EMC010 More ICS Terms
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS), the volunteer
      communications reserve of the State of California 
      Governor's Office of Emergency Services

An emergency communications unit participant MUST learn ICS
basics. Without knowing ICS basics you are not prepared to
work within the system, and can make a fool of yourself,
embarrass your unit and cause a real problem.

As our fire incident escalates the Incident Commander and
Operations Chief will change as relief personnel and more
experienced persons arrive. Under the Unified Command Structure,
the implementation of the action plan will be under the direction
of a single individual, the Operations Chief. 

The Operations Chief will normally be from an agency which has
the greatest jurisdictional involvement. Designation of the
Operations Chief must be agreed on by all agencies having
jurisdictional and functional responsibility at the incident.
In our scenario, the Fire Chief from the city was appointed
as Operations Chief. He is already assigning Strike Teams and
Task Forces to attack the fire. 

Any management system used in joint operations by many diverse
users requires a common terminology. ICS establishes that in the
following ways, by providing:
   - Organization: A standard set of major functions and units
   - Resources: Common names for resources 
   - Facilities: Common identifier, such as the Incident Command
     Post, Incident Base, Staging Areas, Camps, Helibase,and
     Heliport.

The important, and essential, components of the ICS are:
   - Common Terminology
   - Modular Organization
   - Integrated Communications
   - Unified Command Structure
   - Consolidated Action Plans
   - Manageable Span-of-Control
   - Predesigned Incident Facilities
   _ Comprehensive Resource Management

Next bulletin: A review

E-mail crm@oes.ca.gov or seh@oes.ca.gov. Telephone 916-262-1600 
Internet:http://www.garlic.com/oes    W6WWW@KM6PX.#NOCAL.USA.NA
BBS 916-262-1657  FAX 916-262-1677. Packet: W6SIG@WA6NWE.CA
ACS c/o State OES, 2800 Meadowview Rd., Sacramento, CA. 95832
EOM EMC010