The Binomial Bookstore

INCIDENT COMMAND:
TALES FROM THE HOT SEAT
by Rhona Flin and Kevin Arbuthnot

INCIDENT COMMAND: TALES FROM THE HOT SEAT presents a unique
examination of the skills of
the on-scene or incident commander who is in charge of an emergency or major
incident. Experienced
commanders from the police and fire services, the armed forces, civil aviation and
the prison service
give personal accounts of their command experiences, discuss their dilemmas and
the pressures they
faced, and reveal the demands of leading under extreme conditions. They share
intimate details of
cases where their command skills were tested, ranging from industrial fires, riots,
hostage taking,
warfare, peacekeeping, to in-flight emergencies. Each case ends with lessons
learnt and tips for the
developing commander. Additional chapters present expert accounts of the art of
incident command,
incident command systems, competencies for command, as well as reviews of the
latest psychological
research into decision making and team work under pressure. The book is an
essential compelling text
that captures the essence of incident command by analyzing command
experiences across a range of
professions.

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CONTENTS

THE NATURE OF COMMAND
Introduction, Kevin Arbuthnot and Rhona Flin
Key issues in incident command, Kevin Arbuthnot
Managing the spike: the command perspective in critical incidents, Pater
C. Sarna
Incident command functions, Alan Brunacini

CASE STUDIES OF COMMAND
Police commander – the Notting Hill riot, Tony Moore
Fire commander, Dennis David
Military commander – Royal Navy, Jeremy Larken
Military commander – Royal Marines, Andrew Keeling
Airline Captain – the view from the flight deck
Mike Lodge; Prison governor, Andrew Coyle

DEVELOPING COMMANDERS AND THEIR TEAMS
Command decision making, Margaret Crichton and Rhona Flin
Command and control teams: principles for training and assessment,
Eduardo Salas, Janis
A. Cannon-Bowers and Jeanne Weaver
Training decision-making by team based simulation, Jonathan Crego and
Claire Harris
Lessons from the hot seat, Rhona Flin and Kevin Arbuthnot

Index

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“This is a remarkably provocative backstage view of what it's like to enact incident
command on the front
lines of crisis. The book has just the right mix of experience, reflection, and
explanation to show that
incident command actually epitomizes organizing and managing across all sectors
of human activity.
This is a marvellous example of how practice and theory ought to be joined, but
seldom are.” - Professor
Karl E. Weick, University of Michigan, USA

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“A very interesting book on a VERY interesting topic” - M2 Best Books

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“INCIDENT COMMAND: TALES FROM THE HOT SEAT is required reading for all
those faced with
decision-making challenges as they further their Fire Service careers. The authors
of this finely
researched work have moved beyond the confines of the Fire Service to
demonstrate that the knowledge
and expertise of the incident commander are the most critical factors in crisis
management. The case
studies looking at the experience of an airline pilot and a prison governor are
specially apposite. As the
authors admit freely, the art of incident command cannot be learned from a
manual…but this book is
certainly a compelling and relevant addition to the armoury of all those who find
themselves in the
proverbial hot seat.” - Brian Robinson, Commissioner for Fire and Emergency
Planning, London Fire
and Emergency Planning Authority

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“This book is required reading for those who aspire to high level incident command.
It dispels effectively
the "magnificent myths" of leadership, but more importantly the authors have
gained unprecedented
access to individuals who have found themselves in the tightest leadership spots.
Their candid accounts
of triumph and disaster are salutary and utterly compelling.” - Tom Wood, Deputy
Chief Constable,
Lothian and Borders Police, UK

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“Commanders take charge in fires, riots, battles, and other high speed, high risk,
complex, uncertain
situations. INCIDENT COMMAND: TALES FROM THE HOT SEAT lets
experienced commanders tell
their first-person accounts and reflect on principles and themes in collaboration
with researchers building
new theories of decision making and leadership. It exemplifies a new development
– real sharing and
partnership between academic researchers and experienced practitioners. The
commanders in this
book are thoughtful, articulate, analytical, and often quite familiar with academic
research. The academic
papers help frame themes, stimulate thinking, and raise questions for further work.
Anyone who actually
struggles to command effectively, or to select and train commanders and leaders,
or to build teams to
deal with fast-paced and unpredictable events, should read this book. Researchers
will find rich
opportunities to build impactful theories of leadership, teams, organizations, and
decision making.
Aspiring leaders in all walks of life can stretch their thinking and reflect on their
own experiences in the
hot seat.” - Professor John S. Carroll, Sloan School of Management,
Massachusetts Insitute of
Technology (MIT), USA

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“…the book lives up to its title, and there are many 'tales from the hot seat'. ... (it)
adds to the field of
incident command and decision making, and indicates how such skills can be
improved.” - Ergonomics
Abstracts

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“…a valuable resource for academicians, researchers, ergonomists, and
operational personnel in the
field.” - Ergonomics in Design

ABOUT THE AUTHOR/EDITOR

KEVIN ARBUTHNOT is Deputy Chief Fire Officer of the West Yorkshire Fire
Service. As Director of
Operations he leads the team which devised and implemented the West Yorkshire
Incident Command
System. Subsequently, invited by the Home Office to join the 'Safe Person
Concept' project, this was
adapted into a command system for the whole UK fire service and published as a
Fire Service Manual at
the beginning of 1999. He is currently developing work in the area of assessment of
competence to
command. He lectures on incident command widely, including to the Brigade
Command Course at the
Fire Service College and is the lead officer on incident command issues for the
Chief and Assistant
Chief Fire Officers Association in the UK.

RHONA FLIN (BSc, PhD Psychology) is Professor of Applied Psychology in the
Department of
Psychology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She is a Chartered
Psychologist, a Fellow of the
British Psychological Association and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
She studied at
Aberdeen University, worked there as a Research Fellow on eyewitness memory
then spent eleven
years lecturing in industrial psychology at Aberdeen Business School.

For the last twelve years she has directed a team of psychologists working with
high reliability industries
(especially energy sector) on research and consultancy projects concerned with
the management of
safety and emergency response. The group are currently working on projects
relating to aviation safety
(funded by EC and CAA), leadership and safety in offshore management (funded
by HSE and the oil
industry), team skills and emergency management (funded by the nuclear
industry), and anaesthetists'
non-clinical skills (funded by SCPMDE). Her recent books include Incident
Command: Tales from the Hot
Seat (edited with Arbuthnot, in press); Sitting in the Hot Seat: Leaders and Teams
for Critical Incident
Management (1996), Managing the Offshore Installation Workforce (edited with
Slaven, 1996) and
Decision Making under Stress (edited with Salas, Strub and Martin, 1997).

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2002, 306 pages. Order #DR769
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Incident Command System (ICS)

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