Incident Command websites for this spill:
What is an Incident Command System or Unified Command?
The Incident Command System (ICS) or Unified Command (UC) is a standardized organizational management structure developed in the early 1970’s to manage rapidly moving wildfires. The ICS/UC is now a standardized structure that has been adopted to manage all types of emergencies and incidents.
The U. S. National Response Team (NRT), an organization of 16 federal agencies responsible for national planning and coordination of oil and hazardous substance emergency preparedness and response, has prepared a technical assistance document on the Incident Command System/Unified Command (ICS/UC):
The Incident Command System (ICS) or Unified Command (UC) provides response direction, and is specifically designed to:
- Coordinate effective communication
- Coordinate resources
- Establish incident priorities
- Develop mutually agreed-upon incident objectives and approve response strategies
- Assign objectives to the response structure
- Review and approve Incident Action Plans
- Ensure integration of response organizations into the ICS/UC
- Establish protocols
- Ensure worker and public health and safety
- Inform the media.