Incident Command System for Major Incident - Harrow Court - Case Study Example

Incident Command System page 1. Introduction 1 2. Incident command system for major incident 1 3. Purpose and advantage of instigating the ICS at 3 emergency incidents 4. Critical evaluation of ICS for high rise buildings 5 5. Critical evaluation of the management of harrow court Incident 6 6. Effectiveness of dynamic risk assessment 7 7. Need for an inter agency liaison and the role Other agencies in an incident 8 8. Conclusion 9 1 Incident command Introduction This assignment on incident command discusses in brief about the history of incident command, how it is implemented at a major incident, the different levels of command in incident command, what is the purpose of developing an incident command system at an emergency incident, what are the different sectors and commands in an incident command and the span control of a commander. It also discusses about offensive, defensive and transitional modes in incident command system, the inner cordons and outer cordons and different types of sectorization. It talks a little about the necessity of developing an incident command system for high rises and makes a critical evaluation of the management of incident command at the Harrow Court. Finally it talks about the importance and effectiveness of liaison work with other department/agencies. Incident command system for major incident The incident command system was developed in USA in 1970s to fight the massive forest fires. In spite of adequate infrastructure and resources there were loss of lives and properties in fire incidents. The studies conducted on the subject revealed that the failure in managing the incident was due to the failure in communication and management. Study pointed out that there was absence of systematic planning, pre- defined method and proper command. The basis of incident command system is that a well conceived system with clear commands and coordinated response will help to fight and manage the incidents like fire effectively. Incident command system is designed on a unified and simplified operation procedure which reduces the failure in communication and its ruinous consequential effects. An incident is managed effectively with incident command system having commanders at different levels giving right commands to personnel posted with specific responsibility. It makes effective controls on personnel, equipments and communication to bring out the desired results. (1) 2 The incident command system is the procedure for operating at the time of an incident. Incident can be natural disasters like wild fire, flooding earthquake or man made disasters like structural fires, industrial accidents etc. The incident command system operates at three levels i.e Bronze, Silver and Gold command is effective to control a major incident. Bronze command works very close to the scene and they are responsible for the immediate deployment of the resources for saving the life and property at the scene. It takes orders from the Bronze commander and the commander ensures the safety and efficiency of the force working with him. Above the Bronze command is Silver command which manages the direction from the Gold command. The Silver command divides commands it received from Gold command into sets of actions to be carried out by Bronze command. It reviews the resources available with the Bronze command and strives to implement and attain the results. Gold command is the incident room which formulates strategy for the incidents. It applies the policies and plans to fight the incident and faces the media response. (3) In an incident command system for a major incident the operation is made with sectorization. Sectorization divides the incidents site into many different parts and each sector is put under the control of a sector officer. Sectorization takes place geographically and functionally. It reduces the burden of the incident commander as it gives freedom to take appropriate decision by the sector commander. The incident commander has to see that adequate resources are placed at the disposal of the sector commander. If an incident is a fire in a high rise the sectors can be functional like medical, water, transport, fuel etc. Since the incident command system functions with a unified command to achieve the desired results. There is a chain of unified command from the incident commander to the sector commander. The sector commander is responsible for the actions in a definite part of the incident. 3 For the effective functioning of the incident command system sometimes a functional officer to work in operations, planning, logistic and finance. For example a functional officer is necessary to take charge in communication or medical supplies etc. There is an effective span of control which refers to the number of subordinates a manager can effectively mange under incident command system. It ranges from 3 to 7. In a major incident the command support helps the commanders to relief so as to enable them to concentrate in their main task. Command support includes safety liaison and information. The safety officer ensures the safety of the personnel and the liaison officer brings cooperation and assistance from other departments. The incident control system provides for an inner cordon from where the accident victims are being rescued. For which the commander and the crew is working. Beyond that there is an outer cordon where vehicles and other resources and kept. Public and media are kept outside the outer cordon. In a major incident command sometimes the commanders may have to take an offensive mode when an attack to the fire is worthy. A defensive mode is taken when there is less chance of saving the life and property in which context the crew fights the incident from a safe distance to control the fire in lieu of putting it out. In certain occasion a transitional mode which combines offensive and defensive modes simultaneously will do better. 3. Purposes and advantages of instigating the incident command system at emergency incidents. An incident command system is to be applied in an emergency otherwise the casualty from the incidents will be much more. An incident takes place all on a sudden without any hint of that. In order to save the lives and properties of the victims, people around the incident immediately gather at the place of incident and do some impulse actions. Within no time the incident site turns into a place 4 of utter chaos. Every body shouts giving directions to others and no body takes care of what others say. No order for any action prevails and no effective control measures are applies. But when an incident command system is applied in an incident, the casualty is reduced the minimum. It is because the rescue operations are carried out as per the commands from a single authority. The incident site is cordoned of with inner and outer cordons. Trained crew members under the command of a sector commander or a Bronze commander do the rescue works according to a specific direction. Because it functions under a system, unnecessary people are kept away from the incident site which facilitates the rescuers to work effectively without any interruptions from spectators. Beyond the inner cordon the resources like vehicle etc are kept ready. Public and media are allowed to take position only beyond the outer cordon. Under the incident command system the commanders get adequate support from functional officers. Under the line of command every thing is clear and no confusion regarding the role and responsibility of each one exists. Since a system is applied the rescuers can either attack the incidents if it is a fire and if there is no chance of saving the life and property of the victims they can go in for a defensive mode. The commanders and crew can try transitional mode if the situation warrants. These are possible only in a system that has definite procedure. Under an ICS, the commanders do not face an unmanageable workload as they are in an effective span of control. The problem of communication failure is absent in ICS as there is a functional officer for that. The quantum of loss of life and property will increase in the absence of ICS. The rescue operation will have to be carried out with personnel having no clarity with their role. No unified command and effective supervision is there in the absence of ICS. 5 It will be effective in an ICS if the silver command and gold command are functioned near to the incident. 4. Critical examination of ICS for high rise buildings The incidents in high rise building possess big challenge to rescue operators. It is because of the congestion of flats in a big building that goes in the air. Unlike on the ground, the rescue operation in an incident in high rise buildings becomes difficult because of the lack of space. The retention of heat and smoke that emit from the buildings makes problem worse. Less accessibility is the worst problem. The application of ICS in high rise buildings is effective. It allows to divide the incident scene in different sectors for the convenience of making the rescue operation easy and manageable. Each sector is put in charge of a sector commander who takes appropriate timely decision. The requirement of resources are met on time through the support of the functional officers who work in communication, water supply, fuel supply, medical service etc. Sectorization makes the incident management less problematic. Each sector needs only to look after its assigned part of the operation. For the coordination of sector commander there is operating commander. To make the operation a success there is safety officer who ensures the safety of the personnel involved. Moreover the liaison officer brings support and assistance from other departments and agencies. Sectorization puts the incident commander in a better position to concentrate in strategic decision and implementation. ICS is a proven system. The unified command from a single authority makes the operation success. Everyone involved the operation knows well about the role and responsibility. 6 The high heat and smoke, less ventilation and access, less space to operate for the rescuers makes the IC operation in high rises difficult. But the sectorization makes the operation very easy. 5. Critical evaluation of the management of harrow court incident. On February 2nd 2005 night there was a fire incident on the 14th floor of an 18 story residential tower at Harrow Port, Silam Road, Stevenage. The fire and rescue service received the call and they responded. Two fire fighters ie: Michael Miller and Jeffry Worn Ham went to the incident site. They found that the fire broke out from the 14th floor. They rescued a person from flat No. 85 and again went inside to rescue another one. Worn Ham could not come out because he was entangled in the cables. At the same time Miller and other occupants remained in the room where fire started. Worn Ham died in the Hospital. In effect both the fire fighters lost their life. The fire and rescue service deeply mourned the demise of their colleagues. The review of the management of the incident reveals that the fire fighters lost their lives due to the failure in the management incident. The fire fighters went to the incident without any planning and precautionary measures. They did not take essential instruments with them. There was no water to control the fire. The incident was managed without any planning. The fire and rescue wing did not apply any ICS to manage the incident. No commander to give instruction was there. No support officers were posted. No single authority’s command was flowed. No body was there to supervise the operation. The 1st mistake on the part of fire and rescue wing was that they did not make any plan for fighting the incident. They failed to provide adequate men and resources to manage the incident. They did not post any safety officer and liaison officer at the incident site. Everything they did went wrong. This incident could have been managed well. First of all they should have made a plan. A Bronze commander with his crew should have been posted at the incident site. Commands from a single authority should have been flowed. If 7 necessary the incident site should have been brought under sectorization. If the gravity of the fire was too big to put out, they ought to have taken a defensive mode. Operation commanders, functional officer, support officers etc. should have been engaged. They could have done it better. If a trained crew under the incident commander posted there, the entire management of the incident would have been different. Secorization of the incident site, coordination by operating commanders, posting of functional and support officers etc. would have made the management better. Cordoning of the site would have made the operation less difficult. If the supply of resources like vehicles, water, fuel etc. were made the operation would have been easy. The ICS is a proven system and if they had formed the Gold, Silver and Bronze commands that itself would have been sufficient to manage the incident better. 6. Effectiveness of dynamic risk assessment Dynamic risk assessment is the process of taking stock of the situation prevails at the incident site. It is continuous assessment of the circumstances on the spot. It takes into account the immediate hazards, people at risk, control methods for protection etc. DRA is made continuously on the scene and updates and give information to every one involved in the operation. It is to be made quickly. The fire and safety services functions on a philosophy which focuses on the development of incident and changing of strategy in order to have maximum safety and survival. A dynamic assessment is needed because the situation at the incident site is frequently changing and appropriate decision is to be taken on the spot. A generic assessment decides before hand what equipments are to be used at an incident. It is difficult to foresee everything in advance. When the incident crew works away from the incident scene, DRA is better. 8 In harrow court incident no DRA was done. The fire fighters did not take stock of the situation there and without considering the risk involved they jumped into the scene and acted. It could have been done better. They should have made a DRA and acted accordingly. In fact commanders are there to assess the situation. They should have considered immediate hazards, the risk and the methods for protection. The absence of DRA was the reason for the death of the fire fighters. If a DRA was made on the spot as to how big the problem before them and what are the methods to be taken had been made, the fire fighters would not have been died. 7. Need for an inter agency liaison and the role of the agencies in an incident In a major incident the services of one department or agency alone are not sufficient to mange the things well. In an incident the victims undergo serious physical injuries. Life and properties are at risk. The rescue operation primarily concentrate on recuing people with no or minimum injuries. The rescue operation is a major task which requires large resources which are not readily available with the fire and rescue department. The role of other departments and agencies are very important here. They can assist IC with the resources available with them. Even though in a fire incident the incident site is under the control of F&R wing, the Police can control the area from unwanted entries of others and giving a clear direction outside the incident scene. They have to maintain the low and order and they have to see whether the incident is due to any action of the miscreants. The Health Services Department makes immediate arrangement for providing ambulances and makes arrangement for the treatment of the injured. The incident is happened in the area of local authority which has a role to coordinate the activities of other departments. The environment department has to see the burnt materials are disposed of without making any adverse effect. The 9 Government plays the major role in such situation. They order training and development of the personnel. Besides, the NGOs like Red Cross could have been entered into. They could have provided vehicles, blood donation, services of Counselors etc. 8. Conclusion The foregoing report discusses in brief about the history of ICS, its different levels and how it functions in an incident. The effectiveness of ICS in managing major incident, command flow from a single authority and sectorization of the incident scene, the coordinating and supporting activities reducing the burden of the commanders utilizing span on control etc. make ICS a good system to fight an incident. The advantageous of applying ICS in high rises and how its absence affected the harrow court incident finds a place in the foregoing report. It also discusses about the application dynamic risk assessment and how it is different from generic assessment and whether the DRA was applied in harrow court incident or not. Of course a major incident has to be managed with the active involvement of other agencies/department and the report talks a little about the necessity of liaison work with other departments/agencies and the role of police, medical services, local authority and NGOs. References 1. Gustin 2007,Brennan 1998 2. Grey et.2004 3. Krammer and Bahme 4. Veenema 2003 Read More