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Recognizing the 9/11 attacks as a turning point in the history of American emergency management and response philosophies, this chapter examines the evolution to a standardized National Incident Management System (NIMS). This involved the movement from individual jurisdictional and agency autonomy to adoption of a multilayered system where all efforts are intended to support a response beginning and ending at the local level. This chapter discusses the overarching NIMS doctrine and its incumbent on-scene Incident Command System (ICS) for coordinating on-scene operations. The specific focus is the application to the NIMS and the ICS to law enforcement.

The purpose of this paper is to present the use of simulation in both the development and assessment of Fire & Rescue Service incident commanders. Continuous development and assessment is required due to a reduction in incident numbers causing skill fade.

This paper details the development and implementation of the “Introspect model” of assessment by Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service (OFRS) over a five-year time-span, and discusses its key findings in line with current decision-making ideologies and principles.

The “Introspect model” provides a unique assessment and development tool, which adheres to current national guidelines. It is also an accredited component of incident commander development within OFRS. The authors propose that this model becomes “best practice” for other Fire and Rescue Services.

The national use of the “Introspect model” will ensure that all incident commanders benefit from understanding the rationale behind their decisions, striving towards a universal state of unconscious competence within incident command nationally on the fire-ground.

The originality/value of this paper lies in an in-depth analysis of simulation-based software for the development and assessment of incident commanders. This paper is the first to suggest a model of “best practice” regarding the assessment and development of Fire and Rescue Service incident commanders.

Particularly since the 11 September terrorist attacks in the USA, much attention has been given to the development and implementation of incident management systems (IMS). The IMS is a tool for marshalling pre‐identified and pre‐assembled resources to respond to an emergency or disaster. IMS is particularly useful when personnel and resources from many agencies and jurisdictions are required to manage large incidents successfully. While many IMS have been devised over the years, their use remains intermittent. This paper traces the evolution of IMS, reviews how it can be integrated into jurisdictional emergency and disaster management, and specifies the structures that are used in most incident management systems at the municipal level.

The study aims to determine if the application of a systematic command training system (Effective Command) could influence the organisational competency profile, through the identification, training and assessment of key behavioural markers.

The Effective Command framework is aligned to UK National Fire Service role-maps and is routinely used in both development and assessment of Fire Officers worldwide. Data from 1,261 formal assessments were analysed and descriptive statistics performed.

Structured analysis of incident command assessment data should inform subsequent training cycles of individuals, organisations and procedures. Key behavioural markers were identified in Level 1 (L1) and Level 2 (L2) commanders which influence assessment outcomes. Reduced competence scores between L1 and L2 officers were recorded, providing a strong argument for a supported development process for L2 officers.

Six key behavioural markers were identified in L1 commanders, all were associated with information comprehension and evaluation, which ultimately impacted the outcomes of formal assessments. This study provides empirical evidence that frequent incident or scenario exposure, coupled with metacognitive understanding of the decision rationale could reverse these weaknesses and turn them into individual strengths. This in-depth analysis of data generated in individuals who pass or fail these assessments should strengthen organisational learning.

The use of a structured command training framework contributes significantly to operational assurance by providing a robust assessment and training methodology, which ensures that organisations can appoint, train and assess their incident commanders.

Pertinent information sharing across various government agencies, as well as non‐governmental and private organizations, is essential to assess the incident situation, identify the needed resources for emergency response and generate response plans. However, each agency may have incident management systems of its choice with valuable information in its own format, posing difficulty in effective information sharing. Application‐to‐application sharing cross agency boundaries will significantly reduce human efforts and delay in emergency response. Information sharing from disparate systems and organizations, however, requires solving of the interoperability issue. The purpose of this paper is to present the UICDS™‐based resource sharing framework as a step toward addressing the afore‐mentioned challenges.

A prototype middleware system is developed using a standards‐based information sharing infrastructure called UICDS™ (Unified Incident Command and Decision Support™), an initiative led by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology division. This standards‐based middleware, resource management plug‐in utilizes the ontology of organizational structure, workflow activities and resources, and the inference rules to discover and share resource information and interoperability from different incident management applications.

The middleware prototype implementation shows that the UICDS™‐based interoperability between heterogeneous incident management applications is feasible. Specifically, the paper shows that the resource data stored in the Resource Directory Database (RDDB) of the NJ Office of Emergency Management (NJOEM), Hippocrates of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) can be discovered and shared with other incident management systems using the ontology and inference rules.

This study illustrates the possible solutions to the application to application interoperability problem using the DHS initiated interoperability platform called UICDS™.

The resource discovery and emergency response planning can be automated using the incident domain ontology and inference rules to dynamically generate the location‐based incident response workflows.

In the USA, terrorist threats captured government attention following 11 September 2001. Cities remain the most likely setting for terrorist incidents. Many cities, building on a successful federal program begun in 1997, have developed metropolitan medical response systems (MMRS) to address the consequences of terrorist incidents. The basic system design has been tested both through drills and incidents – including the attacks on the World Trade Center – and appears to function well. This paper describes the philosophy and elements of the MMRS model. The model has considerable value as a readily exportable strategy for responding to municipal terrorist incidents.

The health service response to COVID-19 provided a unique opportunity to build our understanding of the leadership styles in use in managing a crisis event. Existing literature emphasises command and control leadership; however, there has been less emphasis on relational approaches and the behaviours necessary to ensure the agility of the response and minimise the risk of relational disturbances. The purpose of this paper is to understand leadership styles in use, as part of a health service response to COVID-19.

This paper draws on data from semi-structured interviews with 27 executives and senior leaders from a tertiary health service in Australia. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Notes and examples were coded according to deductively derived criteria around leadership styles and competencies from the literature, while remaining open to emergent themes.

Health system leaders described examples of both command and control and relational leadership behaviours. This dually provided the discipline (command and control) and agility (relational) required of the crisis response. While some leaders experienced discomfort in enacting these dual behaviours, this discomfort related to discordance with leadership preferences rather than conflict between the styles. Both leadership approaches were considered necessary to effectively manage the health system response.

Crisis management literature has typically focused on defining and measuring the effectiveness of behaviours reflective of a command and control leadership response. Very few studies have considered the relational aspects of crisis management, nor the dual approaches of command and control, and relational leadership.

Traditionally, management of disasters, particularly those emanating from environmental hazards, have been reactive with efforts focussed on technical response issues. Drawing from incident command system (ICS) theory, this paper proposes a conceptual model for managing marine oil spills in South Africa.

A qualitative biased sequential mixed-based research method was applied for this study. The technical processes undertaken in instituting a incident management system (IMS) for marine oil spills through Operation Phakisa Oil and Gas initiative were observed from November 2016 to November 2019. Preliminary findings were subsequently explored quantitatively in 54 semi-structured questionnaires conducted with experts in the marine pollution environment.

Findings presented in this paper demonstrate an integrative coordination continuum with a stringent focus on coherent multi-stakeholders' incident management collaborations. Qualitative findings stipulated limitations to the efficient application of oil spill risk minimisation policies, especially in the provincial and local spheres of government. Quantitative findings established that some local municipalities have mainstreamed and have budgets for inter-organisational planning and preparedness. Regardless, several informants continue to perceive disaster risk management and offshore-related activities as “unfunded mandates”, especially where response operation and sustainable rehabilitation programmes are concerned.

In integrating the organisational theory and the incident command tools, the value of this study dwells in recommending a conceptual model that mainstreams inter- and intra-organisational planning, preparedness and response to the marine oil spill risk. The model is valuable because it focusses beyond the traditional emergency response tool but is fundamental in effecting adherence to reporting lines, performance standards and information integration.

A reprint of a classic article chronicles the simulated incident of a plane crashing into the John Hancock Tower in Boston, Massachusetts. Recounts how the plan was developed and practised by the scenario team. Inclusion by the practice team of the local fire department and paramedics paralleled reality. The exercise demonstrated that the Tower, even with an emergency plan, needed stronger preparation. This was effective because on 11 August 1992, an actual emergency occurred in the facility and the building was prepared as a result of the simulation.

Cyber threats present constantly evolving and unique challenges to national security professionals at all levels of government. Public and private sector entities also face a constant stream of cyberattacks through varied methods by actors with myriad motivations. These threats are not expected to diminish in the near future. As a result, homeland security and national security professionals at all levels of government must understand the unique motivations and capabilities of malicious cyber actors in order to better protect against and respond to cyberattacks. This chapter outlines the most common cyberattacks; explains the motivations behind these attacks; and describes the federal, state, and local efforts to address these threats.