title: Regional interoperability: making systems connect in complex disasters.
abstract: Effective use of the Incident Command System (ICS) is the key to regional interoperability. Many different organizations with different command structures and missions respond to a disaster. The ICS allows different kinds of agencies (fire, police, and medical) to work together effectively in response to a disaster. Functional requirements, not titles, determine the organizational hierarchy of the ICS structure. The ICS is a modular/adaptable system for all disasters regardless of etiology and for all organizations regardless of size.
authors: Department of Surgery, International Trauma and Disaster Institute, Massachusetts, General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114-2335, USA. sbriggs@partners.org
authors: Susan Miller
authors: SM
authors: Briggs
mesh_terms: D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D012041:Regional Medical Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018511:Systems Integration