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Research paper

Icehotel or Wonderland? Reimagining the United States’ National Incident Management System

Lisa Wier and Tony Mcaleavy
Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 18 (3), 281-302 (2025)
https://doi.org/10.69554/GNIF5652

Abstract

Disasters and catastrophes are increasing in frequency, severity and complexity, meaning that effective multi-organisational response has never been more pertinent. The United States’ National Incident Management System (NIMS), which includes the on-scene Incident Command System (ICS) component, is mandated for use at all levels of government and is often framed, somewhat narrowly, as a mechanistic hierarchy or an organic network. The related literature is divergent: academic critiques are lamented for lacking real-world insights whereas practitioner accounts are, unfairly, dismissed as anecdotal, meaning that novel insights that inform future preparedness are needed. Accordingly, this conceptual study reimagines NIMS/ICS using pragmatism, metaphorical analysis — informed by Morgan’s seminal organisational metaphors, Pinto’s ‘Icehotel’, and McCabe’s ‘Wonderland’ metaphors — and symbolic logic. This paper demonstrates that NIMS/ICS is both mechanistic and organic, and much more at the same time. They engender much-needed novel and innovative perspectives which can be embedded within training and education activities to address the increasingly complex nature of disasters and catastrophes.

Keywords: National Incident Management System; Incident Command System; disaster and catastrophe; complexity; organisations; metaphor

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Author's Biography

Lisa Wier is a Doctoral Student and Graduate Assistant (teaching and research) within the Fire and Emergency Management Program at Oklahoma State University. They hold an MS in fire and emergency management from Oklahoma State University, and a BS in homeland security from Eastern Kentucky University. Lisa’s research interests include themes in preparedness and response, learning through media and risk perception of unconventional threats.

Tony Mcaleavy is an Assistant Professor in Fire and Emergency Management at Oklahoma State University. His teaching and research focus on themes in preparedness and response, notably multi-organisational coordination, interoperability and response efficacy. Tony has broad emergency and continuity management experience as a coastguard, ambulance service officer and local government civil contingencies manager, and he has also taught in several countries around the world.

Citation

Wier, Lisa and Mcaleavy, Tony (2025, March 1). Icehotel or Wonderland? Reimagining the United States’ National Incident Management System. In the Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, Volume 18, Issue 3. https://doi.org/10.69554/GNIF5652.

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cover image, Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning
Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning
Volume 18 / Issue 3
© Henry Stewart
Publications LLP

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