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Incident Commander: In The Vehicle or On The Street?
We are sending our Battalion Chiefs and Command staff through the Blue Card Command System, which was produced by the Brunacinis, and based on the updated Fire Command model that Phoenix has been using for years. Our department has been a "run it from the street" ICS model for years that has slowly evolved to running most ops from the back of their command buggy (outside). The Blue Card very strongly advocates running the IC from inside the command vehicle (F-250 in our case). This is a completely foreign concept for our Batt Chiefs and the idea so far is meeting some resistance. I would like to hear from anyone who has actually run IC from both positions and give me some pros and cons on the inside the vehicle approach. Thanks
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Chip,
Congrats on using the Blue Card system. That is a well prepared incident management system. I have done exactly as you have mentioned, commanded from inside and outside. Here is my thoughts on the positioning of the IC. I teach a Mayday Management for Incident Command class for Incident Commanders. In this program, I highlight many fire ground audio tapes for which the incident commander was distracted and missed one, two and even three mayday calls. Most were due to the commander's work environment. Working from the buggy, most old school IC's refuse to wear the headsets as well. So what you have is someone who desires to have his or her feet on the street, like to talk face to face, see or be seen for command presence. That mentality opens them up to fellow brothers, civilians, or media invading our personal work space. Not to mention loud apparatus, being exposed to the elements (cold or hot) when commanding from the rear of the buggy.
Meeting resistance when we change anything in the fire service is fairly common. I myself would rather have a clean, quiet, well lit and climate controlled evironment to use my 3-C's approach, which is Communicate, Coordinate and Calculate from. A downside to this is being caught up when doing a 360 of the incident and not being disciplined enough to get back into the car, truck command van, etc. Some get caught up with helping our short handed crews, but that is not my responsibility, quickest way to lose track of an incident is put your hands on a tactical operation when running as a true BC type position. Think about this, the real play callers on Monday Night Football are up in the box with their own little command team. The head coach is more of a forward operations person. I also endorse rolling your windows up and locking the doors. That takes away an amazing amount of un-neccessary distraction with BS questions, comments and apparatus noise. Someone wants to ask a question, crack the window and if you don't like what they have to say, or if someone is calling on the radio simultaneously, roll the window up.
At your next incident, if someone calls command two or three times, or if other people near him have to tell the IC that "Hey so and so is calling you" your command set up is a liability.
FETC
www.fetcservices.com
"Average Training Breeds an Average Fire Department, Let FETC Help You Achieve Excellence!"
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Permalink Reply by kara-lee allen on
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in my opinion IC cant change/adapt/ and adjust to things he/she cannot see in most cases. However, with competant and trustworthy members status changes at incidents should be able to be relayed appropriately and with appropriate sector command it should be done efficiently. unfortunately this is not what i see at a lot of calls. good luck with your changes :)
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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I've done both, and done off-site Command from a remote C.P. on a few large incidents.
There's a trade-off - the closer you are to the incident, the better you can perform a 360-degree size-up, the better you can hear things that provide audible cues that may be more important than some of the visual cues, and you get reminded of things like weather extremes by your sweating or shivering. That helps remind you to get extra resources when needed, and it reminds you that if you are too hot or cold then it's likely worse for the troops - so get some rehab going.
On the other hand, if you are in the chief's rig, you are isolated from a lot of distractions, you can hear the radio better, you have access to whatever level of information technology your system uses, and you don't have environmental distractions from doing your job.
Off-site/remote incident command from an EOC or similar facility is also something that needs practice. EOCs are typically a lot bigger and more comfortable than the command rig, they have much better communications and IT tech, and they have the room for lots of helpers so you can delegate Command functions as well as Operational ones. These are not typically initial operations, but when you get a really big incident, you may end up in the EOC.
I'm a fan of all three, used situationally. I like the Brunacinis a lot and their system has a lot of merit, but I'm not a fan of intentionally isolating yourself from some of your best sources of information - including sounds and smells.
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Permalink Reply by Ron Ayotte on
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For 99% of our incidents...how can one expect one's personnel to give 110% on a bitter cold or a steamy hot day when one is commanding the incident from the front seat of a blast furnace like heater in winter, max a/c ice box rivaling in summer command vehicle?
There are those incidents where being isolated will be an advantage. Personally, I will be out on the street with the tailgate of the SUV I drive up and using the command boards in the compartment... the best of both.
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Ron, the percentage that is REALLY important is...
The IC should have 100% of his/her attention focused on managing the incident at the strategic level. If the heat/cold/rain/snow or whatever are a distraction, then it makes sense to put the IC where he/she is isolated from the distraction.
For short-term incidents where the weather doesn't compromise the IC's ability, hanging outisde is fine.
We have the Battalion rigs, too. We use them for incidents where a handheld command board doesn't suffice. When the weather or other factors make it better to sit in a vehicle, we move it inside.
Examples of this include heavy rain, very high humidity, and temperatures below freezing.
We have very motivated firefighters and we assign Division/Group supervisors who share the troops' working conditions, so we have no problem with the troops' level of commitment.
I don't worry about what percentage we should command from what relative position.
The best way to do it is to avoid dogma and command from the place that is best for the particular incident you're working.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy D. Stone Jr on
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I would much rather run my scene from the street. Always walking around my ever changing fire scene.
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Makes it a little difficult to find the command post and the incident commander in the same place, though.
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So what your saying Ron is to get 110% out of the new kid, the BC must be right there with him mopping the floors and checking the fluids. Can I ask what does your line officers do?
Another fireground tip off is hearing command request hot coffee brought to the scene in the winter. Ah hello, everybody needs water. The coffee request is because command is cold from standing behind the buggy.
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Permalink Reply by Chip Branam on
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Thanks for the input so far folks. It's much as I expected. I was a BC for 11 years and ran all my calls from the street. Seems now I may have been fooling myself in thinking that I was "multi-tasking" effectively by listening to two radios, a couple of officers standing around, the upset property manager, and "concerned citizens" that constantly approach. I listen to our operations now with a different ear and hear all kinds of things that are getting missed because the IC is too busy with all the peripheral crap. Now as the training chief of a large progressive department (850 career & 150 vol personnel), we are trying to refine the way we manage incidents, and so far the Blue Card system seems it may be a good fit even with the "radical changes". We'll keep you posted.
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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It's not practical for all places. We don't do "traditional" 360s here. 80% of the houses are row homes in the city. That or you are in an area with large high rises. It just doesn't work and have the BFC literally walk around the whole block while trying to run an incident is a bad idea.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Oomkes on
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Have you ever asked your people where they'd rather you be?
I for one, as a firefighter or line officer, prefer the IC to stay in one place and trust his\her line officers and firefighters to report back on changing fire scenes.
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