

When organizations use the ICS model as the basis for their disaster planning, they adopt predefined management hierarchy, processes, and protocols that come into play in an emergency: ICS is sometimes referred to as the Incident Management System (IMS) the terms are interchangeable. The ICS model is used by jurisdictions and agencies, both public and private, to organize field-level incident-management operations. ICS is a standardized on-scene emergency management organization designed to aid in the management of resources during incidents. The NIMS model for incident management is the Incident Command System (ICS). Standardized, to provide a coordinated, efficient response to each incident.The NIMS approach is intended to be both: As a result, a new command and control paradigm was collaboratively developed to provide a consistent, integrated framework for the management of all incidents from small incidents to large, multi-agency emergencies.The National Incident Management System (NIMS), a program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is a comprehensive approach to incident management that can apply to emergencies of all types and sizes. Lack of knowledge with common terminology during an incident.Įmergency managers determined that the existing management structures - frequently unique to each agency - did not scale to dealing with massive mutual aid responses involving dozens of distinct agencies and when these various agencies worked together their specific training and procedures clashed.Freelancing by individuals with specialized skills during an incident without coordination with other first responders.No predefined methods to integrate inter-agency requirements into the management structure and planning process effectively.Lack of an orderly, systematic planning process.


The ICS System was used in New York at the first terrorist attempt on the twin towers in the 1990s.

ICS became a national model for command structures at a fire, crime scene or major incident. ICS fell under California's Standardized Emergency Management System or SEMS. Studies determined that response problems often related to communication and management deficiencies rather than lack of resources or failure of tactics. Property damage ran into the millions, and many people died or were injured.
#History of the incident command system series#
During the 1970s, ICS was fully developed during massive wildfire suppression efforts in California and following a series of catastrophic wildfires in California's urban interface. Originally the program was established to follow the management structure of the US Navy and it was mainly for fire fighting of wildfires in California and Arizona. The ICS concept was originally developed in 1968 at a Phoenix AZ meeting of Fire Chiefs.
