Time to Smell the Roses!

Hello to all of our colleagues and friends who have contributed to both Pat’s and my professional careers.  You may have noticed that we are not as active in EMSI as in the past.  Pat and I have decided to focus our future efforts in another direction.  I have personally …

Responsibility for the Selection and Development of Incident Strategies: Command or Operations?

Incidents using the Incident Command System require a set of objectives, a strategy or strategies to accomplish these objectives and a series of tactical work assignments directing resources to accomplish these strategies.  It is well understood that the Incident Commander or Unified Command creates and establishes Incident Objectives.  It is …

Types of Command

The Incident Commander (IC) has overall authority and responsibility for managing all operations at the incident site.  This individual(s) is/are responsible for all incident activities including the development of the objectives and strategies and the ordering and release of resources; therefore, it is essential that the selection of Incident Command …

A Tribute to an American Hero

EMSI recently had the pleasure of presenting an ICS-341, Incident Response Planning course, for USCG Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach at Fort McArthur. Seventeen members of USCG active duty and auxiliary attended the course taught September 20-24, 2010. This course teaches skills needed to implement the Incident Command System planning process …

The Mission and the Environment

One of the most positive developments in emergency response in recent years has been the national use of NIMS ICS. ICS has gained acceptance in public safety, private sector, and non-emergency event planning and has been applied to incidents and events ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the Olympic Games, to …

The Stop Work Authority

In the relatively static and well-defined operational conditions of a wide variety of manufacturing facilities, a broadly-trained Stop Work program can be one of many health and safety policies and procedures. Generally speaking, the Stop Work is applied when the following conditions exist: Conditions or the work plan changes You …

Just In Time Training

Just in Time Training (JIT) is a term used to refer to training that takes place on an incident in which students are actual responders. The purpose of this type of training is to improve an individual’s performance, understand how their position interacts with other members of the team, and …

Deepwater Horizon

During the initial response phase of the Deepwater Horizon MC252 Incident, the US Coast Guard used a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) to request EMSI’s support for the largest spill response effort in our nation’s history. Initially, we were tasked to provide 3 Incident Commander qualified staff for ICS coaching to …

The Evolution of Branch Planning

The scale and magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is unprecedented, causing organizational decisions in the use of the Incident Command System to focus a large part of tactical response at the Branch Level. During the height of this response, eighteen geographic branches divided under two Incident Command Posts …

Organizing the Operations Section

The Operations Section is the focal point of the management of an incident so the importance of developing and maintaining an effective and efficient Operations Section organization cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, incident organizing is a skill that many existing or up-and-coming Operations Section Chiefs and Deputy Operations Section Chiefs need …