We have seen recent large scale and complex incidents unfold before our eyes that required coordinated multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary responses to successfully handle the event in the response phase through recovery operations. I had the opportunity recently to discuss, in an informal setting, the success of some of the complex multi-disciplinary responses that have consumed the national, and in some cases international, spotlight with some of the key principles involved in response. The singular theme that has resonated from those conversations and critical element of success was joint interagency planning efforts. That lesson learned should transcend our daily operations and training for events of significant magnitude.
It has often been said that agencies operate as to how they training, meaning that in stressful situations we revert back to ingrained behaviors that we have practiced and learned. That same analogy can be said of planning efforts. It has been well accepted that successful organizations must have a strategic vision as to where they see themselves in three-five years from now and communicate that through a formal strategic plan, which serves as the road map to achieving that vision.
“Careful preparation and planning is a key step to any endeavor. When we were schooling, our teachers prepared for us a 'study plan.' The college football tournament was not won by kicking the ball around, but by adhering to a game plan.' When we had enough funds to build a house, we prepared through our architects a building plan.' For our business to tick, we put in place 'business plan,' 'sales plan,' 'marketing plan' and so on. There is nothing like being prepared for every possible situation and the earlier we do it, the more assured we are of our success.” - Aesop's Fable
Why would our incident management be any different?
As such the importance of an incident action plan (IAP) evolves which formally documents incident goals (known as control objectives in NIMS), operational period objectives, and the response strategy defined by incident command during incidence response planning. It contains general tactics to achieve goals and objectives within the overall strategy, while providing important information on event and response parameters. Equally important, the IAP facilitates dissemination of critical information about the status of response assets themselves. Because incident parameters evolve, action plans must be revised on a regular basis (at least once per operational period) to maintain consistent, up-to-date guidance across the system.
Such planning efforts align resources, establish incident priorities, assure communications are pre-established and interoperability is in place and tracks resources for accountability and incident safety. The opportunity to become proficient in incident action planning tools requires routine utilization and practice during even routine events. These planning documents can be found on the Federal Emergency Management’s website at www.fema.gov
So your next event, if you're not already doing so, use it as an opportunity to instill formalized pre-incident/event planning across your multi-jurisdiction and multi-disciplinary response
