Incident Management Team #7 - Essay Example

Incident Management Team The selection of incident management team is important while fighting against fire and safety issues. “An Incident Management Team (IMT) is a team of highly trained, experienced and credentialed people that can come together and deploy with appropriate equipment and personnel” (NWIMT)The fire and safety force may consist of people of different skills and expertise. Moreover the nature of the fire incident reported may also have different characteristics with respect to the nature of the incident, location of the incident, threat to life and property, political sensitivity, organizational complexity, jurisdictional boundaries, values at risk, fire behavior, strategy and tactics, and agency policy.

Nature of the incident and the different types of skill sets of the employees determine the members of an incident management team.The line officer is responsible for analysing the nature of the fire incident and to formulate suitable teams to tackle it. He must decide in which category the incident comes and what are the immediate priorities of the teams formed. The line officer must make the team members aware of the nature of the incident and he must provide a brief about the main objectives and immediate objectives of the team in action at the incident place.

For example, if the fire causes threat to the life of the people, then the team’s immediate objectives must be to save the life of the people. Incident Management starts as the smallest unit and then changes the structure of the unit according to the complexity of the emergency. Team development is an important part in the management of a fire incident. The members of an IMT (Incident Management Team) should work as a team, and learn the knowledge and skills needed to perform effectively in stressful, dynamic conditions.

“Team decision-making is a critical aspect of effective IMTs, and this skill must be developed by the team as a whole in an exercise/activity environment so that it can be applied appropriately during an emergency” (Incident Management Team Development) In an incident management team, there will be command staffs and general staffs. The type of the incident determines the whether to allocate different positions to the staff or not. The incident management teams are designed to tackle fire and safety related problems.

The preliminary aim of the IMT’s is to protect the life and property of the public from the dangers caused by fire like safety issues. As a fire fighter I have to obey the commands from my superiors in saving the life and property of the public. ‘Some of the preliminary responsibilities like a fire fighter like me include; Fire Suppression, Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Investigation, Fire Prevention, Communications, Emergency Planning, etc. Apart from the above responsibilities, I should be able to handle the fire equipments properly.

Moreover, Public Relations, Public Education, Personnel Relations, Physical Fitness, Safety etc are some other responsibilities of a fire fighter like me. (FIREFIGHTER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES) In short, incident management team selection, proper analysis of the nature of the incident and the awareness of the duties and responsibilities by the team members are the necessary conditions for fighting against a fire or safety problem. Works Cited1. “Incident Management Team Development”. 2009.

16 July 2009. 2. NWIMT- Northwest Washington Incident Management team. Welcome to the NWIMT Web site. 16 July 2009. 3. “FIREFIGHTER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES”. 16 July 2009.