Although the concept of Unified Command has been around for many years, it's often used within the same discipline. For example, city fire departments have worked with state and federal fire resources like the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, while city and county law enforcement have worked with the state police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This old paradigm will no longer work in the face of calculated large-scale terrorist activity.

In addition, the federally mandated National Incident Management System has heightened the need for multiagency, cross-disciplined coordination. The time has come when all agencies must work together, but first we must build working relationships to facilitate a change in culture, communication and coordination.

Every year our federal, state and local governments ask us to perform training exercises that range from the tabletop to the full-scale. We work together to manage man-made or natural events by practicing and validating the plans that we have put in place. Most of these exercises involve multiagency approaches, and many are supported with federal grants. However, many times each represented agency forms a single command. They may call it “Unified Command,” but the lack of coordination is obvious. If three command posts are created, Unified Command doesn't exist.

Most incident commanders initially see a problem within their own areas of expertise. We can easily become mired in our own perspective and limited by the biases in each of our disciplines. A progressive incident commander, however, can look outside his or her discipline to see that others have different tools that may be well-suited for the incident.

Imagine approaching someone you don't know from another agency and sharing responsibility for the incident. This exchange can expand our opportunities and resources. Visionary incident commanders can use their own resources as a platform to orchestrate the use of all the available resources and ideas to contribute to the event.

Relationships before training

In order to build these effective collaborations that foster exchange, relationships must be formed even before ICS training.

When we send supervisors from fire, EMS, law enforcement and other agencies together to an ICS class, we can't expect them to automatically do well with a Unified Command scenario. They may struggle because they have not developed the necessary relationships to work collaboratively; they may not have even met their counterparts. They don't know what each member brings to the table, so they can't trust each other to share responsibility. The challenge is to facilitate the development of these relationships before an actual event. We all are very busy managing our day-to-day activities within our own organizations, and communicating with other agencies isn't always the priority.

To address the new NIMS mandates, the Institute of Emergency Management, the National Fire Academy, the National Wildfire Coordination Group and facilitators of ICS training have agreed to create uniform changes in the national ICS curriculum. These changes will require that ICS training at the intermediate and advanced levels be multidisciplined in approach. This multidisciplined approach is critical because this is how we are now expected to perform in the Unified Command structure during an actual incident.

The collaborative relationships required for effective Unified Command can be established and cultivated through the multiagency coordination group concept. To form a MAC group, a jurisdiction must begin with the supervisors who would normally be in the Unified Command structure. The steps to start a MAC group include:

• Establishing support for the process from the leadership of each agency involved;
• Creating a multidisciplined steering committee;
• Conducting the first training session to include introductions, orientations, and goals and objectives for the MAC group;
• Creating training based on the goals and objectives identified by the group;
• Including an ICS tabletop and safety tip in each training session; and
• Intermixing groups within the agencies and disciplines to facilitate more interaction among the students.

Once relationships have been strengthened, you can then proceed to higher-level ICS classes and exercises. At tabletop, functional and full-scale exercises, the response plan should be practiced along with objectives specific to Unified Command. After practicing these objectives in exercises, the multidisciplinary approach will be second nature on the real incident.

MAC group training also can have many other benefits that emerge from the new collaborative relationship, such as borrowing equipment between agencies. Picture the police department using the fire department's thermal imager to find a hidden suspect.

Once the barriers are eliminated, the groups will feel comfortable with what each has to offer, and real work toward common goals can be accomplished. Effective collaboration can be achieved through regional MAC groups.

Imagine collaboration between the fire and police department occurring on grant applications. In our jurisdiction we're working collectively to change to a new interoperable radio system, using at least five different grants from law enforcement and the fire service. This couldn't have been accomplished without the multidisciplinary approach characteristic of Unified Command. Working to maximize the grant funds instead of competing for the same dollars can be done through building relationships.

Beyond the big three

The multidisciplinary approach includes more than the big three of fire, EMS and law enforcement; it applies to all disciplines, including public health, public works, hospitals and other services. Does your response plan call for Unified Command with your health department or public works in the event of bioterrorism or a local flood? Do your local hospitals know how to work with ICS? A truly multidisciplinary approach must be inclusive.

The goal of NIMS and Unified Command is to efficiently coordinate and manage an effective response to complex incidents. Building relationships through a MAC group before a major incident will allow you to transition into Unified Command smoothly because you will already know the other responders, understand what they bring to the table, trust them and be able to get to work immediately.

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Dave Hanneman is a deputy chief with the Boise Fire Department. If you would like further information about forming a MAC group in your jurisdiction, contact Hanneman at dhanneman@cityofboise.org.