People, structures and the Incident Command System

THE Incident Command System was conceived as a result of a wildfire suppression post activity meeting in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968 by Fire Chiefs and it was fully developed during in the 70s in California following a series of catastrophic wildfires in California where many people died and property damage ran into the millions.

Studies revealed that response problems during said disasters often relates to communication and management problems rather than lack of resources or failure of tactics. Also, the weaknesses in incident management were often due to lack of accountability, unclear chains of command and supervision and poor communication due to conflicting codes and terminology used by responders. During our ICS exercises in Baguio, the use of plain and simple language was advised by our trainor.

A likely scene during such incident or disasters is the presence of onlookers who are likely to swarm over the area thereby posing an added problem to responders. This is where law enforcers such as the police and community or Barangay brigade can be of help by clearing the passageway of ambulances and firefighting trucks. Anyone from the area trained in ICS can be the on-scene-commander and as such, his or her first move is to assess the situation, determine which group to call and secure the area until help arrives. In calling for help, the onscene-commander should report the nature of the incident, the number of victims involved and the approximate count of deaths or injured. In cases of vehicular incidents with multi-casualties, the first responder should check for leading fuel and sparks and call for help right away from a safe position. We have observed many instances where people would pull and scoop the injured from the wreckage without any safety devices or harness to the detriment of the patient’s condition. Prior to the arrival of the paramedics or trained rescuers, the on-scene or incident commander should prevent untrained people from pulling and scooping the pinned victims as this may only aggravate their injuries.

The case of a mass casualty incident (MCI) is usually determined by the first trained responders at the scene of the incident or based on the information provided by callers about the incident. When an MCI is declared by an officer in authority like the chief of a local fire department or the head of a Red Cross unit, a paramedic head at the scene will momentarily be in charge of the incident until a senior officer or chief will take command. In 2002, Dr. Manuel Quirino, then head of the Trauma and Emergency Medical Service of the Baguio General Hospital and I co-produced a 15 minute video on Community Based Mass Casualty Incident outlining the procedures and organizational set up MCI that can be followed in any locality as a coping mechanism in times of disasters.

Following my online post on social media about Baguio’s depleting open spaces that can be used as an evacuation site in times of mass casualty incidents, netizens shared their fears and apprehensions especially that there is a move to use parts of Burnham Park for a multi level parking.

Catherine Miras Agustin who now lives in the US commented saying “the July 16, 1990 earthquake has given us a very big lesson on Disaster Preparedness! Remember when the PMA cadets had to use their bare hands just to help save those people under the rubles? There was so much sigh of relief when personnel from Fairfax, Virginia, USA came with their sophisticated gadgets and help in the rescue operations. This kind of disaster should have taught us a lesson - to plan out measures that should empower us to face challenges and ensure the safety of the citizenry. Policies, rules and regulations have to be enforced with strict adherence. See the state of structures that have been built after the earthquake. We can rightfully say that there is stubborness among residents and building owners for squatting and putting up structures without the necessary building permits as required by law. Further, there was a call to limit the number of storeys of buildings that need to be constructed and provide also a seismological study prior to putting up high rise buildings. The City Council we believe then approved only four storeys. There were exemptions to the rule! Look at our beloved city now. I agree with you noting Burnham Park as an open space where people may converge when such a disaster will occur. Should the building structures be strong enough and had provided helipads, it would help to accommodate air traffic and provision of needed supplies.” Miras further stated that “there is a dire need for us to our efforts to keep our city and its populace safe in any forthcoming disaster. This calls for proper planning prior to implementation. Looking back, some plans had been implemented and we have seen the concerted effort of everyone. Such positive action has brought the city back on its feet...no less that our able City Mayor Mauricio Domogan had presented to the world thru an international conference in Beijing sometime in the 1990s, the efforts made by the Baguio populace, the local government in coordination with other national government agencies, institutions and individuals to attain a livable city.” Miras was a schoolmate back in the days and he has also served the city of Baguio as a special assistant to Mayor Domogan during the later’s term as chief executive,