Incident Command System (ICS) Training for Field-Level Supervisors and Staff (2016)

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141 ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety When a third person arrives on the scene, the Incident Commander gives him the Planning/Intelligence Section Chief card. He hangs up the Supervisor's Folder, completes the initial forms in concert with the Incident Commander, and obtains the personnel roll call information from the Safety Officer to create initial check‐in. He then obtains the names, contact information – radio or phone currently in their possession‐ and current work location and assignment within ICS from the personnel present. As additional people arrive they will check‐in with the Planning/Intelligence Section Chief, and be given a specific assignment and a specific supervisor. The transportation workers will maintain these positions until the task is completed. When the initial assignment is complete they will check out with the Planning/Intelligence Section Chief. If the emergency has not been completely mitigated, the P/I Chief will give the worker a new assignment and a new supervisor. If the worker has completed his shift, he will sign out with the Planning/Intelligence Section Chief and provide his destination, whether back to the yard or home. Through the P/I Chief’s management of the check‐in/ check‐out process the Incident Commander maintains control over the locations and safety of all personnel in the Incident Command System.

142 ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety When a fourth person arrives on the scene, the Incident Commander gives him the Logistics Section Chief card. That person’s role is to inventory all supplies and equipment that are currently available at the scene. These are items that have been brought by the workers in their vehicles, or items that had been delivered to the scene earlier for routine work. The Logistics Chief’s initial focus for the inventory is quantities of items needed to support the safe operation of incident personnel: water, medical supplies, clothing, blankets and food. The next focus is tools, vehicles (availability and serviceability), radios, flashlights, batteries, signage and sanitation. This inventory checks whether the emergency has damaged or destroyed any of the items. The Logistics Chief reports to the Incident Commander with a list of currently available personnel support items. Based on the Incident Commander’s estimate of time for the resolution of the emergency, or 24 hours if the length is unknown, the Logistics Chief and Incident Commander jointly determine a list of items and quantities that need to be ordered expeditiously to support continued safe operations.

143 ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety With the ICS established with four personnel the overall safety of the operation is protected. As additional personnel arrive they can be given Operations assignments to begin responding to the event. The Incident Commander can establish an Operations Section at any time when the combined duties of Incident Command and Operations Section Chief become too large for one person, or when the number of people being supervised exceeds seven, the mandated maximum span of control under ICS. A Finance/Administration Section can be established if needed. The Safety Officer ensures that all workers are wearing the required safety equipment, and all work is being performed safely. The Planning/Intelligence Section Chief knows who is working at the emergency site and exactly where each has been assigned. The Logistics Section Chief knows what resources are available to support the safe operations of the emergency response, and what items have been ordered to augment the resources. Remember that the Incident Commander retains all responsibilities not given to others. While the Planning/Intelligence Chief, Logistics Chief and Safety Officer are doing their jobs, the Incident Commander is sizing up the situation, determining the type and extent of damage, the number of possible injuries and whether the situation is getting better or getting worse. The required work of the Incident Commander, Safety Officer, Planning/Intelligence Section Chief and Logistics Section Chief should be able to be accomplished by the four ICS positions simultaneously, requiring ten minutes or less, yet ensuring a safe work environment.

144 ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety Are there any questions about today’s briefing training on Safety and ICS? Thank you for attending. Have a good day and always operate safely!

145ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications Today we are starting our shift with a brief overview of communications in the Incident Command Sys tem. The safety of our personnel is the # 1 objective of the State Transportation Agency at all times. Safety is also the # 1 Objective of the Incident Command System. The communications functions within ICS help to ensure that all employees working in an ICS environment are safe.

146ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications The State Transportation Agency has a robust communications system for use in day-to-day activities. Many personnel have access to mobile radios in vehicles or to hand held radios. Some staff have cell phones. These devices allow the dispatchers to contact field crews for new assignments and safety updates. It also allows supervisors to stay in contact with crews that are spread out over a large work area.

147ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications In a disaster day to day communication systems may not work due to loss of power or damage to repeaters. Dispatch centers may be overwhelmed with calls, and unable to respond to all of them. People working together in an ICS event still must be able to communicate to ensure the safety of all personnel. The L ogistics Chief is responsible for the establishment of an ICS 205 Incident Radio Communications Plan, which is given to the Planning/Intelligence Section Chief for inclusion in the Incident Action Plan, or IAP. The L ogistics Chief may make the plan himself, or assign it to someone with better qualifications and certifications, such as a dispatcher, if one is at the scene, who is designated as the Communications Unit leader. For an incident where the State Transportation Agency has started the ICS, and there are few workers at the scene, the plan may just be a list of the names and radio call signs or cell phone numbers for the people working at the event. The plan must be tested to see if communications are still working for local communication at the event. Sometimes radios will still work locally using line-of-site communication when repeaters are not functioning.

148ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications In a large scale event, when the State Transportation Agency personnel join an existing ICS, their radio frequencies should be added to the Incident Radio Communications Plan, ICS 205, at check-in. Their individual names and call signs or phone numbers will then be added to the ICS 205A Communications L ist, using either their cells phones and DOT radio call signs, if they are working, or call signs for radios provided by the ICS organization. The DOT unit’s leader should receive a copy of the complete Incident Action Plan from the Planning/Intelligence Section, which will include the updated ICS 205 Incident Radio Communications Plan. The ICS 205A Communications L ist will be posted and distributed by the L ogistics Chief, or by the Communications Unit if it has been established, and serves as a “ phone directory” for the event, allowing personnel to contact other people assigned to the response.

149ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications When State Transportation Agency workers are in remote locations after a disaster they may have to rely on alternate communications methods. For example, during Hurricane Katrina it was discovered that text messages sent by cell phone were successfully received even when voice communication was not possible. Some DOTs have alternate communications technologies that are already deployed with supervisors, such as satellite phones. Other technologies have to be ordered by the L ogistics Chief and brought to the scene of the incident. Portable repeaters and satellite communications technology may be included, as well as portable Wi-Fi systems that enable e-mail and other web-based technologies. Some DOT members may be amateur radio operators and have their own HAM radios with them. Some DOTs sponsor amateur radio clubs as part of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) or Radio Amateurs in Civil Emergency Service (RACES) organizations. Ham radio operators can join a worldwide network to communicate emergency information.

150ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications Phones and radios depend on power to broadcast. Y our work vehicle emergency kit should include a variety of adapters, connectors and batteries to power your communications equipment when the internal batteries are no longer charged. The work vehicle battery is the first option for charging a phone or radio. Proper connectors for the cigarette lighter or USB connection should be in your work vehicle emergency kit to connect the radio or phone to the vehicle’s electrical system. However, the work vehicle battery will become drained if the engine is not running to recharge it. This means that there must be adequate fuel available to keep the vehicle running to charge its battery. Portable batteries are available that will hold a charge for several months. These can then charge a phone or radio several times before failing. Solar chargers are also available for cells phones and some radios. In a large event in austere conditions it is likely that portable generators will be provided to power communications equipment and recharge handheld units.

151ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications Safety is the # 1 Objective in all ICS Incident Action Plans. Communications plans and systems ensure that personnel receive all safety messages while they are in the field. This includes warnings about changing conditions and orders to move. Communications systems enable personnel to have immediate access to assistance with their work, or if they are injured. While day to day communications may still function in an emergency, alternate means of communication are available when those methods fail. The L ogistics Chief plays the key role in developing the communications plan and documenting the phone numbers, frequencies and call signs of all members of the ICS at an event.

152ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Communications Are there any questions about today’s briefing training on Communications and ICS? Thank you for attending. Have a good day and always operate safely!

153ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration Today we are starting our shift with a brief review of the positions State Transportation Agency personnel might hold when collaborating with other professions within the Incident Command System. The safety of our personnel is the # 1 objective of the State Transportation Agency at all times. In many emergencies on the State Highway System, the State Transportation Agency will be just one profession working to save lives, protect property and the environment, and prevent the emergency from growing. Success requires collaboration across professions.

154ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration When there is an emergency – whether a vehicle accident or a hurricane – transportation cannot usually resolve all aspects of the event alone. The # 1 Objective of ICS is the safety of all personnel. The rest of the initial objectives - to save lives, protect property and the environment, and prevent the emergency from growing –will usually require collaboration with other professionals who provide rescue, care and protection to the victims and the community. State Transportation Agency personnel frequently collaborate with other emergency response personnel on the state highway system when responding to vehicle accidents. L aw enforcement personnel direct traffic, fire personnel rescue people trapped in vehicles and emergency medical services personnel provide field level expedient medical care to the injured. DOT personnel provide supporting services like traffic control devices, highway signage for notification of the accident to other drivers, management of hazardous materials spills, like vehicle fuel, and lane closures during emergency operations.

155ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration State Transportation Agency personnel may be part of ICS at several levels. If DOT personnel are the first on the scene, especially in a remote area, they may establish ICS, notify dispatch of the emergency, conduct size up, began to regulate traffic flow to ensure access for other emergency responders, and order additional resources. They may even provide exigent care to injured victims. More often DOT personnel will join an existing ICS in any of several roles, including agency liaison, technical specialist, or as part of Operations or L ogistics. In large or long term events DOT personnel may help to create a Unified Command.

156ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration State Transportation Agency personnel may start ICS if they are the first emergency responders on the scene of an event, especially a vehicle accident in a remote area. The DOT staff will establish ICS, notify Dispatch of the event, appoint a Safety Officer, Planning/Intelligence Section Chief and a L ogistics Section Chief, and begin size up of the event, perhaps even ordering additional resources. Once another emergency response organization arrives the DOT personnel may turn over the Incident Command role to a Fire or L aw Enforcement officer with more qualifications, certifications or experience. The DOT staff may then become part of the ICS, or may be relieved until all life safety issues have been resolved. Some events only involve the failure of the State Transportation Agency property, with no life safety implications, and DOT personnel may fully staff the ICS through the event until its resolution. Sometimes DOT staff will use ICS to manage planned maintenance or a planned road closure for another purpose. Other professions may not be needed, and DOT will manage all ICS roles throughout the event.

157ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration State Transportation Agency personnel may be requested to assist with an existing ICS event. In some cases the Incident Commander will request a DOT agency liaison to provide information on transportation assets and capabilities that might be needed as resources for the resolution of the problem. This could include the use of operators and equipment, or the application of specialized knowledge. Some DOT personnel might be needed as technical specialists. They might be invited to join the Planning/Intelligence Section to provide information on the geology of the area, the construction material in the road, or the design of the road or bridge, including disaster resilient elements list wind and shaking resistance. DOT assets and personnel might be requested to join ICS in the Operations Section, when their capability is needed for rescue, road clearance, tree removal or expedient repairs to the road surface to provide emergency access for other responders. DOT assets and personnel might be requested to join ICS in the L ogistics Section, when personnel support equipment, communications equipment or power and lighting might be needed. In come cases DOT personnel might join the ICS, and then the most qualified and experienced DOT staff member present may assume Incident Command when all life safety issues have been resolved, but the road still needs clearance or repair before being reopened.

158ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration Many emergencies that involve the State Highway System require the cooperation of multiple agencies to manage and resolve the situation. Traffic control will usually be the responsibility of law enforcement, which may have initial Incident Command. If there are trapped or injured people the fire department and emergency medical services personnel may be called to the scene to care for life safety issues. In many jurisdictions the fire service would have Incident Command until all life safety issues were resolved. DOT personnel would normally have a supporting role in traffic management, access and egress control and debris management while the life safety issues were addressed. Utility workers might be needed to mitigate hazards like downed power lines or broken pipelines. If the emergency occurred at an overcrossing of a city street or county road there could be other transportation personnel working at the scene. When multiple professions or multiple jurisdictions have responsibilities for the management of the event a Unified Command may be established. This allows the development of a common operating picture among the professions and jurisdictions, and the creation of a single Incident Action Plan with unified objectives that will guide the work of all the organizations present. Unified Command is collaboration among many emergency responders for the benefit of the victims, the community and the resolution of the emergency.

159ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration The Incident Command System provides a framework that allows emergency responders from multiple agencies to collaborate on resolving a common challenge. It allows for the structured interaction between multiple professions, and provides for each to use the personnel skills and resources at its disposal to assist with the resolution of the emergency. Collaboration at an event is enhanced by holding joint training on ICS and by regular exercises of the ICS that include all the jurisdictions and professions that might be working together in an emergency. The State Transportation Agency must be recognized as a full partner in response and recovery for all emergencies involving the State Highway System. “ A successfully managed multiagency incident will occur only when the participating agencies’ personnel have confidence in each other’s competencies, authorities, responsibilities and limitations as they relate to the incident.”

160ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Collaboration Are there any questions about today’s briefing training on Collaboration with Other Professions in ICS? Thank you for attending. Have a good day and always operate safely!

161 CHAPTER 7: BRIEFING TRAINING TOPICS STUDENT HANDOUTS WITH EVALUATION SHEET

162 Sponsoring Agency Logo NCHRP 20-59 (30) ICS for Field Level Transportation Supervisors and Personnel Sponsored by State Transportation Agency Briefing Training Student Handouts

9/5/2015 ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 163 Safety in ICS • Personnel safety is the #1 objective of all ICS operations ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 2 SAFETY Incident Command System for Field Transportation Personnel ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 1

9/5/2015 ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 164 Incident Commander Safety Officer PIO Liaison Officer Planning/ Intel Chief Logistics Chief Operations Chief Finance/ Admin Chief Safety in ICS ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 4 Incident Commander Safety Officer PIO Liaison Officer Planning/ Intel Chief Logistics Chief Operations Chief Finance/ Admin Chief Safety in ICS ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 3

9/5/2015 ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 165 Safety in ICS ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 6 Incident Commander Saf ety Of f icer PIO L iaison Officer Planning/ Intel Ch ief Logis tics Ch ief Operations Chief Finance/ Admin Chief Safety in ICS ICS for Transportation Field Personnel: Safety 5