Incident command - Organisation at incidents

Question 1

Communication can be ineffective or fail when information is not shared at the right time or is not
understood by the receiver. This can lead to what?

Answer 1

• Incorrect or inappropriate information being used to assess a situation, resulting in:
• Poor individual situational awareness.
• Inconsistent shared situational awareness.
• A faulty perception of events unfolding.
• Wrong decisions being taken for the actual situation.
• Failure to co-ordinate team activities, causing task conflicts between personnel or other agencies.
• ‘Freelancing’ because of a breakdown in leadership and confidence.
• Increased risk of accidents because risk-critical information is not shared or understood

Question 2

Throughout all aspects of communication, fire and rescue services and their employees need to be
aware of the potential for misuse of information, and mindful of the legal requirements placed on
them, by legislation such as

Answer 2

Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

Question 3

Spans of control
Unless spans of control are maintained at manageable levels, incident commanders may be overloaded
with information, which may impact on?

Answer 3

• Gaining effective situational awareness.
• Appropriate decision-making.
• Effective communication.
• Ability to maintain control of the incident

Question 4

Cordon control Duties of the OIC

Answer 4

.5 Cordon control may often be a multi-agency responsibility. However, the incident commander has a duty, so far as reasonably practicable, to ensure that people are not put at risk by fire and rescue service activities. The incident commander has a duty to inform people of the hazards, and the control measures that are necessary to protect them.

Failure to fulfil these duties, or a lack of appropriate cordon control, may result in personnel, other
emergency responders or members of the public gaining access to the hazard area, with its associated
risks.

Question 5

Resource deployment
Effective deployment of appropriate resources may be key to the success or failure of an incident
commander’s strategy or plan to resolve incidents. Any failure or delay in requesting the mobilisation
of sufficient and appropriate personnel, equipment, specialist skills and other agencies to an incident
may?

Answer 5

• Delay operational intervention.
• Increase the risk to the public, including casualties.
• Reduce the safety of personnel or other emergency responders.
• Result in loss of or damage to property.
• Have a detrimental effect on the environment.
• Affect the reputation of the fire and rescue service.
• Impact on levels of public confidence.
• Delay community recovery.

Question 6

Incident command system what is it?

Answer 6

The incident command system is an all-hazards approach, providing a progressive, scalable and
flexible system of operational command, control and organisation. The system is designed to help an
incident commander manage and fulfil their incident plan. It encourages a controlled and systematic
approach to resolving incidents.

Question 7

The incident command system should commence from when the first call is received about an incident and remain in place until the last appliance leaves an incident. During that time, it is used to, what?

Answer 7

• Identify tasks and hazards.
• Assess risk.
• Manage and review control measures

Question 8

The key components of the incident command system include:

Answer 8

• Clear, defined, and visible lines of command.
• Manageable spans of control.
• A communications infrastructure.
• Appropriate responsibility and authority.
• Clearly defined and understood roles and responsibilities.
• Sectorisation of the incident.

Question 9

Intraoperability ?

Answer 9

Clearly defined roles, particularly the specialist roles performed by personnel from dedicated
departments such as Brigade Control or hazardous materials, will support intraoperability and the
establishment of effective command teams

Question 10

Interoperability

Answer 10

Interoperability is delivered through the JESIP doctrine. It is essential that all components of fire and rescue services, including Brigade Control personnel, operational planning departments and incident commanders, identify and liaise with relevant partner agencies. This ensures that in the event that they are required to respond to different incident types, all agencies are fully aware of the assistance available to maximise effectiveness in saving lives and reducing harm.

It is possible that other agencies who attend an incident will have risk-critical information. Incident
commanders should request risk-critical information in the joint agency briefing as well as sharing any
information they have. They should ensure this information flows throughout the incident.

Question 11

Organisation at an incident
To support the effective application of the incident command system at incidents, the LFB will:

Answer 11

Provide surcoats (see ORP Organisation at Incidents document) that enable command team
members to be readily identified on the incident ground
Official Policy number: PN987
6 of 10
* Provide training (see relevant training specification) to ensure commanders are capable and
knowledgeable to effectively and safely organise resources, in order to obtain the best resolution
to an incident.
* Provide training (see relevant training specification) to ensure all personnel who may attend or are
involved with an incident, to be familiar with the requirements of the incident command system
and know how to operate safely and effectively in it

Question 12

To support effective communication that integrates communication and decision-making between the
incident commander, operational personnel and Brigade Control, the LFB will establish an
organisational procedure (see ORP Effective Communication) to

Answer 12

• Ensure there is resilience in operational communication strategies and equipment.
• Test the compatibility of communications equipment, systems and processes with neighbouring fire and rescue services and other agencies.
• Ensure appropriate communication systems are in place at incidents.
• Have contingency arrangements for reinstating operational communication, in the event of
  equipment or strategy failure.

Question 13

To ensure an effective command support function that enables incident commanders to effectively
implement their incident plan, the LFB will:

Answer 13

• Identify personnel who are competent to carry out the command support role.
• Provide suitable equipment to indicate the command point at an incident.
• Have arrangements in place to provide the necessary vehicles and equipment for command
  support functions.
• Provide systems that enable the recording of information at command points and in sectors.

Question 14

To enable incident commanders to sectorise incidents in order to maintain effective spans of control,
the LFB will:

Answer 14

• Provide Command Support System software, Incident Command Wallets and Forward Information
  Boards that enable the recording information at command points and in sectors.
• Establish joint working protocols with neighbouring fire and rescue services and other agencies for
  sectorisation through the Inter-border liaison group, see policy number 857 - working with other
  brigades, and the LESLP Major Incident Procedure Manual.
• Following any review of operational risk assessments, conduct a task analysis to identify the likely resources and personnel that may be required, including potential sectorisation arrangements. The
  result of this task analysis will be used to generate a pre-determined attendance that will be
  recorded in policy number 412 – mobilising policy and mobilised to the associated incident type
  once identified.

Question 15

The LESLP major incident manual defines a major incident as

Answer 15

: “An event or situation with a range of
serious consequences, which requires special arrangements to be implemented by one or more
emergency responder agencies”.