MAKING ICS WORK FOR YOU WHEN ITREALLY COUNTS! – HARD LESSONS LEARNEDON THE SHORES OF CALIFORNIA

摘要

The moment an oil spill occurs, response speed is of the essence.rnYet how often have you participated in the Incident CommandrnSystem (ICS) at a spill and been frustrated with the speed or therncoordination of the response? How often has a response been declaredrna success but getting there was so frustrating and exhaustingrnthat you've sworn you won't work that way anymore?rnICS is here to stay; yet how you can consistently make it workrnoptimally for you and the response remains a challenge. Thisrnpaper is based upon the premise that ICS enables the right informationrnto be communicated to the right people, in the right format,rnat the right time. However, during most response debriefs, at therntop of the “needs improvement” list you will find numerous referencesrnto the failure of information flow and communications. Inrnthis paper we share some of the hard lessons-learned in spillrnresponse along the California Coast, and ways in which some ofrnthe agencies involved today are proactively “preparing to communicate”rnwithin the Incident Command System.rnWe use case histories of past and recent spills and the CaliforniarnSpill of National Significance 2004 exercise to illustrate therncommunications and coordination problems inherent in mostrnresponse Incident Command structures. A variety of issues arernconsidered; from the evolutionary paths of most responses; to thernnumerous personalities and egos involved; to the wide array ofrnexpectations amongst participants and stakeholders; and the oftenrnunique and varied authorities and agendas that multiple agenciesrnbring to a response.rnWe also suggest innovative ways in which the process of communicationsrnwithin the ICS is being augmented, enhanced, andrnset-up for success. We introduce concepts such as “data mining”,rn“embedded information specialists”, “fault-tolerant” communicationsrnmechanisms, “message mapping”, and “NEBA front-endrnloading”. A number of communications tools and concepts arerndescribed, that if implemented, will greatly improve multi-agencyrncoordination and communications during a response, leading to arnless stressful and more successful response outcome.