Responding Effectively to Complex Incidents (MGT 308)

An Incident Commander’s (IC) mission is to ensure that incidents are managed as effectively and safely as possible. Complex incidents are particularly challenging to manage because they often evolve rapidly, involve significant hazards, and/or require innovative solutions. Complex incidents require a response from multiple jurisdictions/agencies, each of which may have a unique perspective when arriving on-scene. To effectively manage these incidents, the diverse response partners must act collaboratively, and this requires ICs to rapidly bring their differing response priorities, objectives, and strategies into alignment. This course discusses how to overcome the unique challenges that complex incidents present. Topics include the need to rapidly recognize the incident’s magnitude and cooperate with other commanders, strategies for promoting interdisciplinary collaboration before an incident occurs, strategies for deconflicting competing priorities, how and when to establish a unified command, and how and when to transfer command.