[MRIC] Re: ICS-213 message form
Pat Scolla
wb0egr at comcast.net
Sat Apr 21 07:31:59 EDT 2007
All, right now there is a larger problem than the process becoming
derailed. I tis called loss of vital Federal funding that all of us
rely on if we do not get this right!
Pat, wb0egr
BrettHam at aol.com wrote:
> Dan,
>
> Don't we need to agree on a version of ICS-213 to submit for approval by the
> NIMS Integration Center?
>
> I just don't want this process to get derailed at the last minute when the
> form being voted on has gone through so much review so far, and is almost
> identical to some versions of ICS-213 already approved. Please come prepared with
> suggested changes, if you have any. Thanks.
>
> Brett
>
> In a message dated 4/21/2007 1:02:24 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> ka8ypy at verizon.net writes:
> Brett,
>
> I find the tone of your reply a little discouraging to say the least.
> It comes off as approve this form or else. Well, I have a question, or
> else what? The agenda is for this year is not written in stone
> anywhere, if it was and agreed to before the first meeting, then it was
> done so foolishly.
>
> My OEM Director went to the same 1st Responder Summit this past week,
> that Joe went to, and his question posed to me in an e-mail I just read
> after getting home from work at midnight.
>
> Will the modifications we are making to the ICS-213 for the state of MD
> be accepted and approved by the NIMS Integration Center?
>
> The idea here is to use the same form for all large scale incidents.
> No offense to anyone that doesn't boarder another state, but my
> jurisdiction boarders two of them (I know, DC Is not a state). My EOM
> Director was fine with the proposed changes until he went to the
> summit. He got essentially the same answer there that Pat and his OEM
> Director got from the NIMS Integration Center.
>
> "Almost identical" is not sufficient, if MEMA can not answer yes to the
> question of the modifications being accepted and approved by the NIMS
> Integration Center, then both myself and my Director have serious
> reservations about supporting the modifications and will use the stock
> FEMA ICS-213.
>
> Dan Blasberg
> KA8YPY
> Prince George's County RACES RO
> Prince George's County ARES EC
>
> On Apr 21, 2007, at 12:30 AM, BrettHam at aol.com wrote:
>
>
>> Pat,
>>
>> I had already read the email you sent earlier today before I sent my
>> email
>> to you.
>>
>> In my opinion, the form we have been discussing does not
>> significantly vary
>> from FEMA ICS-213, and is almost identical to NFES ICS-213 and
>> especially
>> NOAA ICS-213.
>>
>> We will vote on this during the MRIC meeting Saturday. If you think
>> the form
>> should be changed, please come prepared to make a motion for whatever
>> changes you think should be made and we will vote on that as well.
>>
>> We practiced with this ICS-213 (or variation thereof) during the
>> February
>> COMMEX; we discussed it at length at the February MRIC meeting; we
>> have had 2
>> more drills to practice using it and working out kinks; and we have
>> discussed
>> it at length for the past 2 months via this email reflector. There is
>> no
>> excuse for anyone not being prepared to vote tomorrow. The
>> alternative is that it
>> will not get adopted until next year, and I said a long time ago,
>> that is
>> not an option.
>>
>> Brett Hammond
>> Chairman, MRIC
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 4/20/2007 11:49:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>> wb0egr at comcast.net writes:
>> Brett,
>>
>> I suggest that you read the e-mail I sent to the group at 1735 hours
>> 20
>> April 2007. This e-mail contains information I received today from
>> DHS/FEMA pertaining to ICS-213.
>>
>> If you remember, at our Feb 24, 2007, meeting, I suggested that we
>> obtain guidance from an official source about the ICS-213 form;
>> however,
>> my suggestion was dismissed.
>>
>> If this means a postponement of the vote on the ICS-213 to a later
>> date,
>> then so be it. We do want this done correctly to be compliant with
>> DHS/FEMA and the Presidential Directive from the United States White
>> House which began the interoperability process which includes the
>> ICS-213 General Message Form.
>>
>> Pat, wb0egr
>>
>> BrettHam at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>> Pat,
>>>
>>> Are you suggesting, now, less than 12 hours before we vote, that
>>> you are
>>>
>> now
>>
>>> saying that the ICS-213 form that we have just spent the past 3
>>> months
>>> reviewing and refining is not acceptable?
>>>
>>> Brett Hammond
>>> Chairman, MRIC
>>>
>>>
>>> In a message dated 4/20/2007 11:01:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>>> wb0egr at comcast.net writes:
>>> All,
>>>
>>> Because we are potentially dealing with a wide variety of Agencies,
>>> including Federal & military, DHS/FEMA guidance must be followed or
>>> else
>>> the jurisdictions that support us face the very real possibility of
>>> losing Federal Funding in the form of Grants, etc., should changes
>>> be
>>> made to the ICS-213 endorsed by FEMA.
>>>
>>> Hence, with all due respect to W3YRS and the ARRL, etc., their
>>> input on
>>> the ICS-213 is not relevant in this matter.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Pat Scolla, wb0egr
>>> Harford County EC & RO
>>>
>>> Fred K3CSX wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> The following is feedback from one of our DRO's that I wanted to
>>>> share
>>>> with the group. It was written just before the most recent
>>>> version was
>>>> distributed by Al W3YRS on 4/17.
>>>>
>>>> 73, Fred.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> ---
>>>>
>>>> It's always an uphill battle getting people to completely fill out
>>>> message forms, and in my experience, a losing battle. But that
>>>> doesn't
>>>> mean that we shouldn't try. A well-designed form will facilitate
>>>> compliance; a poorly-designed form will discourage compliance.
>>>>
>>>> 1. It is hard to get people to record the ICS position of the
>>>> sender/addressee. That is vital in a long-term event, because the
>>>> person
>>>>
>>>> occupying a given position will change over time, and you may have
>>>> people from other agencies rotating into positions so the name is
>>>> not
>>>> easily recognized. You need to have the ICS position or title to
>>>> interpret and respond to the message. Having a separate block for
>>>> that
>>>> information makes it more obvious that the form hasn't been
>>>> completely
>>>> filled out.
>>>>
>>>> 2. Having the reply on the same message form works if the message
>>>> is
>>>> hand-delivered (e.g., within the EOC), where the recipient can
>>>> scribble
>>>> the response on the bottom of the form and send it back. If the
>>>> message
>>>> is to be transmitted via radio, the reply is a completely separate
>>>> transaction, and should be recorded on a separate form. It helps to
>>>> include a field in the message header: "In reference to message
>>>> number
>>>> xx." This helps to sort the messages for post-exercise analysis.
>>>>
>>>> 3. Assuring unique message serial numbers is difficult when
>>>> multiple
>>>> communications channels are flowing. One solution is to use forms
>>>> that
>>>> are pre-serialized. A more general solution is to use a date-time
>>>> stamp.
>>>> Neiter of these approaches work particularly well. See below for a
>>>> third
>>>>
>>>> approach that works marginally better.
>>>>
>>>> 4. If you use a separate form for replies (as recommended above),
>>>> is
>>>> provides more space at the bottom of the form for recording
>>>> tracking
>>>> information. In addition to knowing the date and time the message
>>>> was
>>>> created, it helps to document how the message was routed (via
>>>> courier,
>>>> RACES 2M/440, telephone, etc.), who the message was delivered to
>>>> (addressee, relay station, etc.), and the time of delivery.
>>>>
>>>> 5. Date format of yyyymmdd is more conducive to automated
>>>> sorting---
>>>> useful for post-exercise analysis. However, if they manage to
>>>> write the
>>>> date and time in any legible format, I'd be ecstatic. It needs to
>>>> be
>>>> clear whether you are talking about the time of origination, time
>>>> of
>>>> transmission, or time of delivery. All are important.
>>>>
>>>> 6. I have participated in numerous debates about the wisdom of a
>>>> including a field for message precedence on the form. Everyone
>>>> thinks
>>>> their messsage is urgent, Moreover, since they don't necessarily
>>>> know
>>>> what messages other folks are sending at any given point in time,
>>>> so
>>>> they don't have a basis for deciding the relative importance of
>>>> their
>>>> message relative to the others.
>>>>
>>>> Message precedence is only important when there is a backlog of
>>>> messages
>>>> waiting to be processed. What works better in that situation, I
>>>> think,
>>>> is to leave precedence off the form and assign a communications
>>>> officer
>>>> who is familiar with the operation to look at all pending messages
>>>> and
>>>> queue them for transmission. If the radio operator is experienced
>>>> enough, they can do this job. If the radio operator doesn't have
>>>> the big
>>>>
>>>> picture, this should be a separate assignment.
>>>>
>>>> My philosophy, when there is a backlog, is first in/first out,
>>>> unless
>>>> there is a message of obvious importance that needs to be placed
>>>> at the
>>>> front of the queue. Otherwise, the lowest precedence messages can
>>>> languish for very long periods of time. If the backlog becomes
>>>> severe,
>>>> the communcations officer had best be arranging for an additional
>>>> communications path, rather than wasting time juggling messages.
>>>>
>>>> 7. You don't need the name of the incident on the form. Sure, there
>>>> could be a situation where we are running two incidents
>>>> simultaneously.
>>>> It should be pretty obvious what incident is being referred to,
>>>> and you
>>>> don't want to give people writer's cramp. If it's not obvious, the
>>>> message isn't very well-written.
>>>>
>>>> 8. The subject line is a nice feature, but with hand-written
>>>> messages,
>>>> generally unnecessary. In email, it is possible to sort messages by
>>>> subject, a handy feature to quickly pick out all the messages in a
>>>> thread. Also, with email, you can look down a list of message
>>>> subjects
>>>> and pick out the ones that are most "interesting" (ignoring the
>>>> rest, of
>>>>
>>>> course!). For hand-written messages, having a separate subject line
>>>> contributes to writer's cramp and slows down transmission.
>>>>
>>>> 9. I like the idea of having a check box to indicate when the
>>>> message is
>>>> an exercise message. This helps to remind the radio operator to
>>>> say,
>>>> "This is an exercise message." I vividly recall an exercise where
>>>> someone (fortunately, not one of the hams) transmitted a message
>>>> reporting fatalities without indicating that this was an exercise
>>>> message, generating a half-dozen calls to 911 from people with
>>>> scanners
>>>> wanting to know if they needed to take cover. (Unfortunately, no
>>>> one had
>>>> told the call-takers that there was an exercise going on, so they
>>>> were
>>>> pretty freaked out until a supervisor sorted things out.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Attached is a format meeting most of the criteria discussed above.
>>>> This
>>>> image was from the 1987 edition of the Montgomery County RACES/ARES
>>>> manual. We (RACES) helped MCEM design the form. It had just enough
>>>> information to be able to tell what happened, without being unduly
>>>> burdensome for users. The County went to a commercial printer who
>>>> printed a large quantity of message pads with 2-part carbonless
>>>> copies.
>>>> The originator kept a copy, and the recipient or radio operator
>>>> retained
>>>> the original after disposition.
>>>>
>>>> Note that the radio operator assigned the message number and also
>>>> recorded the path (e.g., 2M, 800 MHz, etc). Messages that were
>>>> hand-
>>>> delivered don't require a message number. The stack of originals
>>>> (for
>>>> messages sent) and copies (for messages received) at a given radio
>>>> position constituted the log of messages handled by that position.
>>>> There
>>>> was no need to create a separate log. At the end of the incident,
>>>> all
>>>> message forms were collected for subsequent analysis. Beause the
>>>> operator initialed the form, if you had a question about the
>>>> disposition
>>>> of a given message, you would know who to ask for clarification.
>>>>
>>>> This form was more successful than most I worked with, because it
>>>> was
>>>> simple and easy, but fairly comprehensive. Transmission was
>>>> facilitated
>>>> because the message structure was standardized. We decided not to
>>>> include the message check field because virtually all of our
>>>> message
>>>> traffic was on full-quieting FM channels.
>>>>
>>>> In real incidents, we didn't use very many message forms, because
>>>> we
>>>> always tried to arrange it so that we could hand the mic to the
>>>> operations person at each end and let them talk directly to each
>>>> other.
>>>> It was always our goal to get out of the message business and be a
>>>> switchboard instead (plugging people together who need to
>>>> communicate).
>>>> The forms were used mostly for taking messages when one of the
>>>> parties
>>>> couldn't be reached.
>>>>
>>>> In the real world, most communications are too complex to reduced
>>>> to two
>>>> or three sentences on a form. There needs to be a discussion to
>>>> explain
>>>> the background and the nuances of whatever issue is being
>>>> addressed, and
>>>>
>>>> ideally, some give and take between the parties.
>>>>
>>>> Fortunately, real disasters evolve over a period of hours or days.
>>>> You're not trying to cram the whole enchilada into a two-hour
>>>> exercise,
>>>> so there is time for the operator to find the person you need to
>>>> talk to
>>>> and bring them to the radio, or better yet, bring the radio to
>>>> them.
>>>>
>>>> If the person isn't available to talk and you need to leave a
>>>> message,
>>>> there is usually an aide, or pehaps someone who sits next to the
>>>> person
>>>> in the EOC, who has some understanding of context. So you don't
>>>> need to
>>>> write the message down verbatim in that situation. You simply say,
>>>> "Please tell Janet blah, blah, blah," and they write down the
>>>> salient
>>>> information.
>>>>
>>>> Formal written traffic is only required in those instances where
>>>> the
>>>> messenger lacks the experience and/or context to correctly relay
>>>> the
>>>> message, and you need to spell it out precisely. That's actually a
>>>> fairly unusual situation in disaster response---but it's exactly
>>>> that
>>>> situation that requires the form we are talking about.
>>>>
>>>> _____________________________________________________________________
>>>> ___
>>>>
>>>> Fred Bader (K3CSX) Post Office Box 2993
>>>> mailto:k3csx at arrl.net Gaithersburg, MD
>>>> 20886-2993
>>>> ARRL Life Member Montgomery County
>>>> (FM-19)
>>>> ______________________________________________________________
>>>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
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