Army Emergency Management Program - Federation of American ...

main break), the incident commander may be the senior public works official.
For covert incidents or incidents with gradual or slow onset and no defined incident scene, including disease
outbreaks, the incident commander may be the installation commander or designated representative.
In incidents regarding biological terrorism or other public health emergencies, the incident commander will seek the
direct guidance and counsel by the supporting installation PHEO.
11–2. Unified Command System
Per NIMS, a unified command may be needed for incidents involving multiple jurisdictions, a single jurisdiction with
multiple agencies sharing responsibility, or multiple jurisdictions with multi-agency involvement. A unified command
allows agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional authorities and responsibilities to work together
effectively without affecting individual agency authority, responsibility, or accountability. Under a unified command, a
single, coordinated unified IAP will direct all activities. The unified commander will supervise a single command staff
organization and assume responsibility for overall management of the incident. The unified commander directs incident
activities, including development and implementation of overall objectives and strategies, and approves ordering and
releasing of resources. Members of the unified command work together to develop a common set of incident objectives
and strategies, share information, maximize the use of available resources, and enhance the efficiency of the individual
response organizations. The Unified Command System provides an integrated span of control for single or multiple
incidents involving the appropriate representatives from Federal, DOD, State, local, and private agencies.
11–3. Multi-agency Coordination System
a. Concept. Per NIMS, MACS is a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications
integrated into a common system with responsibility for coordinating and supporting domestic incident management
activities. MACS is focused on the strategic and operational tasks at the installation level and the support of the
incident commander. The primary MACS functions are to support incident management policies and priorities,
facilitate logistics support and resource tracking, inform resource allocation decisions using incident management
priorities, manage incident related information, and coordinate interagency and intergovernmental issues regarding
incident management policies, priorities, and strategies. MACS provide central locations for operational informationsharing
and resource coordination in support of on-scene efforts as shown in figure 11–2. MACS is used by all levels
of Federal, DOD, State, Tribal, local, and private response partners. MACS is a flexible, scalable, and modular system
which may be activated all or in part, simultaneously or incrementally, depending upon the situation. Direct tactical and
operational responsibility for conducting incident management activities at the tactical level remains with the incident
commander.
Figure 11–2. Incident expansion and Multi-Agency Coordination System roles
DA PAM 525–27 20 September 2012
61