Incident Command & The Chief Officer

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Here we can discuss and learn what ICS can do for us in the Service that we provide to our Communities
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Incident Ground sitreps

by Brandon Guttery

Jan 27, 2011

Hello folks,

I want to pick your brains for a second in regards to incident ground situation reports.  Generally these are given at random points throughout an incident here, there is no set time frame or situation that states a sitrep should be relayed to the incident ground at any specific time .......... being a Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer the majority of incidents I command are longer duration events ..

Personally I think a sitrep should be sent to all staff on the fire ground when new resources arrive on the incident ground, at a change of command and atleast once an hour ................. is this overkill for the incident ground or not often enough?

I am relatively new to my command role and would appreciate the benefit of your experience and expertise.

let me know what you think .............

Brandon
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  • up

    Brandon Guttery

    Thanks Mike,

    We also have a requirement to send a quick verbal sitrep to our communications centre every 20 minutes, this is not enforced at all and this does not inform those on the incident ground.

    One thing I am picking up very quickly is that there are a lot of similarities in the command and control functions between the US and New Zealand, oddly enough this is very reassuring.

    Stay safe Brother

    Jan 28, 2011

  • up

    Al "Top" Styles

    Good topic….. I have recently moved to a new state and unfortunately I have to “relearn a few things”. Where I originated from our dispatchers gave us “benchmark checks” every 30 min. If he had other info than it could be relayed at anytime (fire under control, search negative, etc). But at that 30 min mark we would give a quick, but detailed update (I.e. 3 lines on the fire, all companies still working, fire contained to floor, etc).

    With my new department, we do not get that reminder, so it is up to us to pass along the info on our own, so I set my stopwatch to alert me every 30 min so I remember to do it, seems to work and other area Chiefs are beginning to do it as well…….So I guess we “can teach old dogs new tricks”. Hope this helps and stay safe out there.
    Top
    EGH-DTRT

    Jan 29, 2011

  • up

    Dolph Holmes

    I have always been used to the 10 mn rule in the first hour and then you can ramp back after that.

    When you hit the 24th hour in is usually a bit less to report but an hourly report should be given if

    only to state that there are no new updates from the incident.

    The major events rule I think applies no matter where you are in the world. As another poster said,

    if your dispatch does not ask for an update, provide one from the CP.

    If you fill out your Log with all info from sitreps it will aid you in AARs and in determining what you have done and when.

    Good luck and hope since this original post you have gained some confidence in commanding at large incidents!

    Oct 22, 2011