Incident Management

I spend a lot of time in the outdoors, and as a responsible person I have taken several wilderness first aid classes from which I've learned some important general lessons for life. The basic concept behind wilderness first aid is that you have found yourself in a situation where you have limited resources, someone is hurt, and help from the outside is not going to get to you anytime soon. Maybe it's just me, but that sounds a lot like political life in this day and age. Maybe the proper use of a tourniquet won't solve all our problems (or maybe it would?), but some of the concepts of problem solving I've learned can be directly applied.

One important idea that has served me well in many situations beyond life-or-death emergencies is the realization that a good solution started quickly is much better than the perfect solution applied too late. Perfect is a high bar. It takes a lot of time to come up with perfect, and it's also very hard to get agreement on what perfect is. If perfect is your goal and you hold out for it, you will probably never get there, and in the mean time lots of bad stuff is likely to get worse. If you settle for something that is pretty good and you spend your time putting it into practice and working to improve your plan as you go, you'll probably end up with good results.

There are normally multiple workable solutions. They'll all have their positives and negatives, but there isn't only one way to accomplish what you need. A solution that worked one time in one situation might not be applicable in another situation where the resourses or the environment are different. If you get too caught up in the details and too rigid in your thinking, you will miss out on the bigger picture and be unable to adapt to changes in the world around you. An open mind and a group working together, even if the plan is imperfect, will accomplish far more than endless bickering over inflexible ideas.

The flip side of that is: there are bad ideas. Not every approach is a good one. Some are very clearly wrong. Not everyone and every voice will contribute to finding a good solution and you have to be ready and willing to speak up, to point out specific flaws and limitations, when someone makes a bad suggestion. It's still important to listen. You can't dismiss things because you didn't think of them, or because of the person who did. Ideas need to get weighed on their own merits, experience is often the best evaluator, and common sense plays a vital role. Input and communication are good because the collective intelligence of the group is always greater than any one individual's contribution, but not every idea merits inclusion.

Along those lines, a stressful incident is best handled by a calm and capable incident commander. Decisions are reached quicker and plans are executed more smoothly if one voice is directing the group. If each person is doing their own thing, even if that thing is a good thing, but they aren't working off the same playbook, then chaos results. The incident commander doesn't have to come up with the plan - a good one will take input from everyone and synthesize it into a cohesive plan with simple instructions for each person to follow. They will also be ready to adapt the plan, not only as the situation changes but as new ideas are brought forward. What sounded good to everyone at the start (mandatory prison sentencing) might turn out to be a bad idea. The incident commander's job is to stay above the details, not to get caught up in the nitty-gritty but remain on watch for changes in the big picture and guiding the group accordingly. They can't afford to put their head down and trudge forward - though that is what most folks need to do to keep the group moving.

Sometimes you need to be the worker bee. It's good for everyone to have input into the plan. It's also good to recognize areas where others might be more knowledgeable, where their experience is more useful, and to accept that you will lose some arguments. Even if you know in your heart of heart that your plan would be better, there comes a time when you need to go with the group decision and stop fighting a solution that will work, even if not as well as your own would. Once again, a group accomplished much more working together on a mediocre plan than when each person holds out for their perfect solution.

I've learned these lessons in class, but I've seen them in action in real life. Concussions in remote river canyons, dislocated shoulders far from an ambulance, a broken kayak in the middle of the ocean. Consistently what happens is a moment of disbelief and panic. It takes everyone a moment or two to comprehend what is happening. Normally followed by half the group shouting out instructions and the other half frozen through indecision or lack of purpose. But when one voice speaks clearly, calm and certain, with simple directions and a willingness to listen, people start to fall in line. Those who know better choose to go with the flow as long as it's aimed in the right direction; those with no clue decide to trust someone else with the responsibility. Leadership is what carries the day, and leadership works best when it's reasonable and inclusive, patient yet purposeful, poised and practical. What we could all use is a little more leadership in the world, and a little more accepting of our own limitations and lack of experience. Life is one big incident - manage it well.