The Incident Command System (ICS) provides a standardized incident management approach to ensure schools can effectively respond during an emergency and protect the students and staff.

This lesson provides an overview of ICS principles, structure, and roles to enable schools to include ICS in their emergency planning process. At the completion of this lesson you should be able to:

• Describe the ICS principles and organization.
• Identify the ICS roles included in the school EOP.

ICS can be used to manage any of the following types of incidents:

• Disasters, such as fires, tornadoes, floods, ice storms or earthquakes.
• Disease outbreaks and prevention measures.
• Search operations for a missing student.
• Hazardous materials accidents in chemistry lab.
• Hostile intruders or other criminal acts.
• Planned events, such as school drills, festivals, sport events, and graduations.

The Incident Command System (ICS) helps to ensure:

• Life safety.
• Property protection.
• Incident stabilization.

Adopting ICS will help school personnel work with emergency responders to provide a coordinated response. ICS is the common link between the school and all others who are involved with (or have an interest in) the incident.

ICS is based on certain principles that have proven successful in managing emergency situations. A fundamental principle is that emergencies require certain tasks or functions to be performed.

For example, every incident will require such functions as student care, site or facility security, and communications.

These functions should be identified during the development of the school's concept of operations and, if possible, personnel should be matched to functions at that time.

For every incident it needs to be clear who is in charge. When using ICS, that person in charge is the Incident Commander who:

• Has the authority to establish objectives, make assignments, and order resources.
• Works closely with staff and technical experts to analyze the situation and determine strategies.
• Should have training, experience, and expertise to serve in this capacity.

ICS provides for an orderly line of authority. Under ICS, personnel:

• Report to only one person, their ICS supervisor.
• Receive work assignments only from this ICS supervisor.

A clear chain of command eliminates confusion during the stress of an incident.

Command can be transferred from one Incident Commander to another when a more qualified Incident Commander is needed or available or for legal reasons.

During an incident it is critical that everyone can communicate clearly. ICS emphasizes:

• Using common terms or clear text.
• Not using radio codes, agency-specific codes, acronyms, or jargon.

“Span of control” refers to the number of individuals or resources that one supervisor can manage effectively during an incident. Experience has shown that an effective span of control for a supervisor in an incident is three to seven people.

Fewer than three people generally leads to inefficient operations. Greater than seven is generally too many for one individual to manage during an incident.

Click on this link for an overview of the 14 essential ICS features.

In an incident, the Incident Commander manages the entire incident and:

• Assesses the situation.
• Establishes objectives.
• Ensures overall safety.
• Communicates with internal and external stakeholders.
• Organizes resources.
• Develops a strategy or plan for handling the incident, monitors it in process, and adjusts the plan as needed.
• Ensures proper documentation.
• Appoints additional staff as necessary.

The following positions comprise the Command Staff that provide information, safety, and liaison services:

• The Public Information Officer is the conduit for information to internal and external stakeholders, including the media.
• The Safety Officer ensures that the safety of students, staff, and others on campus is the highest priority and can halt response activities determined as unsafe.
• The Liaison Officer coordinates efforts with other agencies assisting at an incident and monitors for any problems between the school and the other agencies.

The General Staff perform functional activities:

• The Operations Section handles all emergency response jobs, including taking care of students. Most adult responders will be assigned jobs in the Operations Section.
• The Planning Section supports the incident action planning process by tracking resources, collecting/analyzing information, and maintaining documentation.
• The Logistics Section manages resources including supplies, personnel, and equipment.
• The Finance/Administration Section monitors costs related to the incident, and provides accounting, procurement, time recording, and cost analyses. (Note: A school plan’s ICS may not include a Finance/Administration Section. This function may be performed at the school district level. In such circumstances, the Incident Commander must ensure that proper documentation is maintained.)

In a major incident or disaster, the following emergency team assignments may need to be established:

• Communications (Logistics)
• Food, Water, and Supply Management (Logistics)
• Medical/First Aid (Operations)
• Maintenance/Fire (Operations)
• Light Search and Rescue (Operations)
• Student Care and Reunification (Operations)
• Student Release (Operations)
• Crisis Response (Operations)

Click on this link for a sample of operations teams and responsibilities.

The following examples demonstrate how the ICS organization might change based on the incident:

• ICS Structure for a Small Playground Incident: For a playground incident involving one student injured, it probably would not be necessary to assign Section Chiefs for Logistics, Planning, or Finance/Administration. The principal or a teacher would act as the Incident Commander as well as the Operations Section Chief, and would coordinate with emergency medical services personnel to treat the student’s injuries.
• ICS Structure for a Fire Incident: In the event of a complex fire at a school, command may be shared among more than one Incident Commander.  For example an Incident Commander from the fire department would establish tactical objectives for fire suppression.  A second Incident Commander representing the school may help ensure that student care needs are addressed in the decision-making process.  If the fire is suspicious, a law enforcement representative may also be in the Command structure.  This is referred to as Unified Command.

The Unified Command organization consists of multiple Incident Commanders from the various jurisdictions or agencies operating together to form a single command structure.

When implemented properly, Unified Command enables agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional responsibilities to coordinate, plan, and interact effectively.

In the case of a school incident, the role of the school Incident Commander may be limited to reunification, crisis counseling, and student care (shelter, feeding, and academic activities).

A school's emergency operations plan should include procedures for each of the functional ICS areas, as well as for others that may be pertinent to the school.

Lesson 5 introduced the roles and responsibilities to include in your school EOP to address the ICS areas:

• Senior Executive (Superintendent, Principal, Emergency Management Official, Elected Official, etc.)
• Incident Commander
• Public Information Officer
• Liaison Officer
• Safety Officer
• Operations Section Chief
• Planning Section Chief
• Logistics Section Chief
• Finance and Administration Section Chief

Note: Your school EOP may need to address how ICS areas will be assigned with limited staff, for example if an incident occurs when school is over for the day.

Click on this link for an overview of the key incident response roles.

Teachers assigned ICS positions may need to leave their classes to perform emergency functions during an incident. To ensure all students are supervised, your school may use a buddy system, pairing teachers of classrooms that are near each other.

For an effective buddy system:

• Class rosters should be accessible by the buddy teachers.
• Both classes should evacuate to the same location or go to the same safe area of the school.

Class rosters should be kept in a readily accessible location with other emergency supplies (e.g., whistle, pens, signs, flashlight, etc.).

This lesson presented information on incorporating ICS in your school’s emergency operations plan.

The next lesson presents information on how to train, exercise, evaluate, and improve your school emergency operations plan.