As a final presentation on Incident command system (ICS) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and its probable application in Bangladesh, it describes some points of ICS and BCP.

1. Incident Command System (ICS) and
Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Their
Probable Application in Bangladesh
Prepared by
Arzu Durjoy
Student ID-6122310282
Masters 1st year
Tokushima University
“Crisis Adaptability is the Key to Continuity”
-An unknown Senior Manager of Morgan Stanley

2. History of Incident Command System (ICS)
• Before 1970s every fire department of
USA had its own method of incident
management, often depended on the
style of the chief on duty.
• A serous wild fire in the 1970s at the
southern California revealed many
problems among different governmental
and multiagency cooperation and
communication.
• The wild fires also demonstrated the
need for a unified system of response.

3. History of Incident Command System (ICS)
• During 1970s different wildfire related
organizations started formulating a system.
• As many of the authors were from military
background, they introduced military system with
some modifications, they learned while serving in
the military.
• To address all kind of emergencies, not only
wildfires, California government started a project
called Firefighting Resources of California organized
for Potential Emergencies (or FIRESCOPE) in 1970s,
which is the base of ICS.
• ICS became a national structure for fire, crime scene or
other major incidents.
• ICS was used in the first attack on the World Trade
Centre, New York in 1993.

4. Specific Goals of ICS
• Command: Bring all the required agencies
under single command during the
emergencies.
• Control: Control all the agencies from a single
entity to eradicate repetition of same action.
• Communicate: Create a clear communication
system among the agencies and with
government, mass media and people. Also,
stop flow of too much information.
• Coordinate: Arrange or organize tasks of
different agencies for proper coordination,
which will save time during incidents.
Photo Source- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-
dPBso2xPM&list=LL&index=3&t=4s

5. Structure of ICS
• Incident Commander (IC): Unless specifically
assigned by the incident commander, all the
responsibility of an incident is on the incident
commander upon his/her arrival.
• Command Staff: Responsible for public affairs,
safety and liaison within the ICS. IC may remain
as responsible for these activities, or assign
someone who will directly report to IC.
• General Staff: Consists of the responsibilities of
operation, planning, logistics,
finance/administration etc. These may be
conducted by the IC or separately performed by
a section chief with supporting staffs considering
the complexity of the incident by the IC.

6. Explanation of ICS with an Example
• Let us consider a fire explosion in a factory.
• After the initial report all the organizations related to fire department, police, medical
etc. would rush to the scene.
• As fire department has more experience in fire fighting, rescue and safety measures,
chief of the department would take the post of Incident Commander (IC) as soon as his
arrival. The details of the IC should be properly transmitted to all the staffs and
agencies through wireless or other communication system for several times to
eradicate confusion.
• IC would sit with the chiefs of other agencies and take first step to ensure safety of the
staffs and pedestrians with or without assigning the safety officer.
• As police are responsible for public order and safety, they will be asked by the IC to
make a perimeter for the safety of the personnel working in the incident. Police chief
may work as a safety officer to maintain the safety of the perimeter and proper
management of the safety equipments (vest, helmets, goggles etc.) if appointed by the
IC.
• After securing the perimeter, the IC would direct the fire department staffs to start
extinguishing fire and rescue operation.
• During this time IC would also discuss with the chief of medical team where to set up
the shed for first aid and emergency treatment.
• For the efficient communication among the agencies and with the IC, Liaison officer
may be appointed.
• To stop the spreading of fake news and to inform the general people about the current
real situation through mass media, Public Relation officer may be appointed by the IC.
• All the works not assigned to someone by the IC would be done by the IC himself.

7. Explanation of ICS with an Example
• After extinguishing fire and rescuing all the people from the
factory, the IC position would be transferred from the fire
department chief to the police chief for the next step for
different kinds of investigations, like reason behind the
explosion, was terrorists behind the incident etc.
• Through the wireless or other communication system the
transfer of the power should be repeatedly transmitted
with the details of new IC.
• Most of the resources of the fire department and medical
team may return to their original place, but not all. There
should be some representatives from each of the agency to
cooperate with the police.
• Fire department officials may help the police with their
expertise about the source of the explosion during the
investigation.
• If no terror linkage is found and everything is safe and
secured, then the IC would handover the scene to the
factory authority to allow them to begin their activity again
and declare the end of the emergency situation.
Photo Source- CNN

8. Incidents in Bangladesh
• Bangladesh is a risk prone country. It ranked
5th in the World Risk Index 2012. From 1991 to
2000 about 93 major disasters were recorded
(World Bank 2010)
• Floods, cyclone etc. natural hazards occur in
the country on a regular basis.
• Climate related or green house effect related
dangers pose a great threat to the country.
• Man-made crisis like sudden influx of refugees
from Myanmar is also threat to the country.

9. Problems of Crisis Management in Bangladesh
• Centralized Decision Making: one of the major
characteristics of bureaucracy of the country is
centralized decision making. Disaster
management policy and decisions come from the
top bureaucrats of the related ministries.
• Lack of coordination: Lack coordination within
different government organizations and with non-
government organizations.
• Indiscipline in relief program: No central
monitoring or management of private relief and
volunteer activities. It was visible in recent flood
(June-July 2022) of north-eastern region. Like in
Japan, there should be a central volunteer
management and monitoring system in different
regions.

10. Proposed model of ICS in Bangladesh During a Flood
• There is a District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) in
Bangladesh. Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district is the chairperson.
All the chief of different government agencies, notable NGOs and civil
society leaders are the member.
• AS a highest level government official in the district level, DC will
activate the DDMC after a disaster.
• As District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer (DRRO) is experienced in
managing flood related disaster he/she will take charge as a IC from
DDMC.
• If IC thinks it is necessary , he/she will ask help from military or other
specialized force.
• As during floods it is difficult to commute to different places, IC will
activate same kind of ICS (Upazilla Disaster Management Committee-
UDMC) in Upazilla (Sub-district) level of affected regions, where Upazilla
Relief and Rehabilitation Officer (URRO) will be the IC under the direct
control of IC of DDMC.
• IC of UDMC would create a separate section for the management and
monitoring of volunteers. UNO (highest government officer in Upazilla
level) may be the chief of that section. All the volunteers should first
report to that section and work in coordination of the section for the
volunteers.

11. Proposed model of ICS in Bangladesh During a Flood
(continuing)
• UDMC may prepare their Incident Action Plan (IAP) and
send it to the IC of the DDMC for final approval. The
consent for the IAP of UDMC may take time during the
emergency time. So, UDMC may start working according to
the IAP while getting any approval or disapproval or
revision from the DDMC.
• After collecting all the IAP from affected regions, DDMC
may prepare their IAP for proper combination and
coordination.
• For budget allocation and other official procedure IAP of
DDMC may be submitted to the ministry of disaster
management for final approval. But implementation should
start just after devising the plan. In case of any change
suggested by the ministry, it should be done after receiving
the suggestions.
• In case of big disasters, when different districts are
involved, the related ministry may prepare a national level
IAP in accordance with IAPs collected from different
districts and also coordinating other ministries.
Photo Source- Dhaka Tribune

12. Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
• ICS is related to post-incident activities.
• BCP is related to pre-incident activities.
• Business continuity can be defined as the
capability of an organization to continue its
activities after a disruptive incident.
• Hence the advance planning for the future
event is called Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
• It can be applied in both public and private
sector.

13. A Proposal of BCP for the Government of Bangladesh
• Bangladesh is greatly dependent on India for some food
commodities like, onions, lentils, some vegetables etc.
• For last few years, Bangladeshi kitchen market has been
facing spiraling of onion price for certain period of time
when the government of India bans export of the item to
meet their own demand.
• The sudden increase of the important household item of
the country causes distress to poor and middle income
families.
• Considering the situation, Bangladesh government can sign
a mutual cooperation beforehand with another onion
exporting country like the treaty between the prefectural
government of Niigata of Japan and Government of
Thailand to get supplies of onions in case of disasters or
emergencies.
• Similar kind of agreement can be done for rice when
production in the country gets hampered during early
flooding in the county.
Photo Source- The Financial Express

14. References
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_continuity_planning
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_Command_System
• Brahim Herbane, Dominic Elliott and Ethne´ M. Swartz. ‘Business Continuity Management: time for a strategic role?’
• Nazirul Islam Sarker and Min Wu. ‘Bureaucracy in Bangladesh: A Disaster Management Perspective.’
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-dPBso2xPM&list=LL&index=3&t=4s
• Mostafa Moin Uddin. ‘USE OF INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM IN HEALTH EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR FDMN’S IN
BANGLADESH: A QUALITATIVE STUDY.’
• Conservation Centre for Art and Historic Artifacts. ‘An Introduction to Incident Command System.’
• ‘Fundamentals of Firefighter Skills’, 4th edition.
• Jessica Jensen and William L. Waugh Jr. ‘The United States’ Experience with the Incident Command System:What We Think We
Know and What We Need to Know More About.’
• Hsien-Ho Chang. ‘A literature review and analysis of the incident command system.’
• Silmie Vidiya Fani, Apol Pribadi Subriadi. ‘Business Continuity Plan: Examining of Multi-Usable Framework.’
• Md. Ashique Hasan Ullah. ‘AN ACTION FRAMEWORK OF INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM (ICS) FOR BANGLADESH ARMED FORCES IN
EMERGENCY RESPONSE.’ (A dissertation for the degree of Masters)
• Class lectures of courses ‘Risk Communication’ and ‘Theory of Risk and Crisis Management’, Jointly conducted by Tokushima
University, Kagawa University and Ehime University.