Incident Command System: who commands an incident and how
An incident command system is a standard way to organise command at an emergency, so that crews from different services work under one structure, with one commander and the same names for the same jobs. The best known is the US Incident Command System (ICS), part of the National Incident Management System. The UK uses its own model, built on the JESIP joint doctrine and the strategic, tactical and operational levels of command.
How the Incident Command System is organised
ICS grows and shrinks with the incident. On a small call the first officer on scene is the incident commander and does everything. As it grows, functions pass from the commander to other people. FEMA’s NIMS doctrine groups them into command plus five functional areas:
- Operations: the crews doing the work.
- Planning: situation, resources tracking and the next plan.
- Logistics: supplies, equipment, food, communications.
- Finance and administration: costs, time records, claims.
- Intelligence and investigations: used when the incident needs them.
Span of control and unified command
ICS recommends that one supervisor directs three to seven people or units, ideally five. When that number is exceeded, the commander creates another layer: divisions by area, groups by function. When several agencies share responsibility, they can run a unified command with one joint plan.
How incident command works in the UK
The UK does not use ICS by name. When police, fire and ambulance respond together they follow the JESIP joint doctrine, which sets out principles for joint working (co-locate, communicate, co-ordinate, jointly understand risk, shared situational awareness), the M/ETHANE message and the Joint Decision Model. Each service commands its own people, at three levels: strategic (Gold), which sets the overall aim; tactical (Silver), which plans how to achieve it; and operational (Bronze), which does the work at or near the scene. At the tactical level commanders from the different services meet as a tactical co-ordinating group.
On the fireground, the NFCC’s National Operational Guidance tells the incident commander to keep the structure as simple as possible and to split the incident into sectors only when the demands on them get too high. Sector commanders then supervise their own areas; on a larger incident an operations commander takes charge of the sectors so the incident commander’s span of control stays manageable, and a command support team records decisions, crews and hazards. Our guide to how the UK emergency services work together covers the wider picture.
Command structure in Sinkaos
Roles and teams
Custom roles built from individual permissions, scoped to an organisation, team or operation, plus nested teams.
Sectors on the map
Draw the area and split it into sectors with owners and tasks, then hand each person the pack for their part.
Guests from other services
Time-limited, scope-limited access for people from other organisations, ending on its own.
One picture for the staff
Incidents, tasks, positions and messages on one map, with forward command posts able to run a node on a laptop.
More on incident command
Who is in command at a UK multi-agency incident?
Does a small on-call crew need a command structure at all?
How does scene command differ from a local authority emergency response?
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