The Incident Command System

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Whenever duty calls me, O Lord, whenever flames may rage, give me the strength to save some life, whatever be its age. Help me embrace a little child, before it is too late, or save an older person from, the horror of that fate. Enable me to be alert, and, O Lord, guide my every move for life is so precious, please don’t let us lose I want to fill my calling and to give the best in me to guard my every neighbor and protect their property and if, according to thy will that I must give my life, then with thy protecting hand my Lord I pray thee, protect my children and my wife. Amen (Fireman’s prayer. http://www.usfirehouse.com/prayer.htm)
Emergencies are a part of life; there is no avoiding them. The most a person can do is to have a plan, to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. For some that plan may consist of leaving the premises, for another it may mean trying to solve the issue first, but for trained emergency responders that plan should be the Incident Command System.
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a hierarchal system that enables the emergency personnel to appropriately manage an emergency scene to limit destruction property and loss of life. With the ever changing world comes ever changing emergencies; but how can a person manage a scene when they can’t predict what is going to happen? The ICS is flexible and allows scenarios ranging from large medical incidents to forest fires too be managed with a high degree of success (Badger et al.). Fires rage across the world daily, causing property damage and loss of life worldwide. The ICS is used on a daily basis, and continues to successfully manage any scenario that it encounters. In other countries, such as Australia, the ICS is nonexistent; the government control...

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... I used this information in my paper.
U.S. Department of Education. Lessons Learned From School Crises and Emergencies. 1st ed. Vol. 2. N.p.: n.p., 2007. U.S. Department of Education. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. . This website offered additional information on how the ICS can be applied to a medical scenario. I used this information in my paper.
US Firehouse. "The Fireman's Prayer." The Fireman's Prayer. U.S. Firehouse, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. . This website had the fireman’s prayer. I used this to begin my paper.
Wallace, Mark. "Expanding ICS with a Planning Perspective." Fire Engineering 1 Feb. 2003: n. pag. Web. This magazine article helped provide information on possible ICS strategies. I used this to supplement my knowledge on possible futures.

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