What’s an AHIMT–& How Do I Get One?

Several years ago, a natural gas leak resulted in a massive explosion in a neighborhood outside a major metropolitan area. Three homes were destroyed, 15 had major damage, and 63 others had minor damage or were affected.Three homes were destroyed, 15 had major damage, and 63 others had minor damage or were affected. Naturally, the fire department was the first agency to establish incident command. As the situation unfolded, public works was requested to salt the icy roads, EMS was used to evacuate an affected nursing home, building inspectors were needed for damage assessment, and utility workers blanketed the area. The incident commander (IC), however, was solely focused on mitigating the fire, and was therefore not as effective as they could have been at managing the multitude of agencies and functions required to deal with the incident. This is not an insult to the department, as the officers were just doing what they were taught and trained to do; however, what was desperately needed was an all-hazards incident management team (AHIMT) that was trained for this higher-level, more complex incident.

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy brought significant and extraordinary challenges to the East Coast. It was easily one of the most complex incidents in recent memory, one from which many states are still recovering. More so than during any other national-disaster response and recovery operation, AHIMTs were used during both the response and recovery phases of Hurricane Sandy, demonstrating the effectiveness of these teams. AHIMTs were called upon to manage and support operations in various functions. Some teams supported EOC operations at the local and state levels, while other teams managed logistical staging areas. Teams were predominately used in their traditional on-site incident management role. Through this national deployment, the true value of the AHIMT (aka Type 3 IMT) was showcased. (Note: Some may argue that an AHIMT can refer to a Type 1 or Type 2 IMT, but for the purposes of this article, an AHIMT refers specifically to a Type 3 IMT.)

The emerging, grassroots trend of AHIMTs across the nation for the purpose of local, state and (as demonstrated by Hurricane Sandy) national response has never been so evident or prevalent. AHIMTs have been established across the country to handle needs ranging from command and management to multi-agency coordination, but they have also been utilized in less common roles, such logistical and resource management. In addition, the use of these teams for the hurricane deployment demonstrated that while each team is a conglomerate of myriad resources, those resources are secured from many different jurisdictions, thereby reducing the burden of force reduction from any single jurisdiction. The teams can share resources from across disciplines and can be trained to accept various types of missions, making AHIMTs a smart choice, both fiscally and operationally.

Seeking Definition
Despite the clear benefits afforded by an AHIMT, one concern with their administration and development is a lack of national definition and standard. In fact, national guidance such as the National Incident Management System (NIMS) resource-typing and the Target Capabilities List are not similar, and both are ambiguous. A better definition is found in the U.S. Fire Administration’s guidance, which offers this description for a state or regional Type 3 IMT: “Multi-agency/multi-jurisdiction team for extended incidents, formed and managed at the State, regional or metropolitan level. It is a designated team of trained personnel from different departments, organizations, agencies, and jurisdictions within a state or DHS Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) region, activated to support incident management at incidents that extend beyond one operational period. Type 3 IMTs are deployed as a team of 10—20 trained personnel to manage major and/or complex incidents requiring a significant number of local, regional, and state resources, and incidents that extend into multiple operational periods and require a written Incident Action Plan (IAP), such as a tornado touchdown, earthquake, flood, or multi-day hostage/standoff situation, or at planned mass-gathering events. A Type 3 IMT may also initially manage larger, more complex incidents that are later transitioned to a Type 2 or Type 1 IMT.”

Due to the ambiguity and conflict within the federal guidance, the State of Indiana has adopted its own definition of an AHIMT, within which an AHIMT consists of at least 11 personnel, from multiple agencies and disciplines, for an all-hazards approach. The AHIMT may be activated in the event of large-scale incidents or events that affect an entire state district, or a large portion thereof, and to assist in mitigation and stabilization efforts, and/or to prepare for a proper transition to an IMT that’s capable of the next higher level of operations. AHIMTs consist of all command and general staff positions, as well as a staging area manager, resource unit leader and a communications unit leader.

The roles and responsibilities of an AHIMT vary greatly, and often differ from the larger Type 1 and Type 2 teams. AHIMTs are often established at a local or regional level, and consist of local and state responders, which are required to be a quick-response command and management resource. They can often be on scene within a few hours of activation, while the larger federal teams can sometimes require a day or longer to arrive on scene.

An AHIMT will often be called upon as the first-in IMT during the initial operational periods of an incident. The team will respond when an incident is at the peak of chaos, before the incident begins to stabilize. An AHIMT is expected to establish a command structure at an incident, and bring a sense of organization. It is common for Type 1 and 2 teams to benefit from an organizational structure that has already been established by an AHIMT, prior to the arrival of the larger teams on scene.

This is not to say that AHIMTs are better than the larger teams. Indeed, Type 1 and 2 IMTs have more personnel, are trained to a higher standard, and are more experienced; however, an AHIMT is simply a different resource that must deal with different complexities and challenges at an incident. An AHIMT will need to establish objectives, define operational periods, identify on-scene resources, develop operational organization, establish a resource ordering system, and begin tracking costs–all tasks that Type 1 and 2 teams will continue when they arrive, but for the establishment of which they are not responsible.

Additionally, AHIMTs are faced with, and must overcome, significant misperceptions about their roles and responsibilities. Jurisdictions often think that AHIMTs come to an incident to take over, when in fact, AHIMTs work on behalf of the agency having jurisdiction over the incident; the jurisdiction always remains in charge.

How to Develop an AHIMT
Developing an AHIMT is not an easy endeavor. It requires a lot of work that will often go unnoticed and unpaid, and come from a great deal of volunteer time. Your jurisdiction will need to create standard operating procedures, establish alerting protocols, develop pay and reimbursement policies, recruit members, conduct training and much more. You should follow best practices throughout the development process.  

Your jurisdiction will need to develop or adhere to an established framework. There needs to be a hosting entity that defines the governance of a program, to include: training requirements, qualification or certification requirements, team requirements, etc. A hosting entity will often be an emergency management agency or homeland security agency, which makes sense because of their umbrella coordination function.

Approach team development like a business would. Developing teams and/or jurisdictions should have a strategic plan, clear objectives and a defined force structure or staffing structure. So where do you begin?
1.    Define your IMT area (e.g., county, district/region, state, UASI).
2.    Consider funding needs and define how you will be funded (e.g., grants, contributions, host agency provides funding).
3.    Define personnel finance and administration governance (pay and liability coverage) during activations (e.g., gratis, memorandum of understanding (MOU), Mobile Support Unit, mutual aid).
4.    Recruit the team (seek the right people–leaders, persons of influence, respect and experience–within the defined area).
5.    Conduct initial training (O-305 AHIMT and position-specific courses) and develop a comprehensive skills-maintenance training program.
6.    Equip the team.
7.    Develop a qualification system (i.e., Position Task Books).
8.    Exercise the team with table-top exercises, simulations and games, drills, and full-scale exercises.
9.    Conduct incident management operations during emergencies/disasters.

When to Call for an IMT
Agency administrators may feel uncomfortable asking for an AHIMT to manage an incident, especially if they are not accustomed to utilizing one. But they should remember that the jurisdiction will always remain in charge; the AHIMT works for the agency administrator. In addition, jurisdictions need to consider capability. For example, local public safety officials, who agency administrators are comfortable with, may be competent on Type 4 and Type 5 incidents, but may have little to no training or experience in managing Type 1, 2 and 3 incidents. Liability issues could arise if an incident is negligently handled by untrained and unqualified personnel.

With this in mind, below are some potential triggers that a jurisdiction can use to determine when they should request an AHIMT in support of their operations:
–    When it is obvious the initial attack will not be sufficient to stabilize the incident, and operations will go to an extended attack.
–    When five or more agencies are involved in the response.
–    When, based on the nature and magnitude of the incident, multiple operational periods will be required to bring about stabilization.
–    When infrastructure has been affected.
–    When there is a high probability that the incident will result in a local, state or federal disaster declaration.

Team Utilization
Once a team arrives, the affected jurisdiction’s agency administrator should expect to develop a relationship with the AHIMT’s IC(s). There should be discussion about team expectations and delegations of authority, and a regular meeting schedule and reporting requirements will likely be established. Agency administrators should be prepared to give a clear mission assignment and desired outcomes to the AHIMT ICs.

Some misconceptions about AHIMTs are that the team is effective without assigning tactical resources or funding; however, jurisdictions must be prepared to support the AHIMT by providing needed tactical resources. An AHIMT will often come with enough personnel to provide organizational and management processes–but not laborers. The AHIMT can develop a plan to manage the incident, but unless tactical resources are provided to the team, very little work will be done and the operation will not be as effective.

Additionally, disasters are expensive and require resources, supplies and materials to manage the incident. An AHIMT is trained to spend a jurisdiction’s money, on behalf of the jurisdictions, in order to properly mitigate an incident. An AHIMT will seek every opportunity to be frugal and judicious when spending funds, but disaster operations do require money.  

In Sum
An AHIMT can be used in your jurisdiction when it becomes overwhelmed by events during large-scale emergencies and disasters. These teams can assist your jurisdiction in the application of advanced ICS principles, and will help to organize resources and staffing, and allow your jurisdiction to focus on objectives that will fast-track your jurisdiction from life-saving operations to life-sustaining operations and into recovery.

Sidebar: Indiana AHIMT Examples
The use of AHIMTs is not new; however, there are several contemporary examples of the successful use of these teams across the nation:
–    Scheid Diesel Event: The Indiana District 7 AHIMT was used to manage this three-day event in summer 2011.
–    National Level Exercise 2011: Indiana used an AHIMT to manage the full-scale exercise in May 2011; three AHIMTs participated in one operational period each.
–    Southern Indiana Tornados: On March 2, 2012, Southern Indiana was impacted by an EF4 tornado, which caused significant damage across a 40-square-mile area. A federal disaster declaration was received, and Indiana AHIMTs were used for 21 days following the incident.
–    Hurricane Sandy: Four Indiana AHIMTs were deployed to the East Coast to support response and recovery operations.