Are you prepared when disaster strikes? What would you do when there’s an extended power outage, a large-scale fire or other critical incident that happens at the treatment plant or in the community?
Training in standardized response systems, like the Incident Command System (ICS), is used by agencies across the country to help them prepare to respond efficiently during emergencies. Now the District is joining these agencies by training our staff on the ICS system and working on integrating ICS into the District’s emergency response plans.
In 2024, a cross-section of staff from Operations & Maintenance (O&M), Planning, Engineering, IT and Communications began ICS training to standardize a process for consistency, effectiveness and efficiency during our emergency responses. Dane County Emergency Management (DCEM) led an in-person training for District staff positioned as emergency response leaders and DCEM facilitated a separate training session inviting outside agencies like the City of Madison Engineering, City of Madison Emergency Management and Madison Gas and Electric. Trainings like these allow us to identify how ICS can be applied to the work we do, how to better interact with each other and how to provide better awareness to all involved in responding to an emergency.
What is ICS?
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized approach to command, control and coordinate on-scene incident management in a structure that can be expanded or contracted as the incident demands. It provides a common baseline for effectively organizing personnel, equipment, communications and actions. Understanding ICS can also help an organization more effectively work with outside agencies during a crisis.
“There are many benefits to using ICS,” says District Executive Director Eric Dundee. “During an emergency, we can clearly identify roles and responsibilities through a chain of command, as well as better manage our resources, actions and communication.”
For the District, the overarching goal for ICS training was simple: to enable a more efficient response in any emergency. But we also wanted to identify gaps in our prior emergency response efforts and communications to improve our approach for any future events. And, by meeting with partner agencies, we hoped to strengthen coordinated emergency response when other agencies are involved or leading a response.
“At the end of the day, we’re looking to react faster, stronger and better during a crisis,” says health, safety and security leader Marcus Canty. “Getting trained in a standardized practice like ICS helps prepare us all to approach rapidly changing situations with confidence.”
Training outcomes
Based on attendee feedback, the trainings were successful in providing more context and information to District emergency response leaders. District staff and partner agencies who participated now have a better understanding of each other’s work practices in emergencies and can identify when, where and how the various agencies may need to collaborate in future situations. The trainings also helped the District find opportunities to refine our emergency response practices.
Overall, thanks to these trainings and implementation of ICS practices, the District gained a greater overall knowledge base of what is working well and where to improve. Even though we are in the early stages of implementation, we are already better poised to ensure safety, efficiency and effectiveness during a crisis.
“Incorporating ICS into the District’s emergency response protocol will only help us improve as a team,” says Eric. “It’s a system that’s been in use for a long time and has a proven track record of working well when properly applied.”
By Amy Steger
