Two initiatives are driving the interest in developing and implementing Incident Command Systems (ICS): National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) implementation activities for hospitals and The Joint Commission (TJC) Emergency Management (EM) Standards.
NIMS specifically dictated that organizations choosing to be NIMS-compliant must implement ICS. TJC provided further leverage by basing most of the EM standards on concepts presented by NIMS. TJC compliance provided further financial incentives for healthcare providers to implement NIMS/ICS concepts within their organizations.
HICS is an important foundation for more than 6,000 hospitals in the United States in their efforts to prepare for and respond to various types of disasters. Organizations are discovering the value and importance of using an electronic incident management system to assist with daily operations, preplanned events, and non-emergency situations.
