Availability is NOT a Skill Set

Availability is NOT a Skill Set
Edward Minyard, CRISC, CISM, CBCI, CCM, ITIL

Over the course of time, I have been involved in numerous major incidents and/or disasters. From the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11 through this most recent one, the BP Oil Spill. Those of us who live in this world of “response” know that one thing will always be present when we show up- chaos. And when things wind down, in many cases, political “BS” will rear its ugly head. The art of managing through all that, still remaining effective as a responder, is what it takes to make a difference. And, why it takes a professional emergency manager to do it properly.
The Incident Command System (ICS) has evolved over the course of more than thirty years. As a command structure, it has proven itself, time and again, to be a solid approach to managing crises, large and small. In 2004, the United States Department of Homeland Security, in response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5), directed the adoption of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The combination of NIMS and ICS have given emergency managers a comprehensive set of guidelines and frameworks to work with. Further, mandating their adoption at the local, state, tribal and federal level has ensured that, in the face of a large, complicated incident, we all have a common methodology from which to operate. (HSPD-5 states that: "Beginning in Fiscal Year 2005, Federal departments and agencies shall make adoption of the NIMS a requirement, to the extent permitted by law, for providing Federal preparedness assistance through grants, contracts, or other activities. The Secretary shall develop standards and guidelines for determining whether a State or local entity has adopted the NIMS.")
One of the things to always remember about disasters is, they’re always local first. The true “First Responder” is usually a regular citizen, who happens to be right there, right then. Most of the time, in my experience, people will try to assist others, to the best of their abilities. Thank goodness for that. Then, the professionals show up and the untrained “responders” step back and let them get on with their work. Even then, if that “regular citizen” turns out to be a highly-qualified subject matter expert, they may still be incorporated into the response. Not to run the overall mission, but to do and / or advise on the elements for which they are the most qualified.
In the recent Gulf Oil Spill response, we’ve seen a significantly different approach to incident management. Sure, there have been offices established, calling themselves “Unified Command”, but the reality is, it just ain’t so. What we saw in our Branch and what we’ve heard from others across the multistate response area was, British Petroleum retirees, brought back into service, placed into Incident Command leadership roles. In many cases, these individuals were direct replacements of qualified NIMS / ICS-trained operators. The results were not always pretty. In most of our After Action Reports, the primary challenges described were directly related to a breakdown of the ICS command principals.
So, what’s the answer? I’d suggest that we begin with a more aggressive adoption of NIMS / ICS in the private sector. Organizations such as Home Depot, WalMart, Accenture, Fidelity and others have done so, with great results. Should it not be mandatory for EVERY private sector organization which operates elements of Critical Infrastructure? Certainly, this would be in line with the National Response Framework and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. The result of such an effort could be an improved, more effective response to the next “Big Event”.
As a professional and self-confessed NIMS / ICS bigot, I can’t express enough how frustrating it’s been to watch excellent subject matter experts attempting to lead a major incident response. As a businessman, I recognize that a solid manager can learn to lead almost any initiative. But, learning to fix the engine on a 747, while in flight, is not a good idea. No matter how many great managers you have on the bench, it’s always best to put the best people for the job, in the job. Remember…
Availability is NOT a Skill Set!

Ed Minyard is the CEO of ResponseForce1 Corp. He has been involved in numerous disasters, including 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Gustav and Ike, the H1N1 Outbreak in Mexico City and the Haitian Earthquake, the Japan Tsunamiand the Tornado in Tuscaloosa. From April of 2010 through November, 2010, his company was supporting response efforts in St. Bernard Parish, LA and in Alabama.