Volunteers in Sebastian County, Arkansas distribute water donated by the American Red Cross to fire departments for pickup by local residents affected by water outages due to winter weather. Photo courtesy of Sebastian Co Emergency Management.
The number of large-scale disasters within the United States has increased exponentially in the last decade. In each of these disasters, multiple agencies must come together in a seamless command structure to protect lives and property. That is why it is essential for those in the emergency management field to have a working knowledge of the Incident Command System, which is used by FEMA and emergency management agencies across the country to establish a common language and clearly define the command and reporting structure during any incident.
Through successful completion of the FEMA ICS 100: Introduction to the Incident Command System course, I gained an understanding of the principles and basic structure of the Incident Command System as well as the roles of the functional areas, Command Staff, and General Staff within ICS. As non-governmental organizations are called to assist in increasingly larger and more complex disasters, my mastery of the above learning objectives for this course has equipped me with the tools I need as a Disaster Program Specialist Volunteer Partner to work seamlessly alongside any governmental organization that may request the services of the American Red Cross. I was able to put my knowledge of the Incident Command System into use when, on February of 2021, an unprecedented winter storm blanketed most of the United States in snow and ice and dropped temperatures well below freezing for over ten days. In areas of the South and Midwest, where infrastructures and dwellings were not equipped to handle the extreme winter weather, residents lost power and natural gas, lost water due to burst water lines, and even froze to death in their own homes. On February 9th, a Disaster Response Operation was initiated by the Southwest and Rocky Mountain Division of the American Red Cross, covering Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas, in order to address the mass care needs of those communities adversely affected. I was asked to serve as District 2 Deputy Director overseeing efforts in Arkansas and Oklahoma, under the Operations Section Chief within an Incident Command Structure. Much of my efforts were concentrated on possible sheltering in Arkansas and on water outages which occurred across Sebastian County, Scott County, Logan County, and Franklin County, while my Director focused on these same needs in her home state of Oklahoma. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges in emergency management is the difficulties which arise when working in partnership with multiple agencies, organizations, and jurisdictions. Through this experience I have gained a new appreciation of the need for clear and timely communication, for having well-establish relationships put into place before the disaster strikes, for the differences one may encounter in procedure across jurisdictions, even with the existence of an Incident Command System and within the same organization, and for the impacts which can result from dedicated and effective coordination of service delivery. Thanks to coordination between myself, local Red Cross chapter leadership, local retail partners, and the local emergency management coordinators and their volunteers, we were able to ensure access to clean drinking water for over 800 residents across four counties, position four trailers across the state with enough supplies to shelter over 300 residents, and provide nearly 200 blankets to partner organizations. Vertical Divider
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FEMA CoursesIS 100.c: Intro to Incident Command Systems
IS 200.c: Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response ICS 300: Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents ICS 400: Advanced ICS Command and General Staff-Complex Incidents IS 3: Radiological Emergency Management IS 5a: Introduction to Hazardous Materials IS 700.b: Introduction to NIMS IS 800.d: National Response Framework IS 120.c: Introduction to Exercises IS 230.d: Fundamentals of EM IS 235.c: Emergency Planning IS 241.b: Decision Making and Problem Solving IS 242.b: Effective Communications IS 244.b: Developing and Managing Volunteers Red Cross CoursesPMDP: Working Together
Disaster Cycle Services: An Overview Mass Care: An Overview Concept of Operations Basics Disaster Action Team Fundamentals Psychological First Aid Detailed Damage Assessment Mobilize the Community Government Operations Center Liaison Shelter Fundamentals Recovery Services Working During COVID-19 Client Care Program Handling a Crisis Call Disaster Public Affairs Supporting Volunteers and Managing Teams Serving with Cultural Competence Social Basics |
