Introduction
In an emergency, time is a precious commodity. Having time can mean the difference between life and death. Because of this, time lost because of poor coordination, or disorganization of an emergency response effort, is unacceptable. With this in mind the National Incident Management System’s (NIMS) was developed. NIMS is an important step towards the standardization of emergency response throughout the United States. The success of NIMS is due to its leadership structure and flexibility.
Leadership
Any coordinated effort requires strong leadership and a well-defined chain of command. NIMS is no exception to this and during an emergency the responsibility of leadership falls squarely on the head of the Incident Commander (IC). …show more content…
It is because of this that the planning section has the responsibility to insure that the Incident Command System’s planning process is maintained, as well as the development of the Incident Action Plan (Citation 1-27). These processes allow for refinement of the emergency plain development of corrected courses of action. Resources, situation, documentation, demobilization units, and technical specialists. The constant flow of information that is needed to develop and refine the emergency plan is significant Because of this, there is need for multiple units each handling different aspect of information exchanges. These include things like the Resources Unit that identifies the location and status of all resources involved in the emergency, the Situation Unit that is in charge collecting and distributing all the information on the current and future operations, the Documentation Unit that collects document for historical and legal posterity, and the Demobilization Unit responsible for releasing personnel from the area of operations (Cite, p 1-29). Lastly, each emergency has challenges that are unique to the disaster that may require a skilled hand. There is the need for Technical Specialists to provide the IC with information concerning specialized tactics. This includes things like equipment, or knowledge that may be relevant to the emergency (CITE …show more content…
Because of this there is a need divided these groups into manageable groups. These division of labor is called Span-of-Control and it usually limits five individuals per supervisor (CITE p. 1-14). Once in their groups, they are deployed in either groups or divisions. Groups are divided based on the specific functions such as fire fighters, and law enforcement, and they are not restricted by location (CITE p. 1-14). Divisions are established using geographical boundaries to assign sectors of work (CITE p. 1-20).
Conclusion
As emergency management faces new and changing challenges, it will be important to maintain a command and control system that is able to provide clear command and control and remain flexible enough to to handle future challenges. Global warming and increasing population will insure that systems like NIMS are an important part of that equation. Through systems like the Unified Command Structure, emergency managers will be able to meet these ever changing
In an emergency, time is a precious commodity. Having time can mean the difference between life and death. Because of this, time lost because of poor coordination, or disorganization of an emergency response effort, is unacceptable. With this in mind the National Incident Management System’s (NIMS) was developed. NIMS is an important step towards the standardization of emergency response throughout the United States. The success of NIMS is due to its leadership structure and flexibility.
Leadership
Any coordinated effort requires strong leadership and a well-defined chain of command. NIMS is no exception to this and during an emergency the responsibility of leadership falls squarely on the head of the Incident Commander (IC). …show more content…
It is because of this that the planning section has the responsibility to insure that the Incident Command System’s planning process is maintained, as well as the development of the Incident Action Plan (Citation 1-27). These processes allow for refinement of the emergency plain development of corrected courses of action. Resources, situation, documentation, demobilization units, and technical specialists. The constant flow of information that is needed to develop and refine the emergency plan is significant Because of this, there is need for multiple units each handling different aspect of information exchanges. These include things like the Resources Unit that identifies the location and status of all resources involved in the emergency, the Situation Unit that is in charge collecting and distributing all the information on the current and future operations, the Documentation Unit that collects document for historical and legal posterity, and the Demobilization Unit responsible for releasing personnel from the area of operations (Cite, p 1-29). Lastly, each emergency has challenges that are unique to the disaster that may require a skilled hand. There is the need for Technical Specialists to provide the IC with information concerning specialized tactics. This includes things like equipment, or knowledge that may be relevant to the emergency (CITE …show more content…
Because of this there is a need divided these groups into manageable groups. These division of labor is called Span-of-Control and it usually limits five individuals per supervisor (CITE p. 1-14). Once in their groups, they are deployed in either groups or divisions. Groups are divided based on the specific functions such as fire fighters, and law enforcement, and they are not restricted by location (CITE p. 1-14). Divisions are established using geographical boundaries to assign sectors of work (CITE p. 1-20).
Conclusion
As emergency management faces new and changing challenges, it will be important to maintain a command and control system that is able to provide clear command and control and remain flexible enough to to handle future challenges. Global warming and increasing population will insure that systems like NIMS are an important part of that equation. Through systems like the Unified Command Structure, emergency managers will be able to meet these ever changing