The Incident Commander is the person responsible for all aspects of an emergency response; including quickly developing incident objectives, managing all incident operations, application of resources as well as responsibility for all persons involved. The Incident Commander sets priorities and defines the organization of the
incident response teams and the overall incident action plan. The role of Incident Commander ''may'' be assumed by senior or higher qualified officers upon their arrival or as the situation dictates. Even if subordinate positions are not assigned, the Incident Commander position will always be designated or assumed. The incident commander may, at their own discretion, assign individuals, who may be from the same agency or from assisting agencies, to subordinate or specific positions for the duration of the emergency.
In the United States, most agencies use an Incident Commander for the roles and responsibilities as defined under the
National Incident Management System
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a standardized approach to incident management developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security. The program was established in March 2004, in response to Homeland Security President ...
as a part of the
Incident Command System
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective.
ICS was initially develop ...
.
The incident command system in a Canadian EMS scenario
* Incident Commander – oversees all operations at the incident.
[Vahradian, S. "Emergency Medical Responder Workbook Canadian Edition" Chapter29 Prentice Hall 2003]
**usually one of the first officers on scene.
**assessment of the scene.
**establish command as well as command centre.
**request required resources.
**initiates
triage
In medicine, triage (, ; ) is a process by which care providers such as Health professional, medical professionals and those with first aid knowledge determine the order of priority for providing treatment to injured individuals and/or inform th ...
.
* triage officer – oversees all
patient assessment, tagging and movement to treatment areas
* treatment officer – oversees all
treatment and the treatment area
* transportation officer – oversees all
ambulance
An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...
movement, priority, identity, and destination of patients.
* staging officer – oversees all acquisition, release and distribution of resources.
Duties in a US fire-fighting scenario
* Obtain briefings and guidelines for level of involvement from requesting agency and/or prior Incident Commander.
* Obtain delegation of authority if requesting agency desires Team to assume operational control and/or under
unified command to allow all affected
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
s shared responsibility.
* Ensure incident safety.
* Establish Incident Command Post and operational plan if not already accomplished.
* Maintain contact with state
fire marshal
A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually include ...
and ERC.
* Provide other command assistance as requested by agency/jurisdiction.
* Coordinate the multiple aid from interagencies like: USFS, BLM, BIA, state, county, city and volunteer fire/emergency resources.
See also
*
Advanced disaster management simulator
*
Incident management team
*
Incident command post According to the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the Incident Command System (ICS), the incident command post (ICP) is one of five predesignated temporary facilities and signifies the physical location of the tactical-level, on-scen ...
*
Incident command system
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective.
ICS was initially develop ...
*
National Incident Management System
The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a standardized approach to incident management developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security. The program was established in March 2004, in response to Homeland Security President ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Incident Commander Crisis Training Simulation Software
Incident management