A flexible approach to meeting the need for assistance
In order to meet the assistance need in a flexible way in different
types of situations, the organisation must be reformed and ad
apted continually. It is often formed on the basis of set plans and
pattern of delegation. This is, of course, a question of pragmatics
and is often necessary, but at the same time the organisation must
have a degree of flexibility so that it can handle any assistance
need that may arise. It is very unlikely that any set configuration
can always be optimal for all the different sit uations that arise. It
is possible, however, through comp etence and common, well de-
veloped basic values to create favourable conditions for improving
flexibility in the organisation.
The organisational solution at an incident site is always a com-
promise between that best suited for meeting the assistance need
as opposed to that for serving the needs of the response operation
itself. It must be formed under stress on unstable grounds or by
applying a prepared plan. It can therefore be necessary to continu-
ally adjust the organisational solution. One must also be aware of
the fact that a solution that suits the organ isation is perhaps not
good at all with regard to the object or the damage, or vice versa.
The need for adjustment during the course of a response operation
can be caused, for example, by imbalance or inconsistency between
decision domains. In addition the organisational solution may be
based on demands and needs stemming from within the organisa-
tion. Even when an incident appears routine, safety aspects can call
for a relatively complicated organisational solution.
The organisation largely reacts to signals that it receives from
its working environment. These signals, about, among other
things, the assistance need, are taken up by the decision domains
task command or by individuals in the organisation and must
then be passed up to higher decision domains. From here the
higher decision domains control and adapt the func tions of the
system on the basis of the signals about the assistance need. The
system is controlled from above whereas the signals are sensed at
the bottom and passed up from there. It is also important that the
system adapts itself to solving the situation at hand, not its own
problems. The organisation must quite simply be totally based on
the assistance need to be met. System command must also on the
basis of its own intelligence gathering ensure that the assistance
need is totally fulfilled.