Tactics, command, leadership

These principles naturally would not apply to all types of situations.
But by combining them optimal tactical patterns can be established
on the basis of what is achievable in a certain situation. It is important
that measures are applied on the grounds of a damage development
assessment in relation to the increase in resources, both with regard
to the type of resources and resource availability.
What is achievable must be judged from case to case. Through cons-
cious decision making, a tactical approach can be applied to confi-
gure an operation as a unit of measures. When measures for the
assistance need are executed in a pattern, the collective measures
take over control the destructive sequence. On the basis of the above
reasoning, it is possible, subsequently, to establish various patterns
for the tactics of the organisation as a whole. The possibilities for
a single municipality to execute more than one response operation
at a time can be limited. This aspect should be addressed through
different forms of coordination and cooperation between the muni-
cipal structures for providing rescue services in neighbouring muni-
cipalities. The unimpaired use of resources through administrative
restrictions allows for rapid increases in resources for response oper­
ations. The short distances between resources in, for example, large
urban areas also allows for them to be increased quickly. One must,
however, bear in mind that even if resources are in some ways limited,
it is, despite this, always possible to execute certain measures. Even if
the municipal structure for providing rescue services constitutes just
one person, there are still measures that can be executed, irrespective
of the situation. All types of units, no matter their size or general con-
figuration can be of significant tactical worth. Tactics concerns using
resources in the best possible way, irrespective of the structure of the
resources.
One conclusion that can be drawn from this discussion is that
response operations, one or several, that are not managedwithin a
relatively short time and applying relatively simple means have a
tendency to be unsuccessful, even if the tactics applied, in terms of
approach, are in themselves, good.
Managed here implies, in the first place, establishing a plan for
the execution, but also the practical handling of the incident or ac-
cident, its course of events and the emergency response operation,
i.e. the patterns of thought and action. This is often a question of,
at a relatively early stage, establishing a plan of how to obtain and
retain control, through applying resources and measures in relation
to the situation and the assistance need. And it applies to both the