Tactics, command, leadership

Physical obstacles, geographic conditions or the fact that an indivi-

dual can only observe and process so much information can limit

the possibility of meeting the observation condition. But in cont-

rast to military operations, in which the course of events depends

on human activity, the course of events at an incident site can be

predicted by applying the laws of physics that are applicable to it.

In other words it is often possible through logical reasoning and

with basic knowledge or experience of how different types of in-

cidents develop and the effects different measures have, to make

reasonable predictions for likely developments at incident sites

and with regard to risk situations. It should be possible to make

equivalent predictions from the standpoint of any of the system

levels. In the case of higher, overall decision domains, it may be

necessary to let other organisations carry out such evaluations

and predictions. An example of this can be weather observations

and metro logical forecasts, including assessments of the risk of

flooding, fires etc.

The observation condition also includes access to information

on the system, which can appear different depending on the sys-

tem level it is seen from. While at the incident site and while tra-

velling to the incident the commander is bombarded with infor-

mation. His or her cognitive capacity then works to transform this

information, a process usually referred to as ’decision­making’.

Information, experience, knowledge and cognition are funda­

mental components in this process.

Climbing/increasing Constant

Large/high

Sinking/

decreasing

Short Long

Small/low

Example of how the
conditions of a system
can be described and
related to one another.