Is It Time to Evaluate your Incident Command System (ICS)?

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The rise of the incident command system (ICS) within the utility industry started accelerating about 15 years ago after Hurricane Sandy, Irene, and other major events rocked the Northeast.  The ICS is a standardized, flexible framework used for managing emergency response and recovery operations.  The ultimate goal of this framework is to make restoration and recovery more effective and efficient.

How to Evaluate Your Incident Command System (ICS)

Let’s start with a quick ICS primer.  The ICS provides a systematic approach to organizing and coordinating resources, personnel, and activities during an incident.  It has several key features:

• A hierarchy and structure that establishes a clear chain of command and organizational structure, allowing for efficient resource allocation and decision-making.
• Defined roles and responsibilities, including Incident Commander, Operations Section Chief, Planning Section Chief, Logistics Section Chief, and Finance/Administration Section Chief.
• Unified command, which enables better coordination and collaboration among different external organizations and agencies working to address the incident.
• Facilitation of effective outage communication to ensure clear and timely information flow between teams, stakeholders, and the public.
• Established processes for tracking and efficiently managing resources required during an incident, such as personnel, equipment, and materials.
• Scalable and flexible enough to be applied to incidents of any size, from minor emergencies to large-scale disasters.

When evaluating your ICS, check to make sure of the following:

• Ensure that all roles and responsibilities are documented and prioritized.
• Ensure there are guidelines for expanding the team as needed for the size and scope of an event.
• Ensure there are guidelines for obtaining additional support from across the organization when needed.
• Ensure there is a clear process for communicating. This includes the communication channels that will be utilized, the frequency of communications, communication objectives, and using similar language in coordinating with police, fire departments and other emergency responders.
• Ensure that managers continually update training materials to include learnings from each event to allow employees to stay current in their knowledge and facilitate cross-training.

At the end of the day, all utilities should have an incident command system (ICS) in place.  But that’s just the tip of the iceberg – the industry is evolving, and the framework of your ICS needs to be constantly evaluated so it can evolve as well.