Tactics, command, leadership

building, it can then be too late to implement certain actions. The-
refore on the basis of indications and previous experience of similar
situations, decisions need to be taken and action initiated in case
the fire breaks through the roof. Even when it comes to distribu-
ting resources between several simultaneous response operations,
decisions have to be taken at a very early stage, before the actual
need for the resources occurs. When a request is received from an
individual response operation to a higher level of command for a
particular resource, this resource should already have been initia-
ted and be on its way. This places high demands on the time and
space perception of commanders, a demand which increases in line
with the level of responsibility.
In the same way we can consider space perception, which descri-
bes the degree of ability to understand the relationship between
oneself and space and between different objects in space. Space
perception entails, among other things, being able to recognise
and describe important properties of geometric figures, patterns
and surroundings generally, and to be able to compare, estimate
and measure lengths, areas, volumes, angles and mass (and also
time). Space perception also encompasses being able to use dra-
wings and maps and the scales to interpret them, read off and
interpret data given in tables and graphs and being able to use
elementary positioning methods. This may sound rather basic but
it is not always that easy to understand the relationship between,
for example, yourself as commander, the applied resources, and
the area concerned in the form of one or several incident sites.
It can for example be difficult to see or understand what is hap-
pening at the back of a burning building, especially if no informa-
tion is available. But the back of the building exists and things are
happening there, regardless of whether the incident commander
is there or measures are being taken there or not.
Space perception at an incident site is important and it concerns
among other things being able to think three dimensionally, even
when the eyes are only providing you with two. Correspondingly,
it is also important that different individuals have time and space
perceptions which, depending on the environment, are relevant.
The situation becomes more difficult when the decision maker is
not physically at the incident site, but must nevertheless create
an understanding of the situation, in terms of time and space, and
make decisions to affect the outcome of the response operation.