Incident Command System for
Schools
Larry Borland
Director of School Safety and Security, Douglas County Schools
Douglas County, Colorado
September 26, 2006
Santa Monica, California
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Incident Command System Definition
Incident Command System (ICS)
is a management system designed
to enable effective and efficient
incident management by
integrating a combination of
facilities, equipment standards and
an incident management
organization with five functional
areas (command, operations,
planning, logistics and finance &
administration) for management of
all major incidents.
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Incident Command System
School and
School District
First ICS Partners
Responders (Mental & Public
(Fire, Police, EMT) Health, Parents,
Media, etc.)
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Table Discussion
At your table, think of a
school event - graduation,
field day, etc. - that requires
many tasks to be done on
time and in the right order
How did you organize for that
event?
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Incident Command System
Background:
Developed over 30 years ago in the aftermath of catastrophic wildfires in
California
Numerous agencies responded to the fires with little coordination or
communication
As a result, Congress directed the U.S. Forest Service to improve the
effectiveness of interagency coordination
By mid-1970s, the U.S. Forest Service and several California agencies
developed and field tested the Incident Command System (ICS)
By 1981, ICS was used widely in Southern California in response to fire
and non-fire incidents
In March 2004, ICS was included as a mandate in the National Incident
Management System (NIMS)
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NIMS Compliance-School Districts* *NIMS Compliance Center Guidance
Since school districts are an integral part of local government,
their use of NIMS should be achieved in close coordination with
other components of the local government. School districts are
not traditional response organizations and more typically are
recipients of first responder services provided by fire and rescue,
emergency medical and law enforcement agencies. This
traditional relationship should be acknowledged in achieving
NIMS compliance within an integrated local government plan for
NIMS compliance. School district participation in local
government's NIMS preparedness program is essential to ensure
that first responder services are delivered to schools in a timely
and effective manner.
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Incident Command System
Multiple Levels of Activation
National Response Plan
State Emergency Plan
City/County Emergency Plan
School District Emergency Plan
School Site Plan
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Incident Command System
ICS Principles:
Emergencies require certain tasks or functions to be performed
Nature of the incident determines level of activation and response
Expandable and collapsible
One incident commander:
• May vary for different types of incidents
• May change during incident response
Incident command responsibility should be determined in advance
No one reports to more than one person
Span of supervisory control does not exceed 3-7 subordinates
Uses common terminology
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Incident Command System
Common terminology:
Ability to communicate in a crisis is essential
ICS requires use of common terminology including standard titles for facilities and
positions
ICS uses plain English, not codes
Example:
• Uncommon Terminology:
"Response Branch, this is HazMat1. We are 10-24"
• Common Terminology:
"Response Branch, this is HazMat1. We have completed our assignment"
• Uncommon Terminology:
"Teachers and students, this is a Code Yellow"
• Common Terminology:
"Teachers and students, this is a lock-down"
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Incident Command System
ICS Roles:
Incident Commander
Incident Command Staff:
• Public Information Officer (PIO)
• Safety Officer
• Liaison Officer
• School Liaison
General Staff:
• Operations Section
• Planning Section
• Logistics Section
• Finance/Administration Section
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Basic Incident Command System
at a School
Incident Commander
(Principal or Designee)
In charge of overall managment of an emergency.
Public Information Officer Safety Officer
Coordinates all media releases, (School Security Staff, School Resource Officer
support usually provided by the district. or designated staff)
Ensures that all actions are done safely.
Liaison Officer
Assists responding agencies from outside
the school with information.
Operations Planning Logistics Finance & Administration
Cares for students and Collects and evaluates information Secures and provides Tracks incident costs for reimbursement
carries out universal and specific as related to the development of an needed materials, resources, services accounting. (Important in tracking costs where
procedures and protocols. incident and status of resources. and personnel. a state or federal "disaster area" is declared.)
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Incident Command System Scenario
Scenario: A student reports to a teacher that he
witnessed another student carrying a weapon.
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Incident Command System Scenario
At the moment the student reports the weapon
issue, the teacher is the Incident Commander.
Teacher = Incident Commander
The teacher reports the incident to the principal.
Incident Command transfers from the teacher to
the principal.
Principal = Incident Commander
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Incident Command System Scenario
The principal places the school in lockdown and notifies
the local police department and the district office. The
police arrive on the scene and take over as the Incident
Commander. The principal assists the police response.
Police = Incident Commander
Principal = Incident Command Staff
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Incident Command System Scenario
The school is placed in lock-down. The Incident
Commander and team ask the district PIO to prepare a
statement and bring in a recorder and the building
custodian.
Incident Commander
(Police)
Incident Command Staff
(Principal and other key school staff)
Public Information Officer
Planning
Recorder
(School Secretary)
Facilities Manager
(Building Custodian)
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Incident Command System Scenario
While the school is in lockdown, a student suffers an
asthma attack. The school nurse is called for assistance.
Incident Commander (Police)
and
Incident Command Staff (Principal and other key staff)
Public Information Officer
Operations Planning
Health Services Recorder
(School Nurse) (School Secretary)
Facilities Manager
(Building Custodian)
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Incident Command System Scenario
The police investigate the incident and arrest the student. The school is closed
for the day to complete the investigation. Parents are notified that students will
be evacuated to a local elementary school to be picked up.
Incident Commander (Police)
and
Incident Command Team (Principal and other key school staff)
Public Information Officer
Operations Planning Logistics
Health Services Recorder Transportation
(School Nurse) (School Secretary) (District transportation and bus drivers)
Parent - Student Reunification Facilities Manager
(School Crisis Response Team) (Building Custodian)
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Sample School or School District Incident
Command System Organization
Incident Commander and Incident Command Team
Public Information Officer
Operations Planning Logistics Finance & Administration
Student Supervision Next Steps Planning Food Services Insurance Claims
Health Services/First Aid Facility Manager Transportation Personnel
Search and Rescue Recorder Legal
Student/Parent Reunification
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Unified Command for a School Crisis or Emergency
School School District County/City
Incident Commander Incident Commander Incident Commander
(Principal) (Security Director) (Police/Fire)
Public Public
Information Information
Officer Officer
School Site
District City/County
Crisis/Emergency
Emergency Operations Incident Management
Response Team
Committee (EOC) Team (IMT)
(CERT)
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Incident Command System
Establishing an Incident Command
System:
Assess staff skills
Create lines of
succession/backups for all key
positions
Identify key roles to be carried
out
Identify staff for ICS team to
address each key function
Coordinate with community
partners to identify roles and
lines of responsibility in the
event of an emergency.
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Emergency Response Table Exercise
Pedestrian Fatality Scenario
It is the end of a school day, the week before winter
break. You are notified that two 8th grade girls have
been struck by a vehicle at the crosswalk in front of the
school. The driver fled the scene. One girl is down with
severe leg injuries. The other girl is down and
unresponsive, bleeding severely from the mouth and
nose. Several students, perhaps as many as 50,
witnessed the accident. Both girls are transported and
the unresponsive girl dies of her injuries.
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Emergency Response Table Exercise
Pedestrian Fatality Scenario
Describe how the Incident Command System should be
activated for this response.
Who will initially be in charge?
How will the IC Staff be activated?
How will command of the situation change over time?
Describe the activities of each Incident Command's
general staff during this incident.
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Emergency Response Table Exercise
Student Gunshot Death
It is 7:00 in the morning at a large high school. A
student reported to an assistant principal that in the
school parking lot there is a male student in a car who
appears to be hurt. The assistant principal and a dean
go to investigate. They find a male student slumped
over the wheel, bleeding from a severe wound to the
head. A black powder pistol can be seen near the
student's right hand. The dean checks for a pulse and
finds none.
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Emergency Response Table Exercise
Student Gunshot Death
Describe how the Incident Command System should be
activated for this response.
Who will initially be in charge?
How will the IC Staff be activated?
How will command of the situation change over time?
Describe the activities of each Incident Command's
general staff during this incident.
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Questions?
For more information, contact:
Larry Borland
(303) 387-0025
larry.borland@dcsdk12.org