Continuing to introduce innovative and advanced Incident Command System (ICS) training courses and support tools, EMSI recently developed an ICS Advanced Planning Process course and is working to develop an ICS Planning Process Guide Book. This course greatly expands on operational planning concepts, to better prepare response personnel to develop stronger and more effective Incident Action Plans (IAPs).
Many ICS courses provide an introduction to the operational planning cycle and IAP development, walking through the “Planning P” once to demonstrate how the cycle operates. While this may orient the learner to the cycle, it’s limited in practical applications that afford learners the opportunity to actually develop the required components of the IAP and conduct the meetings and planning periods in real time. Our new ICS Advanced Planning Process course compliments existing ICS-320 (IMT) and ICS-420 (Advanced IMT) courses by reemphasizing the planning process as it leads learners through the cycle twice. This new course is position agnostic and appropriate for any IMT role involved in Incident Action Plan (IAP) development.
The IAP is a critical tool for successful incident management, providing tactical direction for Operations Section personnel and outlining the operational support requirements. Many IMTs fail to produce IAPs that provide adequate detail for the Operations Section personnel to pick-up the plan and implement it as intended. This course will solve that problem by advancing the IAP development skills of IMT members.
IMT members participating in this class will develop a greater understanding of the IAP development process with an emphasis on developing better IAPs. Starting with transitioning from the ICS-201, participants will learn:
• to develop better incident objectives
• effective meeting preparedness and facilitation
• contributing better inputs to the planning process
• building contingencies into the IAP
• hazard analysis and operational risk management
• effective resource allocation
• writing descriptive work assignments
• logistical support for IAP execution
• informal team coordination during the IAP development
• Division/Group Supervisor input to the IAP development
• Technical Specialist support to the IAP development
• Briefing the IAP
• Measuring IAP effectiveness
• Making changes to the IAP
• Developing subsequent IAPs
Built to provide responders critical skills when performing in the operational planning cycle, we believe this new course addresses shortfalls our clients have noted in national ICS training program. By coupling this new course with existing IMT courses and position specific training, the ICS Advanced Planning Process course will exponentially increase the responders’ ability to advance to the right on a crawl/walk/run spectrum and be best prepared to perform in an IMT role.
EMSI is a premier all-hazards, full-service, multi-discipline incident management and emergency management services and solutions provider. Additionally, EMSI is a global leader in the application of the Incident Command System (ICS) for all-risk, all-hazard, multi-discipline incidents. Our ICS related services include ICS training development and delivery, ICS-themed exercises, ICS coaching, and response.