Incident Command Post Procedures-SECTION 7

Incident Command Post Procedures

The Incident Command Post provides emergency services such as police, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) with a means of managing an incident and establishing cooperation and coordination of all agencies involved in an incident from the initial stages to a return to normal operations. It is the mandated method, both locally and nationwide, for resolving emergency incidents.

The Incident Command Post is the location from which all incident operations are directed. There should be only one incident command post although there may be other satellite support areas such as a staging area for personnel and equipment and an Emergency Operation Center at which the Emergency Resources Response Group will convene to remain informed of the sequence of events.

In a Unified Command Structure , where several jurisdictional agencies and/or college departments are involved, designated individuals assigned by the Incident Commander, the jurisdictional authority, or by the University Emergency Response Plan, gather at this location to:

conduct initial evaluation of incident
define objectives
form a plan to mitigate the incident
identify, acquire and deploy resources as needed
stabilize the scene
continually evaluate conditions
carry out the necessary objectives for reaching a return to normal operations

The location of the Incident Command Post should be chosen based on:

access by responders
safety from the incident site (if in the same building, a minimum of one solid core fire door should separate the command post from the site of the incident)
access to needed elements such as phone lines and lighting
access to a primary and secondary exit

Personnel gathered at the Incident Command Post may include:

an Incident Commander
an aide who is familiar with emergency operations to record events as they unfold
a safety officer who is familiar with the subject of the emergency to identify hazards and prevent hazardous actions
a representative from the area(s) affected to provide technical and occupancy information in addition to providing chemical information such as material safety data sheets and chemical inventories
an operations manager whose main objective is to oversee the activities of trained personnel assigned to directly resolve the incident (i.e. clean up a chemical spill or flood)
a staging area manager whose responsibility is to set up and manage a staging area and coordinate the movement of personnel and equipment from the staging area to the incident
Physical Facilities supervisors knowledgeable of all utilities such as electrical, plumbing, compressed gases, heating and ventilating systems, and structural components
a medical person to direct patient movement when a patient care area is involved in the incident
the administratoroncall to assist in making consequential operational decisions
a public relations representative to gain factual information about the incident and provide this information to the press
University Police to coordinate crowd and access control

Each representative operating at the ICP should display proper identification. All other personnel should be directed to the staging area or to the Emergency Response Center if such an assignment is appropriate. All others should be directed to leave the area.

Equipment which may be needed at the Incident Command Post includes:

phone lines with outside access and cellular backup
building plans for the affected area
a campus map
an emergency radio network with access to all operational channels,
emergency lighting
a personnel directory, including cell phone numbers
clerical supplies
a copy of the university’s Emergency Response Plan
a status board with markers or chalk

Incident Command Post Procedures-SECTION 7