Incident command, a term well-known to the fire service, seems to have escaped the understanding of many political and emergency leaders over the past few decades. Hurricane Katrina visibly reinforced the disconnect and miscommunication that takes place when a strong, practiced and dedicated incident management system, based on the Incident Command System, isn't used throughout the event.

Fire service leaders throughout the Gulf Coast understand the use of the National Incident Management System and have implemented it within their commands, but many other emergency service departments and government agencies did not, with painfully apparent ramifications. Reports from the region revealed a series of questions as to who was in charge, what actions were actually being taken and what the response should have been.

NIMS was created in the wake of 9/11 with the desire to resolve long-standing issues within the response community about how disasters and emergencies should be managed. Many believed that NIMS was purely a terrorism preparedness initiative and paid little attention to it, thinking, “My town is too small for terrorists to attack, so why should I care?” Because the NIMS effort was so foreign to many response and planning organizations, adoption was a challenge.

NIMS recognizes that the management of an emergency is not wholly dependent on the cause, such as natural disasters versus terrorism. The tenets of coordinated and effective response are based on all-hazards principles of span of control and operational designation of leadership for operations, planning, logistics and finance. This clear, common understanding of operational leadership and responsibilities allows for the integration of different assets to come together in a seamless response package that can save lives, protect property and mitigate additional damage.

In the wake of the 2004 hurricane season and this year's catastrophic events in the Gulf Coast, even the most ardent critics of incident command would be well-served to step back and re-evaluate their position. As they review and update their emergency planning, local and state governments should now realize that they must institute NIMS as part of their operational mindset. Not adopting NIMS means more than losing federal funding assistance — you will also potentially lose valuable response time and lives.

Implementation steps

The NIMS Integration Center has outlined the steps to take to implement the program in every jurisdiction. State- and territory-level efforts to implement NIMS must:

• Incorporate NIMS into existing training programs and exercises;
• Ensure that federal preparedness funding supports state, local and tribal NIMS implementation;
• Incorporate NIMS into emergency operations plans;
• Promote intrastate mutual aid agreements;
• Coordinate and provide NIMS technical assistance to local entities; and
• Institutionalize the use of ICS.

All of these items are important to all levels of government, but what do they really mean to the fire chief or other emergency provider at the local level? It's important to first determine if your department is really using the Incident Command System. That doesn't mean you fully fill out every box on your ICS chart for every incident — many of us never will — but it does mean that you understand at a command level how those boxes and functions are used and when they're important to implement in departmental operations.

It's also important that local leaders refrain from changing terminology for the sake of “having always done it that way.” No outside department or agency coming to your aid in an emergency situation is going to have a clue about how you've always done it, leading to time lost arguing over terminology and functions. Common language and operational command structures will make a coordinated response by local, state and national agencies more efficient and effective. Incorporating NIMS into emergency operations plans means that there's a common understanding within a community and with responding agencies about how incidents will be handled.

We simply can't implement an effective response using NIMS if we pull it off the shelf only after a catastrophic event. We need to use it every day, plan for it every time we update plans, and most importantly, train and exercise consistently with NIMS as the guide.

Continuous use

Fire service leaders, instructors and commanders need to stress that all training, whether at a state or regional training academy or at an in-house drill, use NIMS for command and control. If recent events have taught us anything, it's that the next generation of firefighters should be educated exclusively on NIMS and should be in a position to turn around to our generation and ask, “What was the big deal? Why didn't you guys use this?”

The adoption of NIMS should complement your existing training efforts. Much of the training is already available online. Each month, more courses are being developed for the Web that build on the basic ICS principles that have been taught to the fire service since the 1970s. At a minimum, your department personnel should focus on the following critical elements:

Complete the awareness course

National Incident Management System: An Introduction is an independent-study course developed by the Emergency Management Institute to explain the purpose, principles, key components and benefits of NIMS. The course is available on the EMI Web site at http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/is700.asp.

Formally recognize and adopt principles and policies

States, territories, tribes and local entities should establish legislation, executive orders, resolutions or ordinances to formally adopt NIMS. Go to www.fema.gov/nims and click on “Tools and Templates” for examples.

Establish a baseline by determining which requirements you already meet

Clearly there are state, territorial, tribal and local entities that have already implemented many of the concepts and protocols identified in the NIMS.

Establish a time frame and strategy for full implementation

States, territories, tribes and local entities were encouraged to achieve full NIMS implementation during FY 2005, which ended in September. To the extent that full implementation was not possible during FY 2005, federal preparedness assistance must be used to complete NIMS implementation by Sept. 30, 2006. Beginning FY 2007 (Oct. 1, 2006), federal preparedness assistance will be conditioned by full compliance with the NIMS.

Institutionalize the use of the Incident Command System

If state, territorial, tribal and local entities aren't already using ICS, their leaders must institutionalize its use, consistent with the concepts and principles taught by DHS, across the entire response system. See “Terms and Definitions: Institutionalizing the Use of ICS” on at www.fema.gov/txt/nims/nims_is700.txt.

The bottom line on implementation is clear. Fire chiefs are always looking at federal funds to support ongoing planning, training exercise and equipment programs. To receive FY 2006 federal preparedness funding, all applicants will need to certify that they have met the FY 2005 NIMS requirements. Saying you have done it without doing could come back to haunt you, as DHS plans to randomly review and audit grants. Those fire departments that aren't in compliance with regulations will have to return any funds awarded. The department also will be exposed to criminal charges under federal statutes.

Mutual aid

Every fire department has a responsibility to undertake this effort. While it may seem daunting to small rural volunteer fire departments and large urban career departments alike, it's important to help one another along the way. If your department is hosting NIMS training, consider inviting the small department down the road to participate. Encourage attendance by other emergency services in your area. It might just help to foster a new working relationship where one didn't exist before.

The fire service has a unique responsibility in implementing NIMS, having trained on ICS principles for more than 20 years. The fire service needs to mentor those who are just learning NIMS principles. The greatest role we can play is to help others learn NIMS without using our deeper knowledge to “lord it over” other disciplines. The fire service also must acknowledge that we don't know everything and should not always be in charge. Fire service self-discipline is critical in building the family of NIMS users.

Day-to-day use of NIMS is the key to understanding its role in multi-agency emergencies. Every emergency service provider knows that responses are practiced and planned based on standard operating procedures and training. Most departments use some form of incident command, which has been part of the standard firefighting curriculum for over two decades, and the same level of inculcation must take place with NIMS. Where we are teaching ICS, we must make sure we are using NIMS. When a fire department drills, it should be using NIMS. When you are on the incident scene, use NIMS.

Steps to put this program into actual departmental practice must include a local government resolution or ordinance. Department policy directives and standard operating procedures must be modified to reflect NIMS, and training should fall into compliance. Most importantly, chief officers must enforce its use and commit to its implementation.

Unified command

The legacy of Katrina will have a profound impact on the future of NIMS and the National Response Plan. Unified command, or the lack thereof, has become the subject of Congressional hearings, policy and think-tank debates, and media coverage. At the local level, the Incident Command System worked in many communities and worked as well as can be expected given the overwhelming circumstances of the event. In some areas, there was no unified command under ICS principles, and the larger lack of unified decision-making among local, state and federal government entities further hampered response efforts.

The larger debate taking place now is the role of the federal government in disasters. Of course, that question plays into NIMS, which is based on the principle that the lowest possible level of government has the command and control responsibilities. The scope of the incident management team expands as the incident expands.

This debate has the ability to further reinforce the concept of NIMS while providing an impetus to more aggressive implementation. The potential downside of this debate may be that the federal government takes on an ever-increasing command-and-control role in state and local emergencies. Many believe that would be a huge step in the wrong direction that also presents constitutional problems.

To ensure that a full and open understanding of NIMS and incident command is not lost in the political posturing, the fire service must take an active role at the federal, state and even local level in framing the debate. Experienced fire service leaders must be vocal in public, and they also must work behind the scenes with members of Congress and their staffs, the White House, DHS, state legislatures, and the other mechanisms of government to demand a seat at the table. Once that seat is granted, the fire service needs to come to the table with well-reasoned options to implement NIMS and improve the response systems.

Better integration

The NIMS Integration Center was established by the secretary of Homeland Security to provide “strategic direction for and oversight of the National Incident Management System … supporting both routine maintenance and the continuous refinement of the system and its components over the long term.”

As its first director, I had the distinct honor of assisting and leading the development of the center. The goal was to create an entity that would focus on developing guides for local and state leaders to understand and implement NIMS while providing a forum for new ideas, training and professional development. The U.S. Army has a very similar type of structure called the Training and Doctrine Command, but the NIMS Integration Center is broader in scope because it includes every level of government and expertise.

The NIC oversees all aspects of NIMS, including the development of NIMS-related standards and guidelines and the provision of guidance and support to incident management and responder organizations as they implement the system. The center also validates compliance with the NIMS and National Response Plan responsibilities, standards and requirements.

The NIC is designed as a multi-jurisdictional, multidisciplinary entity made up of federal stakeholders and, over time, state, local and tribal incident management and first responder organizations. The center includes the following branches:

• Standards and resources.
• Training and exercises.
• System evaluation and compliance.
• Technology, research and development.
• Publications management.

NIC operations are currently in the early phase of development, which includes the creation of NIMS awareness training, education and publications; training and guidance and tools to help participants understand and comply with NIMS; and the identification of existing capabilities, initiatives and resources for NIMS and the NIMS Integration Center. This phase also will see the establishment of an advisory committee, functional working groups, and the preparation of programs and processes.

Unfortunately, Congress has not effectively funded NIC operations; DHS needs to make NIMS training and doctrine development a key priority. In FY 2005, the NIC was to have over $20 million for implementation, but that figure was reduced to less than $7 million by DHS, the Office of Management and Budget, and Congress.

Designed to be a resource for local fire service officials, the NIC currently fields questions through its Web site and plans to hold meetings with local response leaders. The center also wants to hire expert practitioners from the local level to provide input on policy development and implementation. The fruition of these plans will have a profound affect on future federal policy, to the benefit of first responders. The level to which that can occur is directly dependent on funding.

Legacy for future responders

The next decade will be the critical time to fully develop NIMS across the entire public safety community. Training will allow the next generation of emergency responders to “grow up” in an established system that will be fully understood from the beginning. We are at a crossroads that is not dissimilar to the 1970s, when fireground command systems were first developed.

For the entire history of our nation, different emergency response disciplines have worked under various command structures. This has time and again proved to be a hindrance to coordinated response. We have seen problems arise during hurricanes, at large-scale incidents and even at major highway vehicle accidents. The critical path forward is to take the opportunity presented by the creation of NIMS, the availability of preparedness funding and the national will to enforce its adoption.

The legacy for future responders, if we seize this opportunity, will be a smoother transition to command and control when an emergency event crosses borders, emergency disciplines, or is caused by acts of man as well as acts of nature.

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Marko Bourne is the director of homeland security for Earth Tech Inc., a Tyco International company. He was formerly the executive officer of the U.S. Fire Administration, deputy director of the Preparedness Division in DHS/FEMA and the first director of the NIMS Integration Center. He has more than 20 years of experience as a firefighter and emergency manager.

METRO CHIEFS WEIGH IN ON KATRINA RESPONSE

The preparedness and response to Hurricane Katrina have raised many questions with regard to the credibility and viability of the Department of Homeland Security. During the early developmental stages of DHS, the American fire service has been actively engaged in seeking support for a greater role for the U.S. Fire Administration and inclusion of the fire service in decision-making and policies governing emergency preparedness and response to natural and man-made disasters. Our efforts have been unsuccessful.

The role of the American fire service has been grossly underestimated and underused by federal elected and appointed leaders. Fire service expertise in large-scale incident response, logistics management, and command and control of operations has not been acknowledged or used. To enhance the nation's ability to save lives and to minimize harm and loss, this great national resource must be an integral part of homeland security.

In the future, elected officials will be judged not only on political abilities, but by their ability to lead in crises caused by natural or man-made disasters. The recent response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita have demonstrated the value of the fire service in responding to and operating in disasters. The current organizational chart of DHS doesn't reflect the value of fire service expertise in planning and decision-making within DHS or the National Response Plan.

Establishing an infrastructure for emergency management supported by qualified, experienced and effective leaders has increased in significance for America's quality of life. These recommendations are the foundation for the desired improvements to DHS and the achievement of seamless integration of federal resources to supplement state and local resources during catastrophic events.

The director of FEMA must be elevated to a Cabinet-level position to ensure that prevention, response, mitigation and recovery efforts receive prompt and appropriate commitment and support. Having direct access to the president and other Cabinet-level members will improve all phases of emergency preparedness. The magnitude of responsibility, expectation and subsequent costs associated with an emergency's aftermath qualify the FEMA director to be placed higher in the executive branch's chain of command. FEMA must be funded adequately to meet its obligation to provide a speedy and effective response when disaster strikes.

Implementation of the National Incident Management System must be accelerated, monitored and enforced at the federal, state and local levels. Compliance with NIMS is imperative to the success of every disaster response. NIMS is properly placed as the centerpiece of the National Response Plan. Unified command at the federal, state and local levels is critical as we develop new solutions to potential threats based on lessons learned. As such, steps must be taken to measure compliance as we progress toward NIMS implementation.

The NIMS Integration Center has been understaffed and under-funded in this effort. The NIC needs to have state and local responder expertise on staff and be funded to develop the doctrine, as well as credentialing, training, compliance assistance and monitoring programs. Methods of monitoring and measuring progress at all governmental levels should be established. NIMS compliance must be written in state, territorial and tribal laws and local ordinances to institutionalize its use.

Appoint qualified leaders to DHS and Preparedness Directorate positions. The success of an organizational infrastructure is determined by the quality of its leaders at every level. The desired climate for homeland security can be achieved only by leaders capable of fulfilling every aspect of America's vision of securing the nation.

Fire chiefs are uniquely qualified to assist in the mission of the DHS to “ensure domestic tranquility” in accordance with the Preamble of the Constitution. As preparedness and response experts, fire service leaders can bring that expertise to, and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of, the DHS. Qualified fire service leaders should be evaluated for appointment to the positions of FEMA director, undersecretary for preparedness, U.S. fire administrator and FEMA regional directors.

The USFA should be designated as a key governmental entity in DHS, participating in policy and decision-making related to preparedness, response and recovery. The USFA leadership team has the requisite knowledge to identify key planning, preparedness and training issues, as well as the skills and experience necessary to strengthen the NRP during the first 72 to 120 hours of a disaster. The USFA's relationships with other fire service organizations create a partnership that invokes America's best fire service resources to serve during national crisis. The USFA should:

• Develop and coordinate a fire service component to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a national mutual aid system
• Establish deployment and pre-deployment procedures based on incident type and hazard category.
• Train and credential Incident Management Teams and firefighters for disaster-response special operations.
• Manage the federal Urban Search and Rescue program.
• Assign Emergency Support Function 4 of the NRP.
• Serve as a response branch director of the NRP.
• Assist in the restoration of fire departments to normal operating capacity in affected areas.
• Assist firefighters and their families affected by disasters.
• Plan for fire service role in sheltering that overwhelms state resources.

Hurricane Katrina has been classified as the greatest disaster in American history. Losses of lives and property, the impact on our economy, and our response and recovery operations have raised many questions regarding the nation's ability to protect its citizens. We have a great opportunity to learn from the shortcomings of our national response. One of the most significant is the role and the ability of the American fire service to improve the Department of Homeland Security.

There is no question that in today's world the DHS is necessary. The threat of terrorism is real and can't be ignored. However, a more balanced approach to protecting the homeland is in order. Preparedness initiatives that focus on the more frequent and predictable natural disasters are imperative to the development and implementation of a successful National Response Plan.

Changes in DHS and the NRP must be implemented immediately. It is not a matter of if, but when, we will again be tested. If we are to pass the next test, the fire service's national response role must be federalized and integrated into DHS. To enhance our nation's response ability we must work together to “ordain and establish” these recommendations for the United States.
— Executive Board
NFPA — IAFC Metro Fire Chiefs