The Noggin Blog

The case for interoperability, especially the efficient transfer of relevant data between agencies, couldn’t be clearer. For one, any number of after-action reports have cited a lack of interagency cooperation as contributing to mission setbacks, even historic failures. 

From profits to press to badly-need infrastructure projects, major events can bring any number of lasting benefits to organizers and host sites. Conversely, the risks of running a major event are acute and variegated. So too are the penalties for botching it: public opprobrium, reputational damage, possibly even legal challenge and regulatory blowback. For organizers, effective all-hazards planning is the only solution to help mitigate topline risk and keep attendees safe. But with so many variables involved in major-event management, it’s easy to ask, how to get started?

A run-through of what happened

How prepared are organizations to tackle critical issues and major crises? That’s the question we at Noggin and our partner Deloitte have been posing to invited guests in our inaugural series of breakfast seminars, exploring the theme of overconfidence and crisis preparedness.

Last Friday’s (March 15) horrific attacks at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch already rank as the deadliest mass shooting incident in New Zealand history. Fifty people were killed, and scores injured in an act of terror unprecedented in the island nation.   

A few weeks ago, the team at Noggin attended the Australian Airports Association (AAA) National Conference, the pre-eminent aviation conference in the Asia-Pacific region. There, we learned all about the latest innovations in airport technology as well as new developments in best-practice principles.

AIIMS is the Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System. The nationally recognized incident management structure in Australia, AIIMS has wide command, control, and coordination applicability in fire, land management, and other emergency situations, as well as for non-emergency incidents.

If you’re involved in emergency management in the U.S., you’ve probably heard of the Incident Command System (ICS). A key feature of the U.S. National Incident Management System (NIMS), ICS is an operational incident management structure that provides a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response in the U.S.

Been managing volunteers, especially disaster response volunteers, for the last few decades? Then, you’ve probably noticed a shift. There’re fewer long-term volunteers; new volunteers are harder to come by than ever; and your base of existing volunteers is serving historically short stints.

By now, the case for interoperability, especially the efficient transfer of relevant data between agencies – otherwise known as interoperability in information management – is clear. Just take a look at many post-emergency, after-action reports; most cite a lack of interagency cooperation as contributory to mission setbacks, or even failures. Of course, one of the best examples in recent memory: poor interagency cooperation between New York City responders during 11 September.

When it comes to disaster response, full-time staff usually gets heavy reinforcement from volunteers. Indeed, in the event of an emergency, volunteers, especially spontaneous, converging volunteers, are often the first on the field, providing much-needed first responder support, including search and rescue, first aid, damage and need assessment. It’s also not uncommon that volunteers numerically dominate the response effort. In Australia, for instance, rural fire services often average career staff to volunteer ratios that easily exceed 1:130.