Incident Command: Tales from the Hot Seat

Rhona Flin, Kevin Arbuthnot

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351928182
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Aviation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Incident Command: Tales From the Hot Seat presents a unique examination of the skills of the on-scene or incident commander who is in charge of an emergency or major incident. Experienced commanders from the police and fire services, the armed forces, civil aviation and the prison service give personal accounts of their command experiences, discuss their dilemmas and the pressures they faced, and reveal the demands of leading under extreme conditions. They share intimate details of cases where their command skills were tested, ranging from industrial fires, riots, hostage taking, warfare, peacekeeping, to in-flight emergencies. Each case ends with lessons learnt and tips for the developing commander. Additional chapters present expert accounts of the art of incident command, incident command systems, competencies for command, as well as reviews of the latest psychological research into decision making and team work under pressure. The book is an essential compelling text that captures the essence of incident command by analyzing command experiences across a range of professions.

Part I
The Nature of Command

1 Introduction

Kevin Arbuthnot and Rhona Flin*
West Yorkshire Fire Service
*University of Aberdeen

The Purpose of the Book

One of the most critical factors in crisis management is the skill of the incident commander. This book extends the limited literature on this subject by examining personal experiences of incident command from a range of professions and attempting to reconcile these with an academic analysis of the subject. The editors are a practising fire commander and an academic researcher who has a particular interest in the psychology of incident command. From our two different backgrounds, we had both searched with limited success for case material on incident command, which could be used for training and research purposes. In the available accounts there is some recognition that non-technical or 'soft' skills feature in effective command, but the precise role that these play is often shrouded. This results in the practice of incident command having acquired the status of an art as much as a science, with many practitioners content for this to remain the case.

There still appears to be a gap in understanding between those academics who have observed and analysed the performance and characteristics of commanders (e.g. Flin, 1996: in press), and the practitioners who train and appoint commanders, or indeed who exercise command themselves. There was some doubt about whether the careful analyses that had been undertaken in many fields of critical incident decision making, including the military and emergency services (e.g. Flin et al, 1997; Zsambok & Klein, 1997), had yet resulted in the degree of improvement and better understanding that might have been hoped for or expected. It was self evident that this was unsatisfactory, particularly if training and selection processes for aspiring commanders were to become meaningful. We concluded that a single volume bringing together the academic and practical perspectives may start to bridge the gap.

'Tales from the Hot Seat' is intended to assist in advancing the application of current knowledge about the subject of command, and decision-making processes associated with it, a stage further. It presents command and decision making experiences of individuals who have held significant leadership positions in a variety of 'front-line' professions from their own, anecdotal but reflective, perspective. It focuses directly on how the decision-making challenges were dealt with at the human level.

The Focus of the Book

It is accepted that many aspects of the exercise of command can be reduced to the functional, involving systems and methods. The analytical phases of decision making associated with the strategic planning phases of emergency management are in many ways similar to the demands placed upon business leaders and other professionals. While the routine management and planning aspects of incident command are essential functions, they are different in nature to the areas under consideration in this text.

The distinguishing feature of the incident command environment is that of the rapidly developing incident where information is incomplete, stress levels are high, and there is an acceptance that not making a decision is not an option. This situation is characterised by circumstances where an individual or close knit team is called upon to prevent an undesirable event deteriorating further by getting an effective grip of the situation. It is widely believed that this requires certain social and cognitive skills as well as operational techniques, in either a single commander or a command team. We hope that this book will offer some guidance to trainee officers and aspiring commanders who are starting to build an appreciation of their realm of operation and the challenges they will face. In addition, the case studies should assist the researcher who has little first hand knowledge of the reality of command in the services. They provide the context for the observations and measurements taken from field or simulator research, and give some deeper feel for the subject matter. It will hopefully enable the researcher or student of command to stand back from the detail of decision making models and the complexity of organisation charts and procedures, in order to reflect upon the qualitative aspects of command as well.

How the Book is Structured

The book is presented in three main parts, which are described briefly below, followed by a more detailed overview of each contribution. The first part consists of three chapters written by very experienced emergency services commanders who have discussed the nature of command. These are wide ranging examinations of the role of the commander and the command organisation. Consideration is given to the significance of teams, including their training and development, how to build them and keep them together in difficult times, as well as the likelihood that they operate best as a distinct entity in critical situations. We see examples of positive and negative role models and how lessons can be drawn from both. The issue of stress in individuals and teams features widely and the subject is considered in the context of selection and training. Situation and risk assessment is introduced in the context of decision-making psychology. Contributors consider the development of a command perspective, the role of the various command levels, and finally, the critical aspect of implementation, i.e. making things happen by connecting the command process to action on the ground.

In the second part, six personal case studies are presented, written by expert commanders from a variety of disciplines. Their work domains represent very different environments, but their common focus is on the human aspects of the role of operational incident commanders. They all draw upon long careers, during which they have often been called upon to demonstrate command competence, with accounts of specific incidents or periods where they have had to exercise effective command. This is more than merely a description of the role or a catalogue of the decisions taken at a particular incident or series of events. This is a section that will give the reader a feeling for the real-world practical difficulties and pressures of discharging such roles and responsibilities. It is also hoped that it will show why the management of critical incidents, in all their real-world complexity, can be quite different to the way it is portrayed in operational manuals. The references to leadership, decision making, teamwork, stress, communications, procedures, pre-planning are part of the backdrop rather than the main focus of the study. It is intended to offer the reader a clear feel for how experienced practitioners do what they do.

The third part of the book reflects in some detail on the issues raised by the commanders and applies existing scientific knowledge to the development of commanders. These chapters consider the extant research on decision making and how this might be trained, techniques to optimise command team training derived from empirical investigations, and the use of the latest command simulators designed to enhance commanders' cognitive and social skills. In the final chapter, the editors review the lessons learnt from the previous contributions with a view to the selection, training and development for the commanders of the future, as well as the legal, media and political pressures they will be expected to face.

The Nature of Command

This section of the book sets out to define the issues that are recognisable as being relevant to operational incident command in its many guises. Arbuthnot surveys a range of topics starting by considering the language used in discussing command and control and exploring the definitions that are commonly used. Any study of command cannot be conducted without considering the parallel topics of leadership and management, and the question is raised about whether these are distinct areas or more closely interwoven than some academic works might imply. It is well accepted that effective command is linked to decision making; Arbuthnot develops this into a discussion about what the nature of the critical decision really is and argues that it often revolves around some form of risk assessment in complex situations and dynamic timeframes. Sarna draws on his experiences as a senior police commander and offers a carefully considered analysis of situation assessment and 'command perspective', as well as the correct focus of training and exercising. Brunacini writes in his inimitable and incisive way presenting some timeless truths about the exercise of command and gives several pointers about getting to the vital stage of the process: making things happen.

Case Studies of Command

The generic nature of incident command has not been fully explored. From a psychological viewpoint, commanders need to be able to demonstrate very similar kinds of thinking skills and interpersonal skills. Humans respond to demanding situations in broadly similar ways, whatever style of uniform they are wearing. Leaders have been shown to make gross errors of judgement in civilian, military and industrial emergencies (Flin, 1996). But very limited learning is shared across organisations that are required to manage crises. So one of the objectives of this volume was to distil the common elements of the incident commander's role across professions. To that end, we invited six eminent commanders to share their personal experiences of 'sitting in the hot seat'. We asked them not only to describe one or more episodes they had taken command of, but also to reflect on how they felt while this was taking place. We were particularly interested in their leadership style, how they made their decisions and the manner in which they worked with their teams. Their colourful accounts of how they managed some very difficult situations serve to demonstrate their ability to critically examine their own leadership actions - the hallmark of an expert commander. At the end of each chapter, they were each asked to offer some specific advice gleaned from their own experiences at the sharp end.

In the first case study chapter, Moore graphically describes his experience as a Metropolitan Police Commander tasked with the management of an escalating public order problem, namely a riot on the streets of Notting Hill in London. This is followed by another emergency services commander, Davies who provides a lucid account of one memorable night as the senior Fire Commander at one of Britain's largest industrial fires at the Associated Octel plant in Cheshire. In both cases, the commanders highlight the factors that led to a successful conclusion of the incidents and their own subsequent reflection on what contributed to this outcome.

We were more than a little conscious that while there may be a general absence of literature on emergency services or other commanders, the same cannot be said of their military counterparts. However, with the exception of McCann and Pigeau's (2000) enlightening new volume on modern military command (see chapter 14), most military autobiographies by commanders focus more on the technical and political aspects of their command career rather than the psychological dimensions. Moreover they have generally not considered how their acquired wisdom might transfer to other professions. We therefore asked two distinguished military commanders, who had experience of training industrial managers for emergency command roles, to contribute to our book. Larken has crafted a most insightful chapter outlining his experience as a Royal Navy Captain during Britain's conflict with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. Keeling reviews two demanding periods of command during his career with the Royal Marines. He shares striking recollections of command in Northern Ireland and of a subsequent episode in Northern Iraq which clearly highlights the enormous difficulties for modern military commanders in charge of peace-keeping operations. In both chapters the commanders reveal the significant demands of very lengthy operations, when they are on duty for weeks or months, in contrast to the operations lasting for hours or days, which typify public and industrial emergencies.

The two final case studies serve to illustrate that critical incident management is not just the province of the military and emergency services commanders. A surprising number of professionals work in remote or secure locations where they will be required to manage an emergency, even though this is not the main focus of their occupation. Lodge shares his experiences as the commander of a commercial aircraft, laterally as the Captain of a British Airways Boeing 747. He gives a very frank account of the challenges which pilots are trained to deal with as they operate their aircraft across the globe. He describes a domain where commanders must be sufficiently competent to deal with any unexpected situation with the crew and equipment they have onboard, and where there is no opportunity to summon additional resources or to hand over to a more senior commander. Finally Coyle provides a perspective from a commander in an even more private workplace - a maximum security prison. Drawing on his experience as a Prison Governor, he graphically portrays a series of major incidents he managed in the role of on-scene incident commander. We had also hoped to include an account of emergency management from a site manager of a hazardous industrial site, but unfortunately none of the companies approached were willing to provide this.

Developing Commanders and their Teams

In the final section, Crichton and Flin review the latest research into naturalistic decision making and underline the importance of situation assessment skills for command decision making. Having considered the relative merits of different methods of reaching a decision, they suggest how commanders' decision skills may be trained. Incident commanders never work alone and Salas, Cannon-Bowers and Weaver present a state of the art review of their extensive research into high performing teams. As specialists in team training, they offer a number of tried and tested methods for enhancing command team performance. In another training application, Crego and Harris return to the subject of decision making and show how command skills can be effectively developed using the latest evolution of a computer-based command simulator.

Finally, we review the main lessons, which we extracted from all our contributors' chapters and synthesise these against a framework of organisational issues and command skills. We also look to the future and consider the political, media and legal challenges that are beginning to frame the incident commander's task. These issues invariably arise post-incident, where the actions and decisions of the commander are reviewed in the cold light of hindsight. The commander's credentials, in terms of qualifications and experience, are beginning to be routinely challenged, along with a new scrutiny of decision making, team work and leadership skills. Experience shows that our society, as represented by the judicial process, is becoming less tolerant of the failures that can arise in the 'heat of battle'. The incident commander's environment is one in which the enlightened approach of management gurus such as Peters and Austin (1986, p. 180) to 'celebrate failure' is not an option, because in the realm of the military, the emergency services and the high reliability industries, that failure is likely to cost lives and cause suffering. The need for robust, defensible procedures to select, train a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Part I - The Nature of Command
• Part II - Case Studies of Command
• Part III - Developing Commanders and their Teams
• Index