by Don Stabler

Related Articles:   Incident Command   EPI

This article can be found on
page 48 of the Mar/Apr 1998
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.

The Command Staff:

The Incident Commander (IC) is responsible for the overall incident, or in our case, the day-to-day/shift-to-shift management of the dispatch center. You are responsible whether things go right or if they go wrong. The same thing happens in the field.

As the Liaison Officer, you are responsible for working with other agencies. This could be something as simple as requesting a utility company for some downed wires, or as involved as coordinating the moving of a lot of resources during a major incident involving many mutual aid agencies. The Liaison Officer in the field will be working with these agencies to insure a smooth operation, and to facilitate their needs when they arrive at the incident location.

In the role of the Safety Officer, as a supervisor you are responsible to insure a safe working environment for your subordinates and co-workers. If one of them is injured, you will be doing the initial paper work and investigation - just like in the field.

While performing the job as the Information Officer, you will be dealing with different medias, other agencies and "concerned citizens." The person performing this function in the field will be doing the same things that you are in the Communications Center. And needless to say, coordination and communication with this person is essential to help lessen the burden on each other.

The General Staff:

Similar to an incident, the supervisor performing the role of the Operations Chief is responsible for the management of all operations. This person is responsible for developing strategies and implementation of tactical operations. This could be as simple as receiving a call of a vehicle fire and non-breather simultaneously. The "strategy" may be to determine priority, then the tactical operation would be the dispatching of the calls. On the far extreme, if you have just experienced a large earthquake or storm and many calls for assistance are being received, the strategy would be developing a system to quickly prioritize these calls and the tactical aspect would be the implementation (dispatching) of them.

The aspect we spend quite a bit of time in is the role of the Plans Chief. The communication's supervisor typically plans training assignments, work schedules and special projects or duties; and as the supervisor during major incidents or periods of prolonged peak activity, this person must plan for breaks and rest periods, and for additional resources if needed. In our Communications Center, we work the firefighter's schedule of 24 hour shifts, so in addition, we must also plan for long rest or sleeping periods, call in off duty personnel if needed and basically, manage a sustained operation from the inside.

And now that you have just about got that role down, now you must switch hats and assume the role of the Logistics Chief. All those roles listed in the Logistics Section now fall into your lap. If you are in the midst of a sustained operation, do you have a food source? If a person in your Communications Center becomes ill, can you provide adequate medical attention? If you need to dispatch your mobile communications unit, does it have fuel and is it operationally sound for the assignment? Do you have an established communication plan for working with other agencies? Suppose you need mutual aid dispatchers?

Now that you have taken two aspirin, put on the hat with the green visor and assume the role of the Finance Chief. In day to day operations, I am sure you are reminded of a thing called a "budget." And in addition to budgetary items, you also do the administrative duties or paper work. If an employee gets injured, you are writing memos and filling out tons of paperwork. You may need to order supplies, or write a memo, and fill out shift rosters or duty activity forms. And if it is for a major incident, it seems like the paperwork is never done. In my years I have learned that organization and paperwork, when done correctly, can be your best friend.

Now lets put all these together in a real incident and see what it looks like: On a hot, breezy day in October of 1991, a major fire struck Northern California's Oakland hills, which is directly west of Contra Costa County where I work. At the time things went from bad to worse in Oakland, we had our own third alarm wildland fire burning in the unincorporated area of Martinez. As I was enroute to our Communications Center, I looked at the smoke from our fire and compared it to the smoke from the Oakland fire. I knew immediately the real problem was not in Martinez.

As I walked in the door to our Communications Center, on my heels was Assistant Chief Bill Cullen, at that time our Fire District's Operations Chief. He immediately became the "Incident Commander" and also performed the duties of the "Liaison Officer" by working with the California Department of Forestry, which had committed aircraft and engines to the fire in Martinez, which was legally their responsibility. Chief Cullen established the priority that we had no residential structure threat and on behalf of Oakland's request for aircraft, worked to get the resources sent to Oakland, which was not the legal responsibility of CDF. Chief Cullen also worked as the "Information Officer," gathering information to pass along to other fire agencies in our county, as we are the Operational Area or Mutual Aid Coordinator for our County.

By keeping the other fire agencies updated of the incident, they, along with us, were able to recall personnel to cover vacated stations and also provide more assistance to Oakland. This paid off, as, within a few hours, we broke two more major fires of our own. Eventually, a total of 12 people were on duty in the dispatch center. Since we dispatch for most agencies in our County, with at least one dispatcher was at each console, these became "Divisions." We had a few people assigned to tracking of the mutual aid resources, and the staffing of other departments, so this became a "Group." I also performed the duties of the "Plans Chief." In planning for this sustained operation, as off duty personnel arrived, some of the on duty personnel were relieved and in one case, the person normally sleeping in the afternoon did get to sleep somewhat close to her assigned time, as making sure that I had fresh people later on was of primary concern. To insure a fresh crew in the morning, I avoided calling people assigned to work the next day, although one did show up on his own. As far as logistics was concerned, we have an existing list of places to get food. We have sufficient bunks to sleep 12. We are normally supplied to the hilt, communications plans are in effect, however they were greatly overwhelmed on that day. Fortunately we did not need medical attention, fuel or any other services from this section.

Operating the Communications Center in an ICS mode - and making sure your dispatchers are trained and familiar in ICS - will be of benefit whenever you're in the midst of a major event.