Fillable Ics Form 209 - Incident Status Summary (Page 5 of 23) in pdf

ICS 209

Incident Status Summary

Purpose. The ICS 209 is used for reporting information on significant incidents. It is not intended for every incident, as

most incidents are of short duration and do not require scarce resources, significant mutual aid, or additional support and

attention. The ICS 209 contains basic information elements needed to support decisionmaking at all levels above the

incident to support the incident. Decisionmakers may include the agency having jurisdiction, but also all multiagency

coordination system (MACS) elements and parties, such as cooperating and assisting agencies/organizations, dispatch

centers, emergency operations centers, administrators, elected officials, and local, tribal, county, State, and Federal

agencies. Once ICS 209 information has been submitted from the incident, decisionmakers and others at all incident

support and coordination points may transmit and share the information (based on its sensitivity and appropriateness) for

access and use at local, regional, State, and national levels as it is needed to facilitate support.

Accurate and timely completion of the ICS 209 is necessary to identify appropriate resource needs, determine allocation

of limited resources when multiple incidents occur, and secure additional capability when there are limited resources due

to constraints of time, distance, or other factors. The information included on the ICS 209 influences the priority of the

incident, and thus its share of available resources and incident support.

The ICS 209 is designed to provide a “snapshot in time” to effectively move incident decision support information where it

is needed. It should contain the most accurate and up-to-date information available at the time it is prepared. However,

readers of the ICS 209 may have access to more up-to-date or real-time information in reference to certain information

elements on the ICS 209. Coordination among communications and information management elements within ICS and

among MACS should delineate authoritative sources for more up-to-date and/or real-time information when ICS 209

information becomes outdated in a quickly evolving incident.

Reporting Requirements. The ICS 209 is intended to be used when an incident reaches a certain threshold where it

becomes significant enough to merit special attention, require additional resource support needs, or cause media

attention, increased public safety threat, etc. Agencies or organizations may set reporting requirements and, therefore,

ICS 209s should be completed according to each jurisdiction or discipline’s policies, mobilization guide, or preparedness

plans. It is recommended that consistent ICS 209 reporting parameters be adopted and used by jurisdictions or

disciplines for consistency over time, documentation, efficiency, trend monitoring, incident tracking, etc.

For example, an agency or MAC (Multiagency Coordination) Group may require the submission of an initial ICS 209 when

a new incident has reached a certain predesignated level of significance, such as when a given number of resources are

committed to the incident, when a new incident is not completed within a certain timeframe, or when impacts/threats to life

and safety reach a given level.

Typically, ICS 209 forms are completed either once daily or for each operational period – in addition to the initial

submission. Jurisdictional or organizational guidance may indicate frequency of ICS 209 submission for particular

definitions of incidents or for all incidents. This specific guidance may help determine submission timelines when

operational periods are extremely short (e.g., 2 hours) and it is not necessary to submit new ICS 209 forms for all

operational periods.

Any plans or guidelines should also indicate parameters for when it is appropriate to stop submitting ICS 209s for an

incident, based upon incident activity and support levels.

Preparation. When an Incident Management Organization (such as an Incident Management Team) is in place, the

Situation Unit Leader or Planning Section Chief prepares the ICS 209 at the incident. On other incidents, the ICS 209

may be completed by a dispatcher in the local communications center, or by another staff person or manager. This form

should be completed at the incident or at the closest level to the incident.

The ICS 209 should be completed with the best possible, currently available, and verifiable information at the time it is

completed and signed.

This form is designed to serve incidents impacting specific geographic areas that can easily be defined. It also has the

flexibility for use on ubiquitous events, or those events that cover extremely large areas and that may involve many

jurisdictions and ICS organizations. For these incidents, it will be useful to clarify on the form exactly which portion of the

larger incident the ICS 209 is meant to address. For example, a particular ICS 209 submitted during a statewide outbreak

of mumps may be relevant only to mumps-related activities in Story County, Iowa. This can be indicated in both the

incident name, Block 1, and in the Incident Location Information section in Blocks 16–26.

Ics Form 209 - Incident Status Summary Page 5

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