Incident Management Systems
The structure of disaster/emergency response required by countries/organizations/institutions and actions to make them effective and efficient.
Incident management systems help guide communication and decision making for the management of all types of major public health emergencies. To ensure coordination during disasters and pandemics involving multiple geographic regions, jurisdictions or agencies, the principle of unified command coordinates the efforts of response agencies and ensures joint decisions on objectives, strategies, plans, priorities, and public communications.
Academic Articles and Books
Implementation of a Patient Safety Incident Management System as Viewed by Doctors, Nurses, and Allied Health Professionals – Health (2009) [paywall]
https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459308101804
- Represents several perspectives and reactions to the implementation of an incident management system at a healthcare organization in Australia.
Implementing the National Incident Management System at schools of nursing in response to COVID-19 – Journal of Professional Nursing (2021)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2020.12.013
- Describes the application of the National Incident Management System to ensure educational practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Developing Public Health Emergency Response Leaders in Incident Management: A Scoping Review of Educational Interventions – Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness (2021) [paywall]
https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2021.164
- Describes a literature review on past analyses of public health leadership during emergency responses. The findings inform ways to best implement incident management systems in a public health emergency.
Guidance and Training Documents
Topic Collection: Incident Management – ASPR TRACIE
https://asprtracie.hhs.gov/technical-resources/14/incident-management/1
- Continuously updated collection of academic articles, guidance documents, and other resources for hospital incident management systems. Includes the following pages: must reads, lessons learned, education and training, guidance, multi-agency coordination, and nursing home incident command systems, among others.
Applying the Incident Management System (IMS) Framework to Critical Incidents & Multi-patient Events – Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (2015)
https://www.hiroc.com/system/files/resource/files/2018-10/HIROC-Incident-Management-System-for-Critical-Incidents-December-2015.pdf
- Risk resource guide providing a comprehensive overview of incident management systems that can be applied to several disaster scenarios.
Hospital Incident Command System – California Emergency Medical Services Authority
https://emsa.ca.gov/disaster-medical-services-division-hospital-incident-command-system-resources/
- Offers several resources on incident command systems.
Emergency Management and Incident Command System – Public Health Emergency (2012)
https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/mscc/handbook/chapter1/Pages/emergencymanagement.aspx
- Provides a thorough overview of both emergency management and incident command structures, including charts and visuals and core concepts.
NIMS Implementation for Healthcare Organizations Guidance – ASPR (2015)
https://www.phe.gov/preparedness/planning/hpp/reports/documents/nims-implementation-guide-jan2015.pdf
- Guidance on how healthcare organizations can implement the National Incident Management System.
Incident Command and National Incident Management System (NIMS) – Northwest Region Healthcare Coalition
http://nwrhcc.org/training/incident-command/
- Collection of resources on incident command structures and the National Incident Management System.
International Incident Management Systems – GoCrisis (2021)
https://gocrisis.com/global-incident-management-systems/
- Article comparing the incident management systems of several countries, with a focus on their similarities and slight differences.
