Safety Spotlight: Incident Command Vests
In the face of an emergency or similar situation, incident command or incident management is paramount to creating and establishing an on-site management system capable of organizing teams and enacting processes to handle the various factors unique to an emergency. The integration of personnel, equipment, facilities, procedures, and communication lines within a common organizational structure is necessary to gaining control of such a situation.
When it comes to incident management, knowing what roles personnel are performing on scene is important to gaining and maintaining control of a given situation. Being able to quickly and properly identify personnel is key to this aim of controlling and managing emergencies. One way to keep teams organized, create clear lines of communication, and establish efficient processes and procedures necessary to achieve effective incident command is through the use of incident command vests (ICVs). Perfect for creating and identifying specific working groups during an incident, ICVs can help in identifying personnel conducting specific roles during an incident through the use of different colored reflective vests.
Where incident management can be broken out into different functional areas such as logistics, planning, command, operations, investigations, and administration, being able to easily identify personnel in each functional area through designated color-coded vests increases operational efficiency, reduces confusion, improves response times, and establishes an efficient operational tempo.
The incident command vests offered by SafetyGearOnline.com come in 15 different colors, allowing you to provide each of your teams and critical personnel with a color that identifies their role and responsibility during an emergency. For example, operations personnel adorned with a red incident command vest will tell responders, volunteers, and civilians the role they play in incident management, while those personnel wearing a green vest can be easily identified as behind the scenes administrative personnel. In this example, a person will know straight away, just by observing the color of vest, what role a person has during an emergency, saving time and increasing efficiency in specific task-oriented situations critical to scene.
To help gain control and establish an efficient command during an emergency or critical situation, a clear line of communication can be established by knowing, at a glance, what role a person plays by the color of their ICV. Make sure your teams and personnel are easily identified during times of crisis with SafetyGearOnline.com’s well-designed incident command vests, and increase your efficiency and control over emergency situations you are coordinating.