800x600 256 color gif, 295k
"In the early morning, a crowded school bus with a variety of students on their way to school, is involved in an accident with several private vehicles after an erratic driver has attempted to pass the bus on a blind curve. A head-on collision results in the bus going over an embankment, and an additional collision with other vehicles. A passing motorist stops and dials 9-1-1 reporting a vehicle accident with a school bus. Central Communications dispatches a police officer to investigate. Upon arrival, the officer finds multiple casualties, a fire, hazardous materials, and the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the accident is apparently intoxicated. A further complication is later discovered, in that one of the vehicles in the accident is found by law enforcement officers to be stolen, and the driver is identified as a fugitive with a pending active arrest warrant. The first responding officer then assumes the role of "Incident Commander" calling for additional emergency response units (fire, law enforcement, rescue, emergency medical services). Because of the number and severity of the injured victims, many first responders are required to render care, initiate rescue, secure the scene, treat and transport the injured, keep others from being injured, arrest and jail violators, and finally to investigate and document the accident.
The management of these responders (from a variety of "public safety agencies" coming together under mutual aid agreements) requires an effectivg this type of coordination, the IC can then concentrate on overall control and coordination, and receive updates from his operations officers. Because this is a highly "public" event, the news media will be heavily involved, and a "Public Information Officer (PIO) is designated to deliver updates to the news media as they become available, and can be released