Interoperability in incident command

Galvanised by the increasing complexity in managing incidents of mass violence and mass casualty, the emergency response agencies in Calgary, Canada identified the need to develop research-based policies, establish common strategies/ tactics and conduct more joint training across all hazards. By identifying the challenges with initial command, coordination and control activities at scene, the Calgary first-responder community designed and implemented an integrated training programme to support interoperability between front-line incident commanders and supervisors. The training programme was created to address the differences in each respective agency’s policies, procedures and cultures that can be barriers to integrating into a single incident management structure or unified command. Using features of interoperability like shared situational awareness and joint risk assessment, and applying the concepts into tactics like rescue taskforce, the training is building critical command relationships for the future. This training has further expanded into a programme with joint policy and procedure development, incident debriefings, expanded exercises, and tactic specific training. This paper describes how the members of Calgary’s first-responder community are stepping beyond their silos of excellence and unifying their planning, preparedness and response programme.