An Incident Command System (ICS) is a management system designed to enable effective and efficient responses to emergencies of any scale, large or small, by integrating five functional areas for management of all major incidents:

• Command
• Operations
• Planning
• Logistics
• Finance/administration

The National Precedent

The original Incident Command System was established in the mid-1970s by the US Forest Service and a number of California agencies. It was designed to improve and help coordinate responses to catastrophic wildfires in California. By 1981, ICS used widely in Southern California in response to fire and non-fire incidents, and its success led to its application in a broad variety of emergency situations.

In March 2004, ICS was included as a mandate in the National Incident Management System, which is managed by the Department of Homeland Security. It applies to Federal, State, and Local Governments, and to all first-response agencies such as police and fire departments.

Suffolk's Response

While colleges and universities are not first response organizations, Suffolk University recognizes its role in the community, and the importance of protecting its students, faculty, and staff in the event of an emergency. Planning for the Suffolk Incident Command System began in 2005 and is still ongoing today.

Currently, many members of the Suffolk community have been certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The Incident Command Team, chaired by the Director of Budget and Risk Management has two sub groups.

• The Incident Command Core Team (hereafter ICS Core Team) is comprised of Suffolk Police, Environmental Health and Safety, Deans of Students, Risk Management, Human Resources, Facilities, Government and Community Relations, Public Affairs and Information Technology. The Core Team meets weekly to discuss campus events, incidents and response efforts. Examples of this group's initiatives include adding phones and emergency number signage to all classrooms, developing policies for emergency response, adding emergency communication tools, H1N1 Planning and response initiatives.
• The ICS Large Group is comprised of 60 staff members from various departments across campus. This group and the Core Team have achieved FEMA certifications for ICS 700, 100, 200 and 300. The group meets every other month and conducts tabletop exercises or receives information and training from various emergency response personnel. The Large Group has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Health and the American Red Cross and has hosted emergency responders to guest lecture on lessons learned from past incidents. This group takes this knowledge and builds Suffolk University's emergency response accordingly.

Suffolk University also has a separate College of Arts and Sciences Safety Committee (CAS) comprised of representatives from Environmental, Health & Safety, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, NESAD, Communication/Journalism, and Electrical Engineering that meets monthly.

The ICS Core Team coordinates all emergency procedures described in the Emergency Action Plan (EAP).  ICS Core Team shall provide tactical direction in emergency situations and coordinate or provide all necessary assistance required for the implementation of the EAP.  When necessary, the ICS Core Team will activate the Large Team for response.  The Large Team is broken into the ICS section structure of Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance.