guided) by international, regional, and national drivers (“ASEAN Disaster Workshop in Thailand,” n.d.).
As time went on, Brunei became more astute in Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), and they began to not only use it, but to intentionally test its limits to ensure that it was a reliable and resilient method of IMS. Soon, Brunei became a leader in hospital disaster preparedness in their region, and they began teaching hospital disaster management throughout the region. While this was typically done through Doctors without Borders (2018), the focus was on how Brunei prepares healthcare facilities for disaster management. The Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) is an important part of the teaching that they do throughout the ASEAN region.
3.7 Cambodia
In 2014, a law that outlined the larger picture of disaster management was submitted to the Cambodian government. In that law, there were provisions for the use of the Incident Command System. Relatively little could be found in research about the implementation of ICS before 2014, but we can assume that it was ongoing, based on the ASEAN agreement and the Hyogo Framework (An, 2014). Research into the use of Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) also did not yield any results.
3.8 Canada
The use of an IMS method in Canada revealed that the Incident Command System (ICS) is the primary method utilized. Some have the opinion that the system is used across the nation as a standardized approach to incident management (ICS Canada, n.d.), while others state that the use of ICS is left to each individual province (personal communications). Research revealed that Canadian's have made some slight adjustments to ICS to meet their needs, and the overall system appears to have widespread use.
An organization called ICS Canada (n.d.) claims that the first iteration of ICS in Canada happened in the Province of British Columbia during the mid‐1990s. In 2002, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), mandated that all provincial, territorial, and federal agencies should learn and utilize the CIFFC's version of ICS for wildland firefighting. This version of ICS included a standard doctrine and provided training materials for the wildland fire community across Canada. The mandate was directed at wildland firefighting operations, but the mandate did not include nonwildland firefighting organizations. Even without the mandate, many agencies who were not involved in wildland firefighting operations began to utilize this IMS method for daily response, and soon, the use of the Canadian ICS system increased (ICS Canada, n.d.).
When the CIFFC was reviewing potential updates to the wildland firefighting courses, it was realized that the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) was looking to provide a single command and control system that incorporated an all‐hazards approach that would meet their long‐term provincial emergency management needs. These two separate entities with very different response areas cooperated and collaborated with each other to create the groundwork for the use of ICS in Canada (ICS, Canada). While it appears that not every province has decided to utilize the ICS method, the organization known as ICS Canada was actively recruiting provinces and organization to adopt this standard for incident management as of the writing of this book.
This brings us to the use of Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) in the country of Canada. Research revealed that the clear majority of hospitals in Canada have adopted the Hospital
