Incident Management System (IMS)

The Incident Management System is a means to organize both small and large incidents. It provides for a specific structure with specific roles and responsibilities. Generally speaking, it brings organization to what can often be chaotic situations. Started in California after a disastrous forest fire in Developed and perfected by the U.S. Forestry Service. Brings a recognized structure to the organization of assets and people. Adopted by the Province of Ontario in 2010 as the standard and will be used at all declared emergencies.

Incident Management System (IMS) It is an expandable asset and personnel management system. Used in small scale by fire departments every day at all multi-unit calls. Expandable to manage wild fires and natural and man-made disasters such as Ice Storm of 1998, The Red River Flood, SARS, and 9/11.

The Working Parts EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTRE - EOC Supports the activities on the incident site Ensures the continued service delivery to the balance of the community Guided by the Emergency Plan SITE INCIDENT COMMAND Deals with the mitigation of the incident Reports to the EOC Guided by whatever needs to be done

Emergency Operations Centre Called together once incident is deemed too large that normal emergency response is incapable of dealing with it. The Emergency Control Group (ECG) normally run by mayor or senior municipal administrator. ECG consists of senior municipal department heads or designates. Operate by the established Emergency Plan for the municipality.

Site Incident Command The organization of the “Boots on the ground” part of an emergency. Incident Command may be transferred for several reasons: The type or scale of an incident has expanded beyond the authority or training of the in-place person, team or level. The type or scale of an incident has contracted within the capability of another person, team or level. On direction from a senior person with the requisite organizational, municipal, provincial or federal authority.

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What is Command? Command is the act of directing, ordering or controlling by virtue of explicit statutory, regulatory or delegated authority. Incident Command is responsible for managing all responses to an incident. It may consist of a single person or a team. It is the first and primary organizational component of IMS, to which all other functions report. Responsibility for establishing Incident Command is not restricted to any organization or jurisdiction and may include emergency services, First Nations, municipal, provincial or federal governments, or the private sector. Generally, the first organization to respond establishes Incident Command. However, responsibility for Incident Command may change from one organization or jurisdiction to another, based on required expertise or the scale of the incident.

Span of Control Experience shows that one person can effectively supervise between 3 and 7 components, with 5 being the optimal number. One component might be a single individual (such as technical specialist) or a complex resource (such as a helicopter with several crew members) or even an entire EMS service.

SUMMARY The Incident Management System (IMS) creates a foundation to enable effective, efficient and collaborative incident management at all levels. IMS is based on a balance between flexibility and standardization that provides for a framework for interoperability and coordination. Understanding the key concepts and principles of IMS is essential for a Fire Communicator.