Incident management is a broad category of computer software and hardware, emergency shelter, WMD response supplies, and other tools for successful incident management. When planning an incident management purchase, these are the top things to consider:
1. First of all, incident management supplies are most likely to be used during major incidents like natural disasters, acts of terrorism, large fires, multiple victim shootings, and multiple vehicle collisions. Therefore, any supplies need to be compatible with the terminology and concepts of the National Incident Management System.
2. Since incident management supplies are not likely to be used regularly, they need to be easily deployable. For example, emergency shelters for patient decon, patient care, or emergency responder rehab should be packaged for rapid deployment with a minimal number of personnel and tools.
3. Incident management tools should be supported by pre-incident training materials designed by professional educators and instructional designers, not sales and marketing staff. Training programs need to be available in a variety of formats like classroom, online, and self-explanatory written or visual guides.
4. Many incident management products can be supported with just-in-time training that is delivered at the time the equipment is needed. Just-in-time training should be rapid, brief, and focused on getting the user to optimal use of the product in seconds or minutes.
5. Talk to your mutual aid partners and receiving facilities before purchasing incident management supplies. While having the exact supplies is not required, interoperability is a requirement. For example, HazMat decon tents need to connect to the water supplied by mutual aid partners. Hospitals need to be able to receive data from field triage and ePCR software.
6. Any incident management software used for patient triage, patient tracking, and equipment use should integrate with existing ePCR and billing software to minimize double entry of data and maximize cost recovery after the incident.
7. New incident management supplies should be analyzed for consistency with current EMS agency triage, assessment, and treatment protocols. As needed, budget the time and resources for protocol changes to ensure proper use of incident management supplies.
8. Finally, because of the infrequent use, storage space is an important consideration. If you determine that 50 cots for a field treatment area are needed, make sure you have the space to stack and store the cots.
Remember, with any incident management supply purchase, there needs to be an obvious and significant connection with improving EMS professional safety or improving patient assessment, treatment, and or transport during the incident. What incident management supplies do you like and why? What other purchasing suggestions can you add to this list? Leave a comment below or email products@ems1.com with your feedback.
