Evacuations whose scope and duration are both limited aren’t as dramatic as when entire cities bail out, but they’re much more common. That's why it makes sense to plan for them.

Part 2: Specific operational considerations

This two-part article will deal with limited-scope evacuations, which occur when a small portion of a community needs to be moved for any number of reasons, including a hazmat spill, bomb threat, flooding, severe weather, a major fire or civil disturbance. Typically the scope of a community or tactical evacuation is measured in hundreds of evacuees (or fewer), not in thousands, and in hours, not days or weeks.

Although much has been written on large-scale mass evacuations, comparatively little has been published about how to plan for and implement these smaller-scale, and much more common, evacuations.

(Photo/Jim Sideras)

Before discussing the methods for safe and effective methods for evacuations, it’s important to first discuss a broader perspective of what the incident commander (IC) or Unified Command (UC) must keep in mind for any type of emergency. With an operation that will require multiple organizations working together, a Unified Command structure will allow the key leaders to work together to better manage the incident.

The IC/UC needs to use a consistent format when making decisions for every incident, determining the incident’s Priorities, Objectives, Strategies, Tactical Direction and Tasks (POSTT). These are then aligned to ensure that the IC/UC’s intent is carried out through each portion of the incident. This article will very briefly describe the concept.

Priorities

The Priorities are the four constant considerations for every incident to guide the most important directions to undertake. They are:

• Life safety
• Incident stabilization
• Property conservation
• Protection of the environment

(Photo/Jim Sideras)

These priorities also help the IC/UC determine which things need to take overall priority to manage the situation. Normally, life safety is the prime concern. However, there are situations in which the importance of incident stabilization may take the highest priority, such as containing a hazmat spill to avoid exposing residents of a high-rise.

Objectives

Once an iincident''s priorities are determined (and there can be more than one), the IC/UC can establish the Objectives to meet those priorities. Objectives are vital to setting the direction of the operation and are necessary for selecting the appropriate strategy and tactical direction.

Good objectives answer the question "What can be accomplished when all resources have been effectively deployed?" When considering the objectives, the IC/UC must ensure that they are attainable, measurable, flexible and broad. The incident objectives are entered on the ICS 202 form in Box 5, General Control Objectives.

Examples of objectives for a major sudden event, such as a tornado or earthquake, aligned with Priorities – Incident Stabilization, include:

• Objective 1: Mitigate, stabilize or isolate all hazards that could cause personal injury within the effected area by 1800 hours.
• Objective 2: Search all damaged structures within the effected area for casualties by 1800 hours.

For an incident involving heavy rains causing rising flood waters, possible objectives, aligned with Priorities – Life Safety, include:

• Objective 1: Safe removal of all occupants who may be trapped in their homes by 1800 hours.
• Objective 2: Provide for the safe and orderly evacuation of residents in the flood zone by 1800 hours.

Strategies

Strategies form the general plan or direction selected to accomplish the objectives. The selected strategies answer the questions "Given the objective, what needs to be done?" The strategies then describe the method(s) used to accomplish that goal. The strategies are entered on the ICS 202 form in Box 5: General Control Objectives, as the strategies complement and further clarify how the objectives will be met.

Continuing the same scenarios from above, examples of strategies for a tornado or earthquake could include:

• Priority: Incident Stabilization
• Objective 1: Mitigate, stabilize or isolate all hazards that could cause personal injury within the effected area by 1800 hours.
  • Strategy 1: Hazmat teams will monitor damaged properties within assigned areas for any hazardous materials leaks or releases
  • Strategy 2: Stabilize all structurally unsound structures that will require entry by emergency personnel.
  • Strategy 3: Deploy fire tape to isolate damaged structures or property that could cause injury to responders or the public.

• Priority: Life Safety
• Objective 2: Search all damaged structures within the effected area for casualties by 1800 hours.
  • Strategy 1: Systematically search all floors in damaged buildings within the assigned areas.

For raising flood waters from heavy rains:

• Priority: Life Safety
• Objective 1: Safe removal of all occupants who may be trapped in their homes by 1800 hours.
  • Strategy 1: Rescue or remove all occupants from homes.
  • Strategy 2: Provide for treatment and transport of injured patients.
  • Strategy 3: Provide to the removal and safety of household pets.

• Objective 2: Provide for the safe and orderly evacuation of residents in the flood zone by 1800.
  • Strategy 1: Communicate to the public regarding evacuation routes and points of interest.
  • Strategy 2: Provide law enforcement for scene security and one-way flow of evacuees.
  • Strategy 3: Provide for housing and sheltering facilities.
  • Strategy 4: Provide transportation of displaced residents and their pets to housing and sheltering facilities.

Tactical Directives

The next step is to establish Tactical Directives, which are where the IC/UC begins to determine what actually needs to be done to meet the specific strategy. Tactics determine the deployment and direction of incident resources to accomplish the strategy, which are guided by the objectives.

Normally, tactical directives are established to be conducted within an operational period. This means that tactical directives should be stated in terms of what can be realistically accomplished within that operational period. Although normally this is not an issue, with larger and longer-duration incidents, it will need to be considered.

Tactical Directives are where the creation of branches, or more likely groups and divisions, takes place. The Branch Directors and Group/Division Supervisors can then begin to undertake the individual tasks within their areas of responsibility.

Examples of Tactical Directives for the flooding scenario:

• Priority: Life Safety
• Objective 2: Provide for the safe and orderly evacuation of residents in the flood zone by 1800.
  • Strategy 1: Communicate evacuation routes and points of interest to the public.
    • TD 1: Establish a Public Information Officer to disseminate the information through the news media regarding evacuation and items residents need to consider.
  • Strategy 2: Provide law enforcement for scene security and one-way flow of evacuees.
    • TD 1: Establish a Perimeter Security Division to ensure one-way flow of traffic out of the designated area and security within the area.
    • TD 2: Establish a Traffic Control Group to monitor traffic evacuation routes, modify routes and maintain clear routes for evacuees.

(Photo/Jim Sideras)

This process allows for systematic planning and direction. Additionally, it offers the IC/UC the ability to evaluate and monitor the operational plan. This part of the operation is critical if the operation extends over one or more operational periods, or if a new IC/UC may take over the incident. It provides a roadmap of what the priorities and objectives are, as well as what has been achieved.

Once this process begins, each level of the organization can understand the IC/UC’s priorities, objectives and strategies, which allows for a clear direction and expectation.

Tasks

Finally, Tasks focus on those common skills where crews begin their jobs. This is where the Group or Division Supervisor employs the small unit tasks under their sphere of influence to make things happen. For example:

• TD 1: Establish a Perimeter Security Division to ensure one-way flow of traffic out of the designated area and security within the area.
  • Task 1: Develop and staff security patrols.
  • Task 2: Designate routes out of the area.
  • Task 3: Use barrier tape to establish a perimeter.

Often, an IC/UC can intuitively move through this process quickly. Experience with similar incidents will offer an IC/UC a better sense for establishing the priorities.

However, one common mistake is when the IC/UC starts at the Tasks level before developing the overall Priorities, Strategies, and Tactical Directives to manage the incident. Not progressing in order can create a situation where the IC/UC is not managing the overall direction of the incident, but rather defaulting to the “nuts and bolts” issues before determining the big-picture approach. For example, the IC is instructing crews on how to put up traffic barricades rather than leaving that task to the group/division supervisor.

As mentioned earlier, the IC/UC may need to address all the priorities required for an incident (a hazmat spill with a mass-causality incident). Additionally, there will be various strategies to meet each priority. As these are identified, there can be several tactical directives to meet strategies. The value of this method is that it ensures a hierarchy of decisions and resource allocation.

It also makes certain that the direction of the incident management is clearly focused and takes into account the entire incident. This prevents the IC/UC getting bogged down in minor details of the incident that should be handled at a lower level.

This is a valuable method when involved with incidents that may have various priorities and when resources are in critical supply. When the IC/UC identifies the incident priorities and develops strategies, he or she is ensuring that the direction of the incident is clearly established. This also provides subordinates with explicit direction of their tasks, which will lead to the successful resolution of the incident.

All ICS forms can be downloaded for free in both MS Word and PDF formats.

Part 2 will run next week, in the 2/5/09 issue of Homeland1 News.