INITIAL RESPONSE CRITICAL 
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

Our experience shows that these extraordinary circumstances arise only a few times in any supervisor’s career. Given this lack of frequency, it is difficult to expect competence in these highly charged situations unless adequate preparation is provided.

 

Once stabilization of an event has been achieved, the first-line supervisors need strategies that allow them to move ahead of incident acceleration and build a decision-making team to bring about a successful resolution of the event. This activity is based upon the National Incident Management System (NIMS) utilizing the Incident Command System (ICS) and the concept of unified command as a basis for this response at the command post. Taking the appropriate steps to return to normal operations and improve the agency’s response to the next incident are also covered in detail.

 

Another major emphasis of the course is the emotional toll and critical incident stress impacts on first responders and the importance of after-action reviews. It has also been our experience that individuals will act out of their last most significant and emotionally impressionable experience, good or bad, in response to a new situation.

 

In this all-hazards approach, the students are instructed in the Seven Critical Tasks™ that must be accomplished during the initial phase of an incident and then allowed in a simulated environment to practice that decision making.

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SIMULATED EXERCISES​

 

As in all our critical incident management programs, exercises will be conducted on a 96-square foot Model City™ simulator. The uniqueness of this program is that within the training environment we can provide a positive and emotionally charged simulated experience utilizing simulator to manage critical incidents of all types. More than 50% of this course is actual simulated experience in handling critical incidents. As part of your training experience, this elaborate simulation system will be transported and provided for your use at your training site.

Upon completion participants will be able to:

• Define a critical incident & list the five major categories of critical incidents.

• List the three major objectives of the immediate responding supervisor to an emergency scene & demonstrate a command of those objectives during simulated exercises.

• List the Seven Critical Tasks to be accomplished during the crisis phase of a critical incident.

• Describe & demonstrate the type of management style required during the crisis phase of a critical incident.

• Demonstrate the ability to manage various types of critical incidents by applying the critical tasks in simulated exercises.

• Describe the characteristics of a critical incident during the crisis phase & how command & control shift as the incident progresses.

• Be able to locate & identify chemicals & determine proper safety actions by using the DOT Emergency Response Guidebook.

• Be familiar with the signs & symptoms of Critical Incident Stress & understand the importance of debriefing & counseling to alleviate or reduce its impact.

• Describe the characteristics of an incident that require a transition to the scene management phase.

• Outline the mandates of Homeland Security Presidential Directive Five (HSPD-5).

• List & describe the main components of the Incident Command System (ICS).

• Describe & practice in a simulated environment the concept of unified command.

• Define the term interoperability as it relates to communications & describe the initial steps necessary to achieve it in a critical incident.

• Demonstrate the ability to establish a decision-making team utilizing appropriate components of ICS & Unified Command in response to a variety of incidents.

 

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