Issue link: https://let.epubxp.com/i/303456
19 www.officer.com May 2014 Law Enforcement Technology DISASTER RESPONSE career, fire, police and city services are the first to respond. They are the ones who determine command, designate an Incident Commander (IC) and establish ICS/UC. ICS is about mak- ing sure everyone is playing from the same sheet of music explains Willie Nunn, Federal Coordinating Officer, FEMA. Its implementation has many advantages, including simple things like common terminology and equipment, in addition to the main goal-communi- cation. ICS establishes, under the IC, an Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance/Administrative Sections. Current practices evolved from decades of lessons learned. "Unified Command is part of ICS," states Nunn. UC allows ICS to work in a non- duplicating fashion, reducing the chance different agencies will be going after the same resource individually due to non-communication and lack of joint planning. "Without UC in large events, we're going to exhaust every resource," Nunn explains. Although all the agencies are working together, under UC, there is always a lead agency. This way there is no confusion over who is driving the boat. Everyone has a say but the most appropriate agency leads. For example, an incident such as the Washington landslide would be led by fire and res- cue, whereas an active shooter situation would be led by law enforcement. In the beginning In the early 1970s, the Phoenix Fire Department developed the Fire Ground Command System (FGCG) with concepts similar to the com- monly used FIRESCOPE ICS. This evolution brought ICS out of the wild lands and into the city. In the early 1990s, Phoenix PD began learning about ICS. One lesson learned—it took about a decade for Phoenix FD to get comfortable, explains Sergeant Tommy Thompson, PIO, Phoenix Police. Although ICS began as a way to increase accountability for firefighters when many different agencies worked together, the police department has similar needs on multi-jurisdictional incidents. "If we set up a perimeter, a fire perimeter or a police depart- ment perimeter for a barricade or a shooter, you need to make sure you're accounting for your people, for their safety," Thompson states. ICS also helps account for how much time an officer or firefighter spends on scene. "You have to ask if they need incident support or water," he adds. As part of the PD/FD partnership, the city implemented an all-hazard incident team which is run out of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Phoenix also has Terrorism Liaison Officers (TIO) as part of their struc- ture. The TIO could be from fire, law enforcement or from another agency. Their role is to provide background and to gather all relevant information from the variety of databases avail- able. Thompson furthered the need to recognize the myriad of agencies that can be part of ICS, including streets, transportation, health department and county flood control. "It could be ten to twelve agencies," he says. Typically these partners come in as liaisons, but the coordination this brings is a huge part of making an incident come to a successful conclusion. Nunn agrees incidents need to have a coordinated effort. "Knowing who is supporting the command and who is supported is important" he explains. ÔTrain how you playÕ is a key component of ICS/UC The City Hall of Arlington, Wash. is being used as an Incident Command Post (ICP) in response to the Oso Mudslide. Photos courstesy Steve Zumwalt/FEMA LET_18-22_Winging0514.indd 19 4/18/14 3:30 PM