Understanding Incident Complexity and Resource Management in ICS-200, Lecture notes of Complexity Theory

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Unit 6: Organizational Flexibility

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IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) August 2010 Student Manual Page 6.

UNIT INTRODUCTION

Visual 6.

Key Points:

The Organizational Flexibility unit introduces you to flexibility within the standard ICS organizational structure.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) August 2010 Student Manual Page 6.

ICS ORGANIZATIONAL FLEXIBILITY

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Key Points:

A key principle of ICS is its flexibility. The ICS organization may be expanded easily from a very small size for routine operations to a larger organization capable of handling catastrophic events.

Standardization within ICS does not limit flexibility. ICS works for small, routine operations as well as catastrophic events.

Flexibility does not mean that the ICS feature of common terminology is superseded. Flexibility is allowed only within the standard ICS organizational structure and position titles.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) Page 6.4 Student Manual August 2010

MODULAR ORGANIZATION

Visual 6.

Key Points:

Incident command organizational structure is based on:

• Size and complexity of the incident.
• Specifics of the hazard environment created by the incident.
• Incident planning process and incident objectives.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) Page 6.6 Student Manual August 2010

MODULAR ORGANIZATION

Visual 6.

Key Points:

Activation of organizational elements is flexible, as noted below.

• Many incidents will never require the activation of the entire Command or General Staff or entire list of organizational elements within each Section. Other incidents will require some or all members of the Command Staff and all sub-elements of each General Staff Section.
• The decision to activate an element (Section, Branch, Unit, Division, or Group) must be based on incident objectives and resource needs.
• An important concept is that many organizational elements may be activated in various Sections without activating the Section Chief.
• For example, the Situation Unit can be activated without a Planning Section Chief assigned. In this case, the supervision of the Situation Unit will rest with the Incident Commander.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) August 2010 Student Manual Page 6.

MODULAR ORGANIZATION

Visual 6.

Key Points:

• It is tempting to combine ICS positions to gain staffing efficiency. Rather than combining positions, you may assign the same individual to supervise multiple units.
• When assigning personnel to multiple positions, do not use nonstandard titles. Creating new titles may be unrecognizable to assisting or cooperating personnel and may cause confusion. Be aware of potential span-of-control issues that may arise from assigning one person to multiple positions.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) August 2010 Student Manual Page 6.

MODULAR ORGANIZATION

Visual 6.

Key Points:

Experience and training will help you to predict workloads and corresponding staffing needs. As the graphic illustrates, an incident may build faster than resources can arrive.

Eventually, a sufficient number of resources arrive and begin to control the incident. As the incident declines, resources then exceed incident needs.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) Page 6.10 Student Manual August 2010

MODULAR ORGANIZATION

Visual 6.

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Key Points:

Incident workload patterns are often predictable throughout the incident life cycle. Several examples are provided below:

• Operations Section. The workload of Operations is immediate and often massive. On a rapidly escalating incident, the Operations Section Chief must determine appropriate tactics; organize, assign, and supervise resources; and at the same time participate in the planning process.
• Planning Section. The Resources and Situation Units will be very busy in the initial phases of the incident. In the later stages, the workload of the Documentation and Demobilization Units will increase.
• Logistics Section. The Supply and Communications Units will be very active in the initial and final stages of the incident.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) Page 6.12 Student Manual August 2010

COMPLEXITY ANALYSIS

Visual 6.

Key Points:

Review the following complexity factors (listed on the visual):

• Community and responder safety
• Impacts to life, property, and the economy
• Potential hazardous materials
• Weather and other environmental influences
• Likelihood of cascading events
• Potential crime scene (including terrorism)
• Political sensitivity, external influences, and media relations
• Area involved, jurisdictional boundaries
• Availability of resources

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) August 2010 Student Manual Page 6.

ACTIVITY: COMPLEXITY ANALYSIS

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Key Points:

Activity Purpose: To give you practice at identifying the indicators that are considered when analyzing and determining the complexity of an incident.

Instructions: Working in your team:

1. Select an incident (e.g., flood, building collapse, water main break, bridge accident, hostage, hazardous materials, fire, disease outbreak, planned event, etc.). (Or you may want to assign an incident type to each team.)
2. Using the worksheet in the Student Manual (see the next page), identify a list of indicators that you might consider in order to determine the complexity of this incident. List the top three critical factors on chart paper.
3. Choose a spokesperson and be ready to present your complexity analysis to the class in 15 minutes.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) August 2010 Student Manual Page 6.

COMPLEXITY ANALYSIS

Visual 6.

Key Points:

Note that as complexity increases, resources expand, requiring an organization with additional levels of supervision.

The next visuals will cover the relationships between incident complexity, resources, and ICS structure.

IS-200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS 200) Page 6.16 Student Manual August 2010

RESOURCE KINDS AND TYPES

Visual 6.

Key Points:

Managing an expanding incident requires that responders get the right personnel and equipment. For this reason, ICS resources are categorized by:

• Kinds of Resources. Describe what the resource is (for example: medic, firefighter, Planning Section Chief, helicopter, ambulance, combustible gas indicator, bulldozer).
• Types of Resources. Describe the size, capability, and staffing qualifications of a specific kind of resource.