The incident commander is the person responsible for all aspects of an emergency response; including quickly developing incident objectives, managing all incident operations, application of resources as well as responsibility for all persons involved. The incident commander sets priorities and defines the organization of the incident response teams and the overall incident action plan. The role of incident commander may be assumed by senior or higher qualified officers upon their arrival or as the situation dictates. Even if subordinate positions are not assigned, the incident commander position will always be designated or assumed. The incident commander may, at their own discretion, assign individuals, who may be from the same agency or from assisting agencies, to subordinate or specific positions for the duration of the emergency. In the United States, most agencies use an Incident Commander for the roles and responsibilities as defined under the National Incident Management System as a part of the Incident Command System.[1] The incident command system in a Canadian EMS scenario
Duties in a US fire-fighting scenario
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The incident commander is the decision maker when an incident strikes. They create the incident action plan, which is crucial for controlling incidents quickly once they occur. In this piece, we’ll explain the role and responsibilities of an incident commander and why having an incident action plan is crucial to keeping operations running at all times. When an emergency occurs, you call 911 and wait for first responders to arrive. These individuals are trained to tackle emergencies—all while staying calm and collected. Company incidents, like data breaches or labor strikes, usually aren’t concerning in terms of physical safety, but they also require immediate attention because of the impact they can have on your company’s bottom line. In this piece, we’ll explain the role and responsibilities of an incident commander and why having an incident action plan can be crucial to keeping operations running at all times. What is an incident commander?The incident commander is responsible for all aspects of incident response. Usually a member of the IT or DevOps team, this person defines and organizes the incident action plan and leads the decision-making process when crises arise. The incident commander (also called an incident manager) is the lead point of contact for team members during an emergency business situation. In these high-stress situations, they are in charge of delegating tasks to incident response teams. Incident commanders must be skilled at seeing the big picture if they hope to break down complex incidents into manageable pieces. Without an incident commander, it’s easy for project defects, system errors, and miscommunication to occur. When you’re part of a large or multi-unit team, the incident command post is key to keeping your operations running smoothly. Create an incident management plan templateWhat does an incident commander do?While incidents don’t occur every day, incident commanders may take on a full-time role in bigger organizations because they have many responsibilities to keep them busy. As an incident commander, you'll spend most of your time preparing for incidents, learning from past incidents, and managing an incident once it occurs. Incident commanders must prepare for a range of events that can negatively affect the company. While you can’t predict everything that will happen, you can set up foolproof incident operations to handle a variety of scenarios as they occur in real time. This type of operational preparation includes:
Tip: Project management can help your team establish an incident action plan. As an incident commander, you’ll share this plan with everyone in the company through your online management system. 2. Create an action planOnce an incident occurs, you can put your leadership qualities into action by thinking quickly on your feet. Because every incident is unique, preparation only goes so far. You must first analyze the incident and determine how to address it. Use the incident operations plans you made earlier as a jumping off point, and modify the plans depending on the situation’s specific needs. Deciding what to do during an incident includes:
Tip: The decision process during an incident can be high stress for any incident commander. You may receive recommendations from team members during this stage, but you must take overall responsibility for deciding what to do. You’ll excel in this role if you’re well-versed in gathering information and problem solving. Read: New to strategic planning? Start here.3. Delegate tasksAfter you figure out how to handle a major incident, you’ll quickly need to delegate authority and tasks. It’s essential for team members to know their responsibilities so the incident action plan can function properly. For larger incidents, set up an incident management team to make the response process easier. The team can help you with:
Tip: Being an incident commander isn’t a job you can do by yourself. You’ll need help from other teams to manage incidents effectively and stabilize the company for future operations. You can assign deputy incident commanders to help you delegate and oversee tasks. 4. Oversee and align teamsAfter you delegate tasks, transition yourself into a facilitator role as teams try to control the incident. Help team members as needed and ensure everyone understands what they’re supposed to do. Because everyone is working in a time-sensitive environment, you’ll also assist with any communication issues. A communication plan can help your team understand who should be getting which notifications and when to loop in other teams or departments. As part of your communication plan, clarify which channel team members should use and when, how frequently different details should be communicated, and who is responsible for each of the different channels. Tip: As an incident commander, you’ll be responsible for resource management during the execution phase of the incident action plan. If your team members need additional resources, it’s up to you to get those resources for them. You’ll establish a unified command and help manage the logistics of the operation. 5. Keep teams calm and focusedSome incidents can cause a lot of stress for team members within the company. For example, if the company experiences a temporary loss of data, you must keep everyone calm and focused. Team morale can fluctuate depending on the incident. If team members must work remotely, it’s also critical to promote remote collaboration in addition to incident management. Tip: Keep your team calm and focused in high-stress situations by mixing empathy and urgency. Give team members a moment to gather their thoughts and emotions before you push them into immediate action. Once they compose themselves, you can emphasize the importance of a quick response. 6. Escalate issues and reviewWhen an incident is too complex for your team to handle alone, it’s up to you to escalate the issue to assisting agencies or departments. This may include seeking help from stakeholders or senior management. If escalation isn’t needed to handle the incident, then you can begin a detailed follow-up of the incident instead. The final step of an incident response is the post mortem meeting. THis i a chance for you and your team to assess how well you handled the incident. Make sure to evaluate and review:
Tip: The goal of the post mortem is to learn from things that went well during incident response—as well as the things that went wrong. That way, the next time an incident occurs, you can manage your team members more efficiently and feel more confident about whatever comes your way. 5 areas of the incident command system (ICS)The incident command system (ICS) is a standard organizational structure you can follow if you want to respond to incidents quickly and have the support you need to manage every aspect of an incident. Like a company project, an incident requires planning, logistics, and a clear operational process to control. The difference with an incident is that the stakes are higher and the timeline is shorter.
Other roles that may work with the incident commander in these sections of the ICS include:
As incident commander, you’ll be the point of contact for all departments when an incident occurs and through the entire incident action plan response process. It’s up to you to plan and execute the action plan and ensure it runs smoothly. Improve incident response with project management softwareDetermination and organizational skills can help you manage a team efficiently. Incidents often come with heavy time constraints, but with the right tools, you’ll feel prepared to come up with solutions quickly. Project management software can improve incident control by streamlining communication across your organization and implementing response processes that your team feels comfortable putting into action. Create an incident management plan template |