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	Transitioning to ICS Positions *Frank Lucier, Editor* The rudimentary structure of the Incident Command System (ICS) can be found as far back as the Roman Empire; whose armies had supply units (Logistics) which allowed them to spread across the known world. Military Staffs have always used a form of Incident Command and today militaries through the world use it. ICS was formalized within the United States military in the last century.
In the last couple of decades, civilian emergency managers found that the concept was applicable to their world and soon ICS became the standard across the Country to manage emergency events. ICS works well when used in government. There are usually representatives of city or county departments that can fill the various ICS positions when the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is up and running. When ICS was introduced into the business environment as part of Business Continuity Planning in the last decade, a similar structure allowed for quick assimilation. Businesses functions were usually separated into departments that fit ICS positions. The single concept that is most critical in creating any type of Emergency Plan is simply the following: People that staff the various ICS positions following an emergency, transition from their normal jobs to the ICS Section that is similar to their day-to-day work routine. The people that work in the finance/budget/accounting departments will transition to the Finance/Administration Section of the EOC. Senior Management will be the Incident Managers and the people that run operations on a daily basis will end up in the Operations Section…and on and on.
If the Incident Command System is staffed in this manner it greatly limits the amount of training required to achieve proficiency at the various positions. If emergency management positions are not transitional, then there will have to be constant training and exercising so that the system will function. This is not a viable alternative for the CERT teams. So where does that leave these teams. In order for them to be effective following a disaster they must be autonomous, being able to take action on their own without direction, and they need a structure in which to operate. That structure could be the ICS system, but we are taking people from all walks of life and when a disaster hits we expect them to take on roles that are unfamiliar and definitely not transitional from their daily routines.
ICS is indeed a viable concept for them to manage emergency events, but sometimes too much information can be very confusing. The concepts of ICS are what are important but not to the detail that is found in the military or emergency management. How do we get these concepts to become second nature and not some cumbersome tool that bogs them down in paperwork and indecision every time they try to use it in an exercise or drill? One answer is to institutionalizing ICS within the CERT program from the very start. Introduce the class to the basic principals of the ICS system as a “labor-separation” tool. Management is “in charge”, Operations are the “doers”, Logistics are the “getters”, Planning and Intelligence are the “thinkers”, and Administration are the “recorders”. That’s all the information that they need to start using ICS. The more they use the tool the more they are comfortable with it and the more effective they will be when they have to use it. In the first class give a simple explanation of ICS and conduct a small exercise to start to get people to understand the concept of ICS. Divide the class up into groups and designate an ICS function for each of the groups (Management, Operations, Logistics, Planning/Intelligence and Administration). Give the Management Section a project for the next class, start out with something simple like getting cookies for the following session and work them through the process using ICS. Management sets the priorities…we need cookies for the next class. Planning and Intelligence decides how many and maybe does some research on what kind of cookies people like. Logistics collects some money from the class and purchases the cookies. Operations distributes the cookies. Administration keeps a record of what was collected and what was purchased. Planning and Intelligence keeps records of which cookies were best received. Using ICS in this manner will get people comfortable with the concepts of the system.
	At the end of the second class, while the class is eating the cookies, suggest another project for the following session to the Management Section. Keep the projects simple and easy to complete. By the end of the training they will understand how ICS works as a “labor-separation” tool. Following the training teams can use ICS to plan and conduct meetings and drill, manage the team, produce newsletters, conduct mailings and any other team projects. Everything that they do in the class, or as a team after the training is complete, should use ICS. Community CERT drills and exercises should incorporate ICS in the scenarios so that the teams have an opportunity to practice emergency roles in a simulated disaster. The teams can also practice this on their own by doing tabletop disaster exercises.
The goal is to get people to feel comfortable with the various functions of ICS and the responsibilities of each function so when the disaster hits they can smoothly transition from their normal CERT activities to disaster roles and responsibilities.

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