Fire Scene: Is Incident Command a Fallacy?

The incident command system (ICS) has been a staple of fire department operations for decades and has served the fire service well. The system is used for small single-unit operations, where the company officer is the incident commander (IC), all the way through multi-agency operations that involve hundreds of first responders.

After working in the fire service for over 40 years, I must admit that I have several issues with the ICS system is being used in some departments. Here’s an example: I was listening to a fire department operation involving a two-car accident where there were several injuries, including one that required a medivac helicopter. On the radio, I heard the dispatcher call the fire department engine that was setting up the landing zone and inform them that the medivac had been canceled and the landing zone was not needed. After the engine officer acknowledged the message, the IC (a fire department chief officer) called the dispatcher and asked who had canceled the medivac. The dispatcher responded that EMS no longer required it, and the patient was going to be transported by ambulance. The IC then stated that he had the helicopter overhead at the scene and that he wanted the helicopter to land as planned and be available for the operation. The dispatcher repeated that EMS had released the helicopter, and they were preparing to return to their base. The IC then stated, “As the incident commander” he had not made that decision or even been informed of it, and still wanted the helicopter to land at his operation. He even asked who in particular had made the call to cancel the helicopter and was informed of the EMS supervisor’s unit number.

I don’t think I need to talk any further about this particular incident and its “command” issues, but I do think it illustrates a common problem: The chiefs or ICs at many fire department operations are really NOT commanding the incident but rather commanding their agency’s involvement in the incident. Simply put, many fire department commanding officers are simply operating as the fire department’s “agency commander.”

I started to note all the activities and decisions that support this position and came up with the following four points:

1. At many highway incidents, specifically motor vehicle accidents, several agencies are dispatched, including the fire, police, EMS and maybe even state police. It is common for the first responders to arrive and simply go to work without reporting in to the IC. I have operated at numerous incidents where I didn’t even know that EMS had arrived until I observed them leaving the scene with the patient. The same can be said for police agencies. They arrive, go about their duties, and leave on their own timeline with little if any communication with the fire commander.
2. Almost all emergency response agencies operate on their own radio frequency. This is certainly an effective and efficient situation, but it creates a communication “wall” among the agencies operating at an emergency scene. Again, the first responders from each agency are operating on their frequency with their supervisors with little relay of info to other agencies.
3. Many fire, police and EMS agencies do not have the ability to communicate directly with the other agencies at the scene of an incident. Again, each agency has its own communications network, and most field units can only talk directly to their own dispatcher.
4. To take this to the next level, many police officers cannot communicate with the officers of neighboring police agencies. I know of village police departments whose officers on patrol cannot talk by radio to officers of the larger town department that surrounds them. If they can’t even talk to each other, how can they talk to us?

So where does this leave us? Well, the ICS is well established and broadly accepted by the American fire service, but out on the street, it leaves a lot to be desired. Stenciling the words “Incident Command” on the chief’s vehicle or wearing an ICS vest does not make you the IC. The fire service—in conjunction with EMS, law enforcement and dispatch agencies—needs to establish proper channels of communication, provide and practice with interagency radio equipment, and start practicing what they preach. What are you doing to support and enhance the ICS in your jurisdiction?