Welcome to the IS-0200.b – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (ICS-200) course. This course focuses on single resources and initial action incidents and builds on the ICS-100 course.

IS-0200.b follows NIMS guidelines and meets the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Baseline Training requirements for ICS-200.

This is the second in a series of ICS courses designed to meet the all-hazards, all-agency NIMS ICS requirement for operational personnel. Descriptions and details about the other ICS courses in the series may be found on our Web site: http://training.fema.gov.

Introduce yourself and provide information about your background and experience with the Incident Command System (ICS).

Review the course objectives with the class. Tell the participants that by the end of this course, they will be able to:

• Describe the Incident Command System (ICS) organization appropriate to the complexity of the incident or event.
• Use ICS to manage an incident or event.

This course is designed to provide overall incident management skills rather than tactical expertise. Additional courses are available on developing and implementing incident tactics.

The students should introduce themselves by providing the following information:

• Name, job title, and organization.
• Overall experience with emergency or incident response.
• ICS qualifications and most recent ICS experience.

Ask the students to identify what they hope to gain from attending this course. If possible, summarize the expectations on chart paper.

Based on the expectations presented, clarify if there are any topic areas that are beyond the scope of this course.

Save the expectations list. During the summary, you may want to use this list to see how well the course met the class expectations.

Instructors expect course participants will:

• Cooperate with the group.
• Be open minded to new ideas.
• Participate actively in all of the training activities and exercises.
• Return to class at the stated time.
• Use what you learn in the course to perform effectively within an ICS organization.

Remember in the ICS-100 course you learned that ICS is used to ensure the effective management of incidents and events.

ICS was developed in the 1970s following a series of catastrophic fires in California’s urban interface. Property damage ran into the millions, and many people died or were injured. The personnel assigned to determine the causes of these outcomes studied the case histories and discovered that response problems could rarely be attributed to lack of resources or failure of tactics. Surprisingly, studies found that response problems were far more likely to result from inadequate management than from any other single reason.

ICS:

• Is a standardized management tool for meeting the demands of small or large emergency or nonemergency situations.
• Represents “best practices,” and has become the standard for emergency management across the country.
• May be used for planned events, natural disasters, and acts of terrorism.
• Is a key feature of the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

ICS is not just a standardized organizational chart, but an entire management system.

• All levels of government, the private sector, and nongovernmental agencies must be prepared to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from a wide spectrum of major events and natural disasters that exceed the capabilities of any single entity.
• Threats from natural disasters and human-caused events, such as terrorism, require a unified and coordinated national approach to planning and to domestic incident management.

• ICS works! It saves lives! Life safety is the top priority for ICS response. Add examples from your own experience as applicable.
• The use of ICS is mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 5 and Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8 and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

The following page includes more information about HSPD-5 and PPD-8. The next part of this unit includes a brief review of NIMS.

HSPD-5, Management of Domestic Incidents, identified steps for improved coordination in response to incidents. It required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate with other Federal departments and agencies and State, local, and tribal governments to establish a National Response Framework (NRF) and a National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD-8) describes the Nation’s approach to preparedness─one that involves the whole community, including individuals, businesses, community- and faith-based organizations, schools, tribes, and all levels of government (Federal, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial).

PPD-8 links together national preparedness efforts using the following key elements:

• National Preparedness System: How We Get There
• National Planning System: What We Deliver
• Annual National Preparedness: How Well We Are Doing
• Whole Community Initiative: Who We Engage

• The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides a consistent nationwide template to enable Federal, State, tribal, and local governments, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and property, and harm to the environment.
• Building upon the Incident Command System (ICS), NIMS provides the Nation’s first responders and authorities with the same foundation for incident management for terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other emergencies. NIMS requires that ICS be institutionalized.

NIMS represents a core set of doctrine, concepts, principles, terminology, and organizational processes that enables effective, efficient, and collaborative incident management.

• Preparedness: Effective emergency management and incident response activities begin with a host of preparedness activities conducted on an ongoing basis, in advance of any potential incident. Preparedness involves an integrated combination of planning, procedures and protocols, training and exercises, personnel qualifications and certification, and equipment certification.
• Communications and Information Management: Emergency management and incident response activities rely upon communications and information systems that provide a common operating picture to all command and coordination sites. NIMS describes the requirements necessary for a standardized framework for communications and emphasizes the need for a common operating picture. NIMS is based upon the concepts of interoperability, reliability, scalability, portability, and the resiliency and redundancy of communications and information systems.
• Resource Management: Resources (such as personnel, equipment, and/or supplies) are needed to support critical incident objectives. The flow of resources must be fluid and adaptable to the requirements of the incident. NIMS defines standardized mechanisms and establishes the resource management process to: identify requirements, order and acquire, mobilize, track and report, recover and demobilize, reimburse, and inventory resources.

(Continued on the next page.)

NIMS represents a core set of doctrine, concepts, principles, terminology, and organizational processes that enables effective, efficient, and collaborative incident management.

• Preparedness: Effective emergency management and incident response activities begin with a host of preparedness activities conducted on an ongoing basis, in advance of any potential incident. Preparedness involves an integrated combination of planning, procedures and protocols, training and exercises, personnel qualifications and certification, and equipment certification.
• Communications and Information Management: Emergency management and incident response activities rely upon communications and information systems that provide a common operating picture to all command and coordination sites. NIMS describes the requirements necessary for a standardized framework for communications and emphasizes the need for a common operating picture. NIMS is based upon the concepts of interoperability, reliability, scalability, portability, and the resiliency and redundancy of communications and information systems.
• Resource Management: Resources (such as personnel, equipment, and/or supplies) are needed to support critical incident objectives. The flow of resources must be fluid and adaptable to the requirements of the incident. NIMS defines standardized mechanisms and establishes the resource management process to: identify requirements, order and acquire, mobilize, track and report, recover and demobilize, reimburse, and inventory resources.

(Continued on the next page.)

This course will focus on the following ICS features:

• Chain of Command and Unity of Command
• Modular Organization
• Management by Objectives
• Manageable Span of Control
• Transfer of Command

This course includes the following eight units:

• Unit 1: Course Overview (current unit)
• Unit 2: Leadership & Management
• Unit 3: Delegation of Authority & Management by Objectives
• Unit 4: Functional Areas & Positions
• Unit 5: Briefings
• Unit 6: Organizational Flexibility
• Unit 7: Transfer of Command
• Unit 8: Course Summary

Review the agenda with the class on the last page.

Review the following course logistics:

• Course agenda
• Sign-in sheet
• Housekeeping:
• Breaks
• Message and telephone location
• Cell phone policy
• Facilities
• Other concerns

Review the following course logistics:

• Course agenda
• Sign-in sheet
• Housekeeping:
• Breaks
• Message and telephone location
• Cell phone policy
• Facilities
• Other concerns

DAY 1

Morning Session

• Unit 1: Course Overview (1 hour 30 minutes)
• Unit 2: Leadership & Management (2 hours)

Afternoon Session

• Unit 3: Delegation of Authority & Management by Objectives (2 hours)
• Unit 4: Functional Areas & Positions (2 hours)

DAY 2

Morning Session

• Unit 5: Briefings (1 hour 30 minutes)
• Unit 6: Organizational Flexibility (1 hour 30 minutes)

Afternoon Session

• Unit 7: Transfer of Command (45 minutes)
• Unit 8: Course Summary (1 hour)