Incident management teams (IMT) make large-scale disaster relief possible. While most of us love getting out and just getting things done, these team members plan, track, and coordinate the disaster response.
The hours can be long and stressful. Incident management teams are often up before everyone else and don’t wrap up until most of the other jobs are finished.
IMT is organized chaos, just like most other jobs in disaster relief.
What will my work environment be like?
IMT assignments are normally run out of a temporary office. On some deployments IMT will have a mobile trailer with an office already set up in it. At other times you may take over a church office, a school classroom, or you may set up in a hallway.
What is the Incident Command System?
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a set of organizational standards used by the government during emergencies. Having a working knowledge of it can help you better coordinate with other emergency services.
These roles are often combined on smaller operations. If you’re not familiar with what these roles do, check out Ready.gov or take the ICS 100 course.
What extra gear should I bring for an IMT assignment?
Your organization should send you a general packing list. As an IMT member you may want to add these:
Recommended gear and creature comforts
- Laptop
- Water bottle
- Mouse and Keyboard
- Headphones (noise canceling)
- Smart watch
- Excel shortcuts
- Pants with lots of pockets
- Insulated tumbler (coffee, yummy)
- Pens
Office supplies
- Pens (someone already stole your first set)
- Markers, highlighters, dry erase markers
- Sticky notes (multiple colors and sizes)
- Notepad
- Printer paper
- Extra battery pack for phone/laptop
- USB cable for printer
- Stapler and staples
- Rubber bands
- Folders
- Clipboards
- Tape
- Portable paper scanner
- Hot spot
Deployment Specific supplies
- Hard copies of all important paperwork
- Digital copy (USB) of all important paperwork
- Local maps
Your organization may supply some of these items. If you have something you cannot be productive without, like your own keyboard or laptop, bring it.
Resources pages from Red Sky Ready
Incident Command Dashboard
All DOT travel maps
Terms and jargon to know
EOC: Emergency Operation Center
MARC: Multi Agency Resource Center
BOO: Base Of Operations
Before you deploy
Know your way around Microsoft Office, especially word and excel. If you’re like me and still have to look up some functions in excel, you can print off a “cheat sheet” before you go. You may not have internet access while you’re there to look them up.
Have a deployment kit. This is a box packed ahead of time with all the supplies you know you’ll need.
Maps
Pick up local maps before you get there!
Maps are one of the most challenging things to acquire while in the area. Rest areas may have local state maps. Walmart and large gas stations still sell physical maps. You can also print some out beforehand.
It’s a good idea to download your route and work location offline in your maps program.
Stay flexible!
You will work in all types of environments and conditions.
Power outages, no means of communication, crowded in a massive room, temporarily set up in a hallway, each disaster you work in will be unique.
The first team
The initial team will need everything required to operate independently. Printers, paper, internet connectivity (Wi-Fi, hotspots/satellite internet), radios, paperwork, and computers will all be necessary.
Make sure you have what you need before you depart.
Food, water, and fuel will be scarce in a large disaster. Bring at least a few days’ supplies in with your teams.
While you’re deployed
Stay organized
You’ll need notes for yourself and also the team coming in after you.
Who did you rent equipment from, who was your contact for fuel, who is coordinating meals? What are the phone numbers for other organizations you are coordinating with?
Try saving phone numbers with a description instead of just the name. For example, my phone has 100s of contacts like “Jack fuel guy NC” or “Katie Red Cross Deputy Director Hurricane Delta”.
Each contact has the name, reason I’m saving it, and the organization or deployment I saved it on. It makes searching through contacts much easier.
If you do this long enough, you’ll have to rename your contacts. Disaster relief quickly becomes a small world!
You can bring business cards to hand out your number quickly.
Why are burner phones used?
“Burner phones” aren’t only for drug dealers. You may get one for your IMT position during a disaster relief deployment. These phones are typically prepaid phones and can be set up with a local number.
Do not give out personal phone numbers to the public. Use your personal phone only for official use. Phone numbers spread rapidly online, it’s important to keep your personal phone for close contacts. Having a public number allows you to give it out without overwhelming your personal phone.
Bonus tips
Get out of the office bubble. Working on an IMT team can be overwhelming. Getting out to see the work being done can help you refocus and remember why you’re doing it.
Interact with the teams you’re managing. They know who you are. They’ll be pleasantly surprised if you remember them.
Don’t fight the system.
There will be a lot of things being done differently than you’d like. Unless it’s something extremely important (like safety or financial accountability), now’s not the time to change the system.
When you leave
There will be things that went well and things that did not. Reflect, adapt, and improve, but don’t leave feeling defeated. Managing a disaster response is rarely easy or goes according to plan.
10 Tips for returning home
Be grateful for your opportunity! Disaster management is a fast-paced high stress environment. Someone thought you have the skills and personality to get the job done and requested you do the job!
You helped make a difference. The hands and feet doing the work are only there because a team of people (including yourself) could feed, shelter, and coordinate their efforts. You don’t have to run a chainsaw or serve a meal to be part of the life-changing work done in disaster relief.
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I’ve noticed when responding with DR teams that my “burner phone” got better service too because they bounce off more cell towers than some of the larger carriers that only run off their own.