EMC069 - Hurry Up and Wait?

The experience of "hurry up and wait" that occurs during assignment to incidents can be very frustrating if one is not mentally prepared for the situation. This bulletin is intended to help you understand why that occurs. The "hurry and wait" syndrome is a 

result of the methods used to gather and deploy vital resources, coupled with the constantly changing situation. From the perspective of the person doing the waiting it can seem fruitless, endless and really irritating. However, from the view of the incident manager, having the resources available and on call is the difference between being able to manage the situation more efficiently and having to respond against impossible odds.

The Incident Command System's staging areas are the major tool for efficient resources management. Here is a line drawing (the best we can do on text oriented digital networks) depicting the PROCESS of assignment that occurs related to the incident:

Staging areas:

 Responder_________Staging__________Road______Assignment  Quarters           Area            Block         l     l                 l                           l     l                 l                           l     l                 l                         Released     l                 l                           l     l_____________or__l___________________________l

Staging areas are marshalling areas for resources. They are located out of the flow of traffic and congestion involved with the incident itself. It is where resources report to obtain their specific assignment and dispatch. It is also where they are logged into the incident and often provided vehicle ID that is unique to that particular incident. Without that ID a communications responder will never get through the road blocks. Once such vehicle ID's are assigned for the particular incident, other forms of ID are often useless and not recognized.