The incident command system is a staple in emergency operations.  If you are in emergency services or emergency management, you know ICS because it plays such a role in your operation.  It is the way in which we organize ourselves to manage the complexity and craziness with emergencies and disasters.  

In recent years, there has been some focused research discussing the relative merits and downsides of the system.  In fact, much of our ICS best practices have been based around our intuitive understanding of the system.  But more research is still needed to understand the many nuanced strengths and weaknesses of the system.   

A fellow PhD colleague of mine, Ray Chang at the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center, is seeking to understand how the organizational structure of ICS is built out during a disaster.  He is trying to identify how and why decisions are made to expand and contract the ICS structure.  

If you are available, Ray would like to interview you.  You are a great candidate if you fulfilled a Supervisor or above role in a Type II or Type III (complex emergency with IAPs) emergency/disaster AND others within your department and outside of your department who also served in the same emergency/disaster are also willing to be interviewed.  

The best would be if he could get two people from each of five different organizations that worked together under an ICS structure in the same disaster and were supervisors or above.  

If you would be a great fit or you have a great referral, contact Ray Chang at ray.h.h.chang@gmail.com.

Whether you participate in the research or not, I look forward to your comments!