An incident response team or emergency response team (ERT) is a group of people who prepare for and respond to any emergency incident, such as a natural disaster or an interruption of business operations. Incident response teams are common in corporations as well as in public service organizations. This team is generally composed of specific members designated before an incident occurs, although under certain circumstances the team may be an ad-hoc group of willing volunteers.

Incident response team members ideally are trained and prepared to fulfill the roles required by the specific situation (for example, to serve as incident commander

Incident Commander

The incident commander is the person responsible for all aspects of an emergency response; including quickly developing incident objectives, managing all incident operations, application of resources as well as responsibility for all persons involved. The incident commander sets priorities and...

 in the event of a large-scale public emergency). As the size of an incident grows, and as more resources are drawn into the event, the command of the situation may shift through several phases. In a small-scale event, usually only a volunteer or Ad-hoc Team may respond. In small but growing, and large events, both specific member and ad-hoc teams may work jointly in a unified command system

Unified Command (ICS)

In the Incident Command System, a Unified Command is one way to carry out command in which responding agencies and/or jurisdictions with responsibility for the incident share incident management....

. Individual team members can be trained in various aspects of the response, be it Medical Assistance/First Aid

First aid

First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...

, hazardous materials spills, hostage

Hostage

A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...

 situations, information systems attacks or disaster relief. Ideally the team has already defined a protocol or set of actions to perform to mitigate the negative effects of the incident.

Examples of incidents

Public contingencies often addressed by incident response teams include:

• Natural disasters (hurricanes, tornados, typhoons, earthquakes, floods)
• Public health threat such as the outbreak of an epidemic
• Power grid outage or other infrastructure failure
• Travel system interruption such as significant air or rail accidents
• Hazardous material spill
• Food or drug contamination
• Internet or computer attacks
• Terrorist attacks

In the context of a single company or organization, incident response teams also may prepare for:

• A computer incident such as theft or accidental exposure of sensitive customer data
• Exposure of intellectual property or trade secrets
• Accidental or intentional product contamination
• Bomb threats
• Any incident which creates significant public relations or legal liability

Specific member teams

Predefined roles are typically filled with individuals who are formally trained and on standby at all times, during scheduled hours. These teams are organized by ranks with a clearly defined chain of command

Chain of Command

Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...

. Examples include:

• SWAT
  SWAT
  A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
  
   teams
• RCMP Emergency Response Team
• Nuclear power plant emergency response team
  Nuclear power plant emergency response team
  A nuclear power plant emergency response team is an incident response team composed of plant personnel and civil authority personnel specifically trained to respond to the occurrence of an accident at a nuclear power plant....
  
  s

Volunteer and ad-hoc teams

Ad-hoc teams respond to an incident in a similar fashion as do Volunteer FireFighters

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

. Individuals on such a team usually have an unrelated job. Often the first responder on the scene will assume the role of Incident Commander

Incident Commander

The incident commander is the person responsible for all aspects of an emergency response; including quickly developing incident objectives, managing all incident operations, application of resources as well as responsibility for all persons involved. The incident commander sets priorities and...

.

Examples of individuals in a manufacturing scenario who might join an ad-hoc incident response team include:

• Factory Nurse
• Plant Engineer
  Engineer
  An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
  
  s

Examples from community settings include:

• St. John Ambulance
  St. John Ambulance
  St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
  
  
• Neighborhood watch
  Neighborhood watch
  A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch , also called a crime watch or neighborhood crime watch, is an organized group of citizens devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood...
  
  
• Campus response
• Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
  Community Emergency Response Team
  In the United States a community emergency response team can refer to* one of five federal programs promoted under the umbrella organization Citizen Corps, which is funded in part by the Stafford Act;...
  
  

External links

• Carnegie Mellon University Computer Emergency Response Team.
• Disaster Assistance Response Team - DART Department of National Defence
• US National Response Team (NRT)Oil and hazardous materials spills
• Canada’s RCMP Emergency Response Team.RCMP ERT
• Lakehead University Emergency First Response Team
• Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team - O.V.E.R.T
• The Emergency First Response Team at McMaster University EFRT