This will begin a series of the basics of Emergency and Disaster Response.
The local level and positions held at the local level will be the focus of this series, as much of the success of any type of disaster response. Today’s topic is the initial incident commander (IC), as this position will be filled (hopefully in this day and age of NIMS training and adoption) at every event.
Who is the Initial IC?
The initial IC can be a police officer, a medic on an ambulance, the company officer on a fire engine, or the battalion chief.
With the exception of the battalion chief, all of the aforementioned persons are normally task-based personnel who are accustomed to being very action driven, and are ready to take actions that will remedy the problem. If it’s the engine company officer, he or she will take immediate action to slow or stop the problem the emergency response organization was called to.
Taking a Command Position
The first and most important point for the initial IC at a large-scale emergency or disaster is to take a command position. This means: no tasks, no activities to change the outcome. Why? Because the time you spend conducting the task will only solve a very minute part of the problem.
However, if you can gain information on the size of the event and order resources to match the event (because I have not heard, “hey this is huge, send everything you have” from any dispatch center), you will begin to have what is most needed at any disaster, manpower to complete tasks and command functions.
Remember that the initial minutes of an incident set the stage for the next hours and days. Be sure you take the right position and mentality to get ahead of the event and not play catch up the entire event.