Editing Incident Command System (section)

==History==
The ICS concept was formed in 1968 at a meeting of Fire Chiefs in Southern California. The program reflects the management hierarchy of the [[United States Navy|US Navy]], and at first was used mainly to fight [[List of California wildfires|California wildfires]]. During the 1970s ICS was fully developed during massive [[wildfire suppression]] efforts in California ([[FIRESCOPE]]) that followed a series of catastrophic wildfires, starting with the massive [[Laguna fire]] in 1970. Property damage ran into the millions, and many people died or were injured. Studies determined that response problems often related to communication and management deficiencies rather than lack of resources or failure of tactics.<ref>{{Cite web
 | title = Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) Guidelines
 | publisher = State of California, Office of Emergency Services
 | url = http://www.oes.ca.gov/Operational/OESHome.nsf/Content/B49435352108954488256C2A0071E038
 | access-date = 16 July 2009
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090405095708/http://www.oes.ca.gov/Operational/OESHome.nsf/Content/B49435352108954488256C2A0071E038
 | archive-date = 5 April 2009
| url-status = dead
 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
 | title = Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS): Introductory Course of Instruction, Student Reference Manual
 | publisher = County of Santa Clara, California
 | url = http://www.scc-ares-races.org/sems.htm
 | access-date = 16 July 2009
| archive-date = 8 September 2008
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080908035230/http://www.scc-ares-races.org/sems.htm
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>

Weaknesses in incident management were often due to:
* Lack of accountability, including unclear chain of command and supervision.
* Poor communication due to both inefficient uses of available communications systems and conflicting codes and terminology.
* Lack of an orderly, systematic planning process.
* No effective predefined way to integrate inter-agency requirements into the management structure and planning process.
* "Freelancing" by individuals within the [[First responder|first-response]] team without direction from a team leader (IC) and those with specialized skills during an incident and without coordination with other first responders
* Lack of knowledge with common terminology during an incident.

Emergency managers determined that the existing management structures – frequently unique to each agency – did not scale to dealing with massive [[mutual aid (emergency services)|mutual aid]] responses involving dozens of distinct agencies and when these various agencies worked together their specific training and procedures clashed. As a result, a new [[command and control]] [[paradigm]] was collaboratively developed to create a consistent, integrated framework for the management of all incidents from small incidents to large, multi-agency emergencies. 

At the beginning of this work, despite the recognition that there were incident or field level shortfalls in organization and terminology, there was no mention of the need to develop an on the ground incident management system like ICS. Most of the efforts were focused on the multi-agency coordination challenges above the incident or field level. It was not until 1972 when Firefighting Resources of Southern California Organized for Potential Emergencies (FIRESCOPE) was formed that this need was recognized and the concept of ICS was first discussed. Also, ICS was originally called Field Command Operations System.<ref>{{cite web
| url         = http://www.emsics.com/#!history-of-ics/cj8s
| title         = EMSI: A Working History of the Incident Command System
| publisher         = Emergency Management Services International (EMSI)
| access-date         = 13 January 2016
| archive-date         = 10 January 2016
| archive-url         = https://web.archive.org/web/20160110232423/http://www.emsics.com/#!history-of-ics/cj8s
| url-status         = live
}}</ref>

ICS became a national model for command structures at a fire, crime scene or major incident. ICS was used in New York City at the first [[1993 World Trade Center bombing |attack]] on the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in 1993. On 1 March 2004, the [[Department of Homeland Security]], in accordance with the passage of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) calling for a standardized approach to incident management among all federal, state, and local agencies, developed the [[National Incident Management System]] (NIMS) which integrates ICS. Additionally, it was mandated that NIMS (and thus ICS) must be used to manage emergencies to receive federal funding.

The [[Superfund]] Amendment and Re-authorization Act title III mandated that all first responders to a hazardous materials emergency must be properly trained and equipped in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.120(q). This standard represents [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration|OSHA]]'s recognition of ICS.<ref>{{cite web
| url         = https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9765&p_text_version=FALSE
| title         = Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.
| publisher         = Occupational Safety and Health
| access-date         = 25 September 2015
| archive-date         = 26 September 2015
| archive-url         = https://web.archive.org/web/20150926022303/https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9765&p_text_version=FALSE
| url-status         = live
}}</ref>

HSPD-5 and thus the National Incident Management System came about as a direct result of the terrorist attacks on [[September 11 attacks|11 September 2001]], which created numerous All-Hazard, [[Mass casualty incident|Mass Casualty]], multi-agency incidents.<ref>{{cite journal
| last       = Jamieson
| first      = Gil
| date       = May 2005
| volume     = 2005
| issue      = 1
| pages      = 291–294
| doi        = 10.7901/2169-3358-2005-1-291
| title = Nims and the Incident Command System
| journal = International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings
}}</ref>