Incident Command System at Harrow Court - Case Study Example

Incident Command (Course Name and Code) (Institution Name) (Students Name) (Students Number) (Tutors Name) 23/092008 Introduction The environment that surrounds and supports human life can sometimes be hazardous. There are several things that human life interacts with in the day-to-day life which are useful and at the same time exposes man into risk. The nature of the risks faced by humanity are diverse and unpredictable in some instances. Some calamities are natural such as volcanic eruption while others are man made such as terrorism attacks. Due to the devastating effects of tragedies, several strategies have been developed to minimize the risks they pose to man. The Incident Command System (ICS) is an example of the strategies that have been developed in evaluation of catastrophic incidences. This system consists of hierarchal command structures which increase its effectiveness in managing incidents. (Kelvin, 2004) This paper focuses on the ICS with reference to the Harrow Court Incident that led to loss of lives of two fire fighters. Different perspectives will also be discussed in relation to incident management in the Harrow Court such as high rise building and principles of Dynamic risk assessment. History of ICS The Incident Command System (ICS) was developed during the 1970’s after a massive wildfire fighting attempt in California and a series of catastrophic fires in the Californian urban areas. The fires led to loss of property, lives and inflicted injuries to survivors. These incidents were enough prove that the existing disaster management strategies were unable to deal with calamities. The ICS was therefore developed to illuminate the command structure in times of hazardous occurrences. Other countries including Australia and the United Kingdom adopted this system although it exhibits different names but adopts the same principles as ICS. Gold Silver Bronze command structure A Gold-Silver-Bronze command structure is used by the United Kingdom’s emergency services in establishing a hierarchal structure for the command and control of key events and disasters. The terms Strategic-Tactical-Operation, has been used by some practitioners to denote Gold-Silver-Bronze in the same order. Gold commander creates strategies and controls organization’s resources at the incident but he is actually not at the incident site but in a control room somewhere away from the scene. In case of different organizations, the Gold/Strategic commanders coordinate through video conferencing or through the telephone. Silver commander on the other hand receives instructions from the Gold commander who breaks the information into sets of actions to be accomplished by the Bronze commander. The Bronze commander is at the incident site and work hand in hand staff members at the scene. During emergencies, the Bronze commander is usually under police control except for fire and rescue incidents. (Mark,, 2005) Span control Span of control is a fundamental element of the Incident Command System which limits the number of responsibilities as well as resources used by an individual in the incident. The ICS obliges that; the span of control of a single person should not be less than three or greater than seven. Five is the ideal number of span control. Span control ensures that the communications of the officers are effective in the management of issues. Usually the communication issues are the key components in span control. In a complex situation, communication is usually short i.e. 2-3 lines while at stable situations, 6-7 lines is appropriate. However the commander is required to limit their span of control at 4-5 lines of direct involvement. Sectorisation Sectorisation is the criteria by which boundaries of responsibilities are defined in an Incident Command System. Therefore the boundary describes a Sector as a function or areas of responsibilities. Sectors in an incident can either be physical or service in operation. The magnitude or the complexity of an incident may prompt an incident commander to break the incident into different sectors and assign them to Sector commanders to increase effectiveness of operations. Sectorisation can be categorized into two groups; specialization and the topographical sectorisation. Roles and responsibilities Sector commander A sector commander is appointed to deal with a given sector. He is appointed by the Incident commander (IC) and hence he is liable to IC. The sector commander acts as the manager of his allocated sector and therefore takes all the responsibilities that arise in that sector. Incident commander An Incident commander is responsible for the overall management of the incident. The main concern of the Incident commander is the health and safety of his crew, deployment of resources, Tactical planning and the general command and control. Operation commander An Operations commander on the other hand is a nominee of the Incident Commander and is responsible of facilitating maintenance of Span of control. The Operation Commander must be conversant with every aspect within the incident which that may result to complex or Inter Agency incidents. Command Support They will be called upon to assist the IC in managing an incident. Command Support will be required to manage radio communications and the following functions: To act as a first contact point of an incident, and to enter information to the contact point log form Assist in Liaison with IC with other agencies. Direct the available resources to the required location Record information that concerns sector identification and the officers on duty. Inner and Outer Cordon The inner cordon is the area where the emergency services are at work to rescue casualties and any survivors and to deal with the reason for the emergency. Personnel in this area should have protective gear and ensure that evidence is protected. Outer Cordon on the other hand is the surrounding of an incident and seals off the area of incidence so that the public could not cross. (Kelvin, 2004) Tactical Mode This producer assists the Incident Commander in managing any Incident effectively without compromising the safety and health of the personnel. An incident is said to be transition when the crew are committed to an area of an incident and being held back from other areas. When an incident is sectorised, and a tactical mode assessment is made then the mode is either defensive or offensive. Hence, an offensive mode requires the crew to be removed from a hazardous area. Importance of the ICS in an Incident The ICS usually consists of hierarchical of organization and contains procedures in the management of an incident. In addition, it contains mechanisms and means by which an incident team can be controlled, availability of facilities and equipments and smooth communication. This is a system, which is designed to manage an incident until the situation normalizes or when the operation is not needed. The services that are availed by the ICS include meeting different types of incidents and there relevant complexity, bringing in different personality from various agencies under a common terminology, maintain logistical and administrative support to the operational staff and ensure that all the duties that are undertaken are cost effective due to prevention of duplication of duties. If the issue of the ICS was not existent, there could have been numerous problems. There could have been chaos and individualism since each personnel tries to pursue a different mission. Different agencies that are involved will cause conflict and collision of duties and responsibilities. Due to scrambling to solve the incident, more damages could occur and injuries to both the personnel and the victims could be increased. Incident Command System in High Buildings The circumstances that concerns high-rise buildings are different in terms of floors and level, there should be detailed guidance and understanding of sectorisation principles in such issues. This is because the Sector Commander may not be physically present at the scene due to factors such as smoke and when there are cases that affect external and internal sectorisation. (Patrick 2002). Certain conditions stipulate that it is better not to sectorise a high-rise building due to barriers in information flow between the Incident Commander and the crew. There may arise cases that require external surveillance – external sectorisation that uses features such as the aerial devices will require operating in the normal model. At times they may be required to operate a single fire sector, which calls upon the external and support sectors to work in conventional model or way. Besides, there might be different personnel who are working in an area that require different operations such as searching, ventilating, and salvaging. In managing issues that are associated with high rise buildings sectorisation is effective since it divides the duties and concentration in one point can easily be achieved. In this way, the work force is split, and the ability of each solving an issue is increased and conflicts are completely removed. When each sector has a person who directs the required efforts, other floors will be accomplished depending on the scenario at that floor by the other commanders. Incidents occur differently and due to the fact that buildings are sectored by the nature of the floors, sectorisation application can be easily applied with assured positive outcome.. Harrow Court Incident This was an incident which occurred in the 15th floor of Harrow Court, Silam Road - Stevenage. Harrow court is a residential flat with 18 floors. Two fire fighting appliances were sent from Stevenage Fire Station after they received distress. The fire was seen either in the 14th or 15th floor. Three fire fighters located the fire in the 14th floor, and they made entry in the 85th flat, rescued one occupant, and returned to rescue the second occupant. One of the fire fighters who died, had laid out the hose line, but he was not successful when charging it. The other two fire fighters re-entered the room without any measures to defend themselves from fire development. When they were in the flat, fire developed, one of the fire fighters escape but was entwined by cables that had fallen in front of the door. Two fire fighters died in the incident and one woman. Mistakes that occurred included the fire fighters re-entering the flat without the protective hose lines. There breathing apparatus were defective and the apparatus failed to work. The high-rise building procedures were inadequate and were not followed. This was because the recommendations that were proposed by the HSE were not followed. The management of the incident was poor, the breathing apparatus failed to satisfy the requirements through the guidance of HM Inspectorate. In addition, incident command procedures that were issued by HM Inspectorate were not fully followed and some parts were inadequate and omitted some provisions of the national guidance. Through the Harrow Court incident, it was evident that there was poor training and organizational weakness in training of the fire fighting personnel. The two fire fighters, while others were receiving instructions they went straight to assist the distressed, this brings in issues that are related to individualism. The incident or mostly the death of the two fire fighters would have been prevented if the crew and the management had cooperated. If the fire fighting station had followed the required procedures and the policies that were directed to them by HM Inspectorate, the mission may have been successful. Most of the fire fighters and crew were not fully trained or did not receive refresher courses that concerned fire fighting; if they did, the fire fighters could not have died. The resources that they were allocated were poor, the breathing masks failed to function and the horse pipe did not charge. Through this, it is evident that the management of required resources and the state of the resources was poor. From this viewpoint, the resources should be managed and lacking resources should be allocated. Dynamic Risk Assessment This is the method by which the changing circumstances that is associated with an incident is continuously assessed to enable in the development of the necessary control measures and ensuring that certain standards of safety are maintained. Different philosophies associated with Fire and Rescue Services exists. The most common ones are, to picture the scenario before deciding what to do. The philosophers’ further say that anything is salvageable, but those things that have burned out or completely damaged should be left and concentration should be made on those that can be salvaged (Rick 2003). The difference between dynamic risk assessment and generic assessment risk is spatial i.e. the place and time of application. Generic is usually applicable in a stable condition such as a hospital scenario. This means that the situation is stable but focuses in predicting where problems can emerge. In the Harrow Court incident, dynamic risk assessment was not done well. This is because the fire fighters were not able to analyze the situation before going back for the second time. They could have checked the preventive or supportive equipments such as the horse pipe and the smoke apparatus. Poor risk assessment contributed to the death of the fire fighters and the woman. If they had done risk assessment, they could have known the type of risks that they were going into and take the necessary precautions. Liaison Agencies Agencies come to assist the personnel and crew in solving of an incident. In an incident, there are different liaisons agencies which include media and the police. They help in ensuring that the personnel and people who are involved in an incident are assisted in the right manner and with appropriate care. Liaison agencies advice the Incident Commander on various issues that makes it easier in solving the problem. They give the IC strategies for example, the media may tell the public how and in what way the Incident Commander requires assistance. Police as liaison agencies maintains law and order in the place of incidence. The ambulances with the help of paramedics ensure victims of an incident are taken care of. The local authority ensures that necessary resources such as fire fighting equipments are available and provide any documentation that is relevant in solving the incident. Environmental agencies analyze effects the incident could have to the environment. The governmental agencies helps in issues such as financing, ensuring the right apparatus are in place as well as other issues that are generally related to government (David 2001). Other agencies that could have been involved in the Harrow Court Incident include social services and the housing department which could have provided information concerning the habitants of the building and the general structure of the flats. The local authority and mostly the structural engineer could have provided drawings that show the facilities available in the building. Conclusion The structural nature of ICS has assisted in solving many issues that are relevant in managing an incident. Since its foundation in California it has been adopted in many countries in there application which has been successful. The typical hierarchical nature of these commands, and incorporation of other agencies makes incidents solving easy and effective. The roles and responsibilities of the various commands are clearly defined thus avoiding conflict or duplication of duties. Dividing an incident into sectors is important in ensuring that the incident is put into parts, which can be easily handled. Understanding the type of risk that is associated with any incident is important to reduce any risks and impacts to the crew. Incident of Harrow Court is an example of a poorly managed incident that led to the loss of three lives. The equipments and apparatus that are meant for incident management should be in good form and the crew should be at par with useful skills. The contributions of Liaisons agencies and other stakeholders to an incident are very important. They provide additional services ensuring that the problem is solved with the right specialty. They come with a wide field of expertise and equipments which are of great importance to emergency response. They advice and strategize with the Incident Commander to come up with a valid solution to a problem. Bibliography David, M. (2001), Organizational Structure, (New York, Prentice Hall Publishers) Kibble, P. (2004), Fire and Rescue Management, (Washington, Washington Publishers) Kelvin, W. (2004), Management: Incident Operation, (London, Oxford University Press). Michael, H. (1999), Decision Making in Incident Management, (Australia, Fontana Books). Mark, J. (2005), Incident Command System, (London, Cambridge University Press) Patrick, J. (2002). Management of Incidents. (New York, Barron’s Educational Series) Rick, M. (2003), Incident Management, (Stanford, Stanford University Press). Richard, V. (2002), Command Structure in Management, (New York, New York Publishers). Taylor, L. (1999), Plans and Developments in Incident, (New Haven, Yale University Press) Thom, M. (2001), Organizational Policy Implementation, (Basingstoke: Palgrave). Read More