Introduction
The ICS, Incident Command System, is a management model that incorporates all risk incidences. The ICS concept is regulated in that its users match the varying demands and complexities of different incidences through an amalgamated organization structure without hindrances from jurisdictional restrictions. The ICS integrates various facilities, tools, workforce, processes, and communications in a single organizational structure to facilitate effective incident management (Butler et al., 2019). A professional firefighter is a trained first responder to put out hazardous fires threatening life and property and rescue people and animals. The United States developed the National Incident Management System in 2004 as a standardized approach used by governmental, non-governmental, and private organizations in response to hazardous incidents (Butler et al., 2019). The study of incident command systems is important to a professional firefighter as it provides organized strategies in response to fire incidents.
History of Incident Command System
The Fires Service created the Incident Command System in 1971 as an emergency response approach in the United States. The system was developed when wildfire incidents were on the rise (Chou et al., 2019). The many wildfire incidents threatened the environment, property, and human lives. Notably, the response teams experienced difficulty managing multiple cases effectively (Oh & Lee, 2020). The incident management teams at the time discovered that the response team’s organizational structure and operations procedures were varying. Secondly, mechanisms of coordination for the competitive demands needed to be improved. Therefore, the devastating shortfalls prompted the Forest Service to develop a system for multiagency control (Oh & Lee, 2020). The ICS was developed by the Forest Service based on improved uniformity among responding agencies, timely response to cases, advanced integrated regional coordination structure, and modern technologically integrated response structure to improve performance.
The system is hierarchal and applied by government agencies, fire responders, and the police in response to fire incidents. The Emergency Operations Center also applies the strategies in ICS in field responses (Navarro et al., 2019). The ICS provides terminology, guidelines for operations, communications, and management strategies for application in the field responses (Carvalho et al., 2018b). The ICS approach relies on the Management by Objectives concepts. The management objectives are set by seniors and assigned to subordinate staff after an agreement that the objectives are efficient. Setting objectives allows the seniors to coordinate the response approaches without unreasonable expectations.
There are five primary functional units in the incident command system, including the incident command, the logistics, the operations, the finance and administration, and the planning and intelligence. First, the logistics section supplies food, equipment, personnel, and shower facilities (Oh & Lee, 2020). Secondly, the finance and administration section documents and maintains the response process, while the incident command section sets objectives and proprieties of the incident responses. The operations are responsible for implementing the objectives set (Navarro et al., 2019). The intelligence and planning develop an Incidents Action Plan to aid in implementing objectives and setting goals.
Importance of the Study of the Incident Command System by Fire Professionals
By studying the principles of the incident command system, firefighters can flexibly apply them in response to fire incidents. Studying the ICS will help firefighters understand how to approach fire incidents and make their response effective (Navarro et al., 2019). There are three major principles that a firefighter needs to study; the first principle is that every incident requires an incident commander. An incident commander is a person in charge of the incident response team (Chou et al., 2019). The second principle is that the incident commander has to analyze the incident, break it into manageable sizes, and assign each section a leader. The third principle relevant to a firefighter is the necessity of staging resources set for incident response.
The first principle requires an incident commander, essential in managing a response. In a fire incident, for example, there will be chaos if there is no person in charge of a response team (Smith et al., 2019). The person in charge should be proficient in understanding the incident and recognizing its complexity to determine whether the team will sufficiently manage it or if there is a need for more responders. The second principle requires the incident responder to critically analyze an incident and apply Division and Group Supervisors by breaking the responders into smaller groups. The incident commanders should not overwhelm themselves with responding duties but should offer resources to the subordinate staff, making the work easier and more efficient (Smith et al., 2019). The concept of division of labor is essential even in larger incidences and is applicable in reducing redundancy and maximizing time and resources (Campbell, 2018). The third principle about staging resources where if resources are not caged properly, they may be misplaced (Campbell, 2018). These three principles are essential for fire responders to manage each incident while protecting themselves against possible dangers successfully.
Conclusion
The national incident management system is an approach structured to manage multijurisdictional incidents. NIMS was developed in 2004 by Homeland Security in the United States. NIMS was designated to coordinate all responders, including government, non-government, private, and public sectors (Chou et al., 2019). The incident command system is one of the management systems under which the national incident management system is made operational in responding to hazardous incidences such as fire. NIMS has its management principles, including using common terminology by responders, a flexible structured organization, and set objectives to control management. Its principles are related to that of the Incident Command System and aid multiple agencies to the NIMS (St. Denis et al., 2020). Firefighters should study the ICS to help them respond effectively to fire incidences while protecting and reducing redundancy.
References
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