By way of introduction, I’m Bob Rielage, Chief of Wyoming (Ohio) Fire-EMS, a 78-member ISO Class 3 combination department that directly borders Cincinnati. I’ve been on the FIRE CHIEF Editorial Advisory Board for several years, and I have written articles and lectured on topics such as leadership, officer development and change management.
My fire service career spans 35 years, being promoted from firefighter through assistant chief before becoming the fire marshal for State of Ohio in 1999. Following my tenure as fire marshal, I became the Chief of Wyoming Fire-EMS. I hold a master’s degree in public administration, and I am a graduate of the Kennedy School’s Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. Along the way I obtained the Executive Fire Officer and Chief Fire Officer designations. I am also the immediate past president of the Institution of Fire Engineers, USA Branch.
My wife and I have three grown sons: our oldest is a commander in the U.S. Navy currently serving in the Pacific; our second is an astrophysicist, literally a “rocket scientist,” working on things I can hardly pronounce or understand; and our third is a career firefighter and volunteer fire officer in Indiana. All of them are accomplished writers or presenters in their own fields, and they and their families bring us a great joy. We also enjoy traveling, especially to different parts of the world, and I’ve been able to mix that experience with opportunities to broaden my view of the fire service internationally.
My contributions to FIRE CHIEF’s Mutual Aid blog will explore contemporary fire service issues that may cause you to pause and consider how an issue actually affects you and your department. Some issues may raise more questions than answers, but all of them should be viewed in the context of expanding our thinking beyond the day-to-day operations that sometimes limit our vision.
So here is the first topic:
There has been a growing tendency in the fire service to use the terms ICS and NIMS interchangeably. There may be valid reasons for this to occur. Part of this may have been our rush to be sure our department and our jurisdiction remain DHS-compliant to be eligible to receive additional federal grants. It may also be that NIMS is a more easily recognized term or more universally accepted by some groups outside the fire service — police, public works, administrators and the private sector — as we partner and network with these groups.
But is this interchangeable use of the terminology confusing our fire service personnel? Are there discernable differences between NIMS and ICS, especially as related to fire operations, that we should keep separate? If so, how should each of these systems be taught and used?
Drop me a line and let me know your thoughts.
May 12th, 2007 @ 8:27 am
The two terms are similar but not necessarily interchangeable. ICS is a subset of the command and management portion of NIMS, but ICS is not NIMS in and of itself. Though the implementation of ICS in the field is intended to be simple, the system behind it (NIMS) is necessarily complex to ensure that the system is applicable in a variety of circumstances, yet similarly effective.