EMS and ICS: Where Do I Fit In?

At FDIC on Monday, March 21, Virginia Office of EMS Emergency Operations Assistant Manager Karen Owens discussed a range of topics, from the background of incident command system (ICS) to daily use of ICS and ICS in large-scale incidents. 

Owens stated, “Often, ICS classes and scenarios focus on the responders arriving at the scene of a working fire, allowing for the exercise of fire-based ICS. This places the focus on the roles EMS responders may take in the ICS structure.”

Among the topics Owens discussed to students were single patient/multiunit cardiac arrest crew assignments and the features and benefits of unified command, which included single-incident organizations, shared facilities, and single-planning process and integrated incident action plan staffing.

She also offered specific scenarios of mass casualty incidents (MCIs) (in one case, a bleacher collapse) and the proper response techniques and groups that are necessary to deal with the incidents’ potential fatalities and injuries. MCI response includes the following groups and considerations:

  • The need for medical groups and their responsibilites.
  • Triage units and leadership responsibilites.
  • The need for porter teams and a fatality manager.
  • The response of the treatment area manager, medical supply manager, and treatment unit leader.

All of these groups, according to Owens, help establish a treatment area for treatment operations and ensures appropriate resources for all potential facets of an MCI.           

Owens concluded, “Although ICS is an all-hazards approach to incident management, the focus is normally the fire service’s involvement in the establishment and management of the ICS. Few, if any programs, offer scenarios and position specific information as they apply to EMS providers. This workshop discussed the roles of the EMS provider in the ICS and present scenarios based on the information provided.”

 

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