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So, how do I assess the answer from the NIMS Integration Center?
Well, first, the response does not actually say that you must abandon HEICS,
but then it doesn't say you can keep using it. And if you look at the HICS
- HEICS crosswalk, it really doesn't help. In fact, I find the crosswalk
confusing. Ms. Perry's statement indicates that you must adopt a system
that aligns with the ICS system used by other local agencies, and assuming they
will be using NIMS as their template, you will need to align with this.
Yet, if you take the IS-100 course, the part of the ICS structure that is most
critical in the General Staff (ICS - Logistics - Operations - Operations -
Finance/Administration, and they show ICS organizational charts with positions
that have nothing to do with hospitals, just as the HICS org chart does not
reflect the NIMS org once you look below the General Staff level.
What does this mean? It would be interesting to see if anyone would
deny HRSA funding based on the fact that you are using HEICS instead of HICS -
in fact, I wonder if many persons outside the Integration Center would even be
able to explain why HEICS does not comply. In fact, that will be my next
question to the NIC!
The newest Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) has been released, and it
is quite a project. We take our hats off to the authoring group, as it
must have been quite a daunting task. So, how is this version?
Here's our first look:
The Good:
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Extremely comprehensive
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The Incident Planning Guides and Incident Response
Guides will be a great help
-
New forms - more user friendly
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The web site doesn't indicate that some of the links
are to files while others are to another page
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Inclusion of an "All Hazards Planning Guide"
The Bad:
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Its HUGE - a total of 1,548+ pages
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The internal/external "scenarios" are in PDF making
local modification difficult
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The org chart has expanded to 80 identified position
(up from 49)
While the content has been expanded, and now has many of the planning and
implementation materials the HEICS versions lacked, printing out all 1500+ pages
alone, can take several hours for a single copy. Then, it will take a
while for everyone to actually review (not read) through the material.
When the project was first announced, it was indicated that the organizational
chart would be simpler and have fewer positions - while the chart does show
fewer "squares" it also identifies a large number of possible subordinate
positions. In total, there are now a total of 80 possible positions on the
org chart. While it is unlikely that all 80 will be staffed, even the old
chart was a challenge for most facilities. In addition, making decisions
on which subordinate positions to staff is more complicated then ever (although
the new Incident Response Guides are extremely helpful.)
The system also includes an "All Hazards Planning Guide" - a 7 page document
(checklist) for reviewing emergency plans. While this is a nice tool, it
just adds to the number of documents that facilities must try to comply with
when developing their plans.
The bottom line? The EMSA Committee did an excellent job of rewriting
HEICS to make it NIMS compliant. Unfortunately, it is an 800 pound
version, and will require most facilities to spend a lot of staff time to
implement and integrate it into their current systems.
(Check back in the future for updated comments as we read through the entire
package.)
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