It’s hard to imagine the chaos of a disaster, but we trust our first responders and military personnel with their focus on protecting civilians. Today let’s take an inside look at how they handle these challenging situations!

It is not often that we take a look at the life of an incident commander, but today we’re going to share with you some insights into their standard operating procedures.

Different Parts Of A Common Operating Procedure:

Framing The Problem
Gaining Information Relevant To The Problem
Situational Understanding
Screenology
Avoiding Friction

Learn More About The Basics Of Common Operating Procedures!

In today’s blog, we will talk about something not often discussed: the Common Operating Procedure (COP) for incident commanders. With a 31 military background in operations command and being a FEMA region six Homeland response force commander and former director of operations for Texas, Scott MacLeod has seen it all when leading during crisis events. He shares his expertise on this important topic with us now!

Understanding Common Operating Procedure and its importance

Let’s start with learning about what a “Common Operating Procedure” is. It’s defined as ” A single identical display of relevant information shared by more than one command. A common operational picture facilitates collaborative planning and assists all echelons to achieve situational awareness”. So the first significant part of “Common Operational Procedure” is the information, specifically the “display of relevant information” The importance of relevant information cannot be understated. Without it, you’re left in the dark – unable to make informed decisions or take proper actions that will keep your team safe and productive. The key is knowing what makes information RELEVANT – so let’s explore some factors!

~What about that information do you need?

~Where does it come from?

Remember, this type of question informs our decision about how much data we should collect on a mission before sending people out into harm’s way, so like we said earlier What about that information do you need? Where does it come from? And what is an operations center like where all of those sources are connected together in front of you with a multitude of screens streaming through different channels, breaking down data so we can get at the truth behind the situation. Then finally evaluating if the information is relevant. As the data flows into an operation center, it is up to your staff to determine what data has a bearing on a particular problem. However, filtering through all of this may seem daunting for someone who does not have experience in education or training. Nevertheless, their background and branch of service transform them into human filters with specialized knowledge that allows them to filter out information that does not have relevance to the problem.

Framing The Problem and Situational Understanding

Having the situational understanding to “Frame the Problem” is Crucial. Leaders are often faced with tough decisions that can have lasting implications on their organizations and communities. A good leader is not only capable of making tough judgment calls but also has a keen understanding of which situations demand the most attention from them. This is vitally important because framing the problem is the difference between getting the solution wrong and being on your way to saving lives. My job as a commander, in charge of all these people’s safety, their livelihoods – that responsibility can be overwhelming sometimes. But I know now there are things going on at my level like time constraints or weather conditions which will affect how we do our jobs best, so knowing what questions need answering for me to make decisions about this incident command more quickly!

Avoiding Friction and the Importance of Screenology

We’re talking about avoiding friction in your operation. Friction usually comes from a lack of understanding, which can lead to low morale. For example: when workers are unable to capture, screen, or evaluate information in an effective way, they may become stressed out due to poor decision-making from their superiors. It’s important for the task workers at all levels not only to have knowledge but also be able to work efficiently with each other during times like these! This leads into another component of “Common Operating Procedure For Incident Commanders, Screenology”.This is important because, honestly, I’ve been in many op centers where the screenology was poor, or there was no logic to how screens are set up for everyone to see. The technology wasn’t actually informing the operations process, and it didn’t lead decision-making by incident commanders any better either. So all of these things tie together- they need not only be understood by primary staff but also by those who man ops center as well as incident command team leaders themselves if that’s even possible. If we can get a clear idea of what our goals collectively should be, then maybe disaster situations like Harvey will never have happened again!

Putting It All Together

So just to review, we’ve covered the importance of

~Relevant information so that you’re able to identify the right problem so you can then identify the correct solution.

~Framing that problem so you have situational understanding.

~Using the correct information and correctly framing the problem to reduce friction in your operation

~Organizing your technology and screenology is so your operation center can run smoothly and those commanding and those being commanded are on the same page! Thanks for checking out the basics of Common Operating Procedures For Incident Commanders. We look forward to going into more detail in the future!