Incident Command Systems: Preparing Properly for a Disaster

Penn Care Incident Command System Management KitAccording to the United States Federal Highway Administration, an Incident Command System (ICS) is a “systematic tool used for the command, control, and coordination of emergency response.” It is a collection of people, policies, procedures, facilities and equipment working together to improve disaster response operations. As stated by FEMA, an Incident Command System should be able to oversee an incident of any kind and of any size. It should allow personnel from a variety of organizations to quickly come together under a common management structure and provide logistical and administrative support to operational staff. It should also be cost effective by working to avoid duplication of efforts.

Utilized by all levels of government, emergency organizations and the private sector alike, an Incident Command System focuses on improving five major functional areas of organization. These are command, operations, planning, logistics and finance/administration of an emergency response situation. Depending on the incident, intelligence/investigation may also be employed.

Penn Care Incident Command System Barricade TapeOverseeing the management of a disaster response situation, a comprehensive Incident Command System requires the right combination of resources to truly be effective, and having the proper equipment is a vital piece of equation. At Penn Care, we offer a wide variety of products designed especially for Incident Command Systems (ICS). More importantly however, our trained sales representatives work directly with customers to make certain that the products they purchase compliment their ICS strategy. We aim to educate our customers on what will be most useful in a mass casualty event and provide them with precisely what is needed.

Click here to view the Incident Command System products available through our online store.

You never know when disaster will strike, but by having a complete Incident Command System in place with the proper equipment and supplies from Penn Care, your organization can be confident that they will be prepared when it does.

If you have participated in an disaster response situation or have worked to set up an Incident Command System, we’d love to hear from you. What were the best practices that you learned from your experience? What equipment did you find most useful? What would you do differently the next time around? Please post a comment on our blog!

Still looking for more help preparing for a disaster? Click here for a solid directory of disaster preparedness links.

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