Special Topics

Other Topics (In EOC) - VOAD, COVID, AFN, others

Incident Within an Incident (IWI)

Disaster response is a dangerous sport...we can and must do whatever is possible to reduce the risk and be ready to respond to one of our own in crisis.  Below are some resources to get you thinking about how to respond should a situation go sideways.  

Mass Casualty Incident Situations (MCI)

Sometimes an incident overwhelms our capability to respond to it.  In a medical situation, we call this an MCI.  It is important to have a sense of "whose on first" so to speak since seconds matter in getting all of the patients triaged, treated, and transported appropriately and quickly.

VIP Visits

Having visitors, particularly the VIP and policy group types are an important part of any disaster.  That said, special considerations are necessary for a "good visit" and if/when an incident goes catastrophic with national interest, having thought through the next steps will be important.  

UAV / UAS - Drones

Drones - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Systems (UAV/UAS) are emerging technology that is disrupting the disaster response.  Whether used for operational tactics or for reconnaissance in the during/after stages of a crisis, they are wonderful resources that should be carefully considered for employment.  That said, as they are emerging into the space, it is well worth your while to invest some time into their capabilities, limitations and deployment.   

HAZMAT

HAZMAT is often involved in most disasters, it's important to understand the do's and don'ts to keep everyone safe.  Consider pulling in Technical Specialists if you have questions or think you might need specific resources.

Active Harmer / Active Threat / Active Shooter

Terrorist and domestic violent extremist (DVE) events as well as the "active harmer" threats are on the rise across the country.  They are also an inherently emotional and complex response by many disciplines...and have a time crunch to add further pressure.  It's important to work through the 5 W's of a response with a thorough training and exercise program to ensure you're ready if one of these becomes a "home game" incident.

Cyber Security

Cyber security is a cross cutting threat/hazard to all disasters these days.  With the ability for a bad actor to strike from far away, our ability as Incident Managers must take into account what our cyber vulnerabilities are, what a response in a degraded tech environment looks like, and how we may be called to support an incident recovery from a cyber situation.

Area Command

Sometimes we "go big" in disasters...bigger than a traditional ICS structure and resources are able to handle.  When that's the case and we need to "resource referree" at a more strategic level, it's important to be able to switch to an Area Command structure in order to most effectively respond when multiple "things" (think jurisdictions, disciplines, incidents, etc) are majorly impacted.