Incident Management System
From the onset, it is important to note that in all hazardous materials incidents, an incident management system must be utilized (Corbett, 2009). This is essentially a federal law mandate. From a general perspective, an incident management system could be defined as all the attempts to not only understand but also respond to emergency scenarios via the application of various procedures, and utilization of the relevant personnel and equipment. However, in as far as fire science is concerned, we could perceive incident management system as “a system of terminology and organization that provides management tools for responding to and operating at disasters” (Fire House, 2002). In this context, the overall mandate is to ensure not only the efficient, but also the effective management of an incident via the integration of the relevant resources, processes as well as personnel – and ensuring that these function from a common or central organizational structure. It therefore follows that from the onset, there is need for a command post to be set up by the incident commander (initial) in the cold zone. In the setting up of the said command post, there are a number of factors which ought to be taken into consideration. In basic terms, “a staging area should be designated, considering topography, wind, and accessibility” (Corbett, 2009, p. 10). Other considerations on this front include, but they are not limited to, the establishment of a first-aid area and the initiation as well as proper management of the recovery phase in which case there is the preparation of the relevant action reports and removal of material. There are a number of key elements of an incident management system. These are inclusive of the incident manager, finance/administration, planning, logistics, and operations (Fire House, 2002).
References
Corbett, G. (Ed.). (2009). Fire Engineering's Handbook for Firefighter I and II. Tulsa, Oklahoma: PennWell Corporation.
Fire House (2002). Introduction to Incident Management System. Retrieved from https://www.firehouse.com/home/article/10574033/introduction-to-incident-management-system
