Expandability and Contractibility
Examples
During a measles outbreak a DOH may activate only portions of the ICS tree such as the Agency Incident Commander, the Public Information Officer, and the Operations and Finance/Administration Sections.
However, during a major weather event with significant disruption to the community, it is likely that the DOH would activate all Command Staff positions and every section of its ICS tree as it works with multiple agencies to protect the health of the public.
When using ICS only those Command Staff positions and sections that are required for the response are activated. And the only position that must always be activated is that of the AIC. This allows the public health agency to conserve resources, and use only what is needed. Since each public health agency must also maintain its essential services during any type of emergency response, this is particularly important. During an emergency, the numbers and types of ICS sections and Command Staff positions that are activated may expand, contract and then even expand again, based upon the course of the event.