The Recreational Incident Command System (RICS)
The Recreational Incident Command System (RICS) starts with a simple premise: everyone should have a job, know what that job entails, and understand how that job relates to the rest of the organization.
RICS then ties everyone together with a common organizational language and communications system, while establishing clear goals, objectives and expectations for getting the job done.
I developed RICS in the early 2000s as a simplified adaptation of the Incident Command System (ICS), used nationwide by fire, law enforcement, and other emergency service organizations. I took principles I had used during my military and fire-service careers and adapted them specifically for volunteers, recreation organizations, trail projects and events.
And I can tell you from experience: it works.
We used RICS extensively with Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) to organize volunteer projects that helped preserve and maintain the Rubicon Trail. Over the years, I trained hundreds of volunteers and recreation leaders in the system.
How RICS Works
In emergency services, the chain of command is well defined. Everyone knows who's who in the zoo.
For complex incidents—such as major wildfires involving multiple agencies and jurisdictions—Unified Command may be used, with representatives of the responsible agencies working together toward common objectives.
For most volunteer trail projects, however, things can be much simpler.
There is usually one overall leader or "Trail Boss." In RICS, that person is the Incident Commander (IC).
Working for the IC are four basic functions:
Operations — gets the work done on the ground.
Logistics — provides the people doing the work with the supplies, equipment, food, communications and other support they need.
Planning — develops and tracks the plan, objectives, assignments and documentation.
Finance — handles purchasing, expenses, budgets and financial accountability.
For a small project, one person might handle several of these jobs. You staff up only enough to accomplish the mission—but every function still needs to be considered.
TIP: Staff up your project or event when you need people, but don't forget to staff down when you don't.
Below these primary functions are Team Leaders and Crews.
Operations can be divided geographically into Divisions. For example, Point A to Point B along a trail might be Division A, while Point B to Point C becomes Division B. Each Division has people specifically responsible for completing the work within that piece of ground.
Crews can also be organized by function rather than geography. You might have a rock-hauling crew, water crew, brushing crew or transportation crew that works throughout the entire project area.
That's one of the beauties of RICS: the organization fits the mission—not the other way around.
Why Bother With All This?
Because volunteers' time is valuable.
Nothing drives good volunteers away faster than standing around wondering what they're supposed to be doing, who is in charge, where the tools are, or what the heck the plan is.
Good organization gives volunteers a sense of purpose and accomplishment. They know their job. They know who they're working for. They know what success looks like.
And when you're trying to save a trail, protect public access, run a major event or accomplish a complicated volunteer project, organized volunteers get things done.
RICS is much more extensive than this short introduction. My original training included organizational charts, position descriptions, project-planning methods, communications plans, objectives and expectations, forms, crew assignments and other tools.
If you're serious about organizing volunteers and would like to know more about RICS, drop me a note through my Contact page. I'll be glad to help.
A Little RICS History
My use of ICS outside traditional emergency incidents actually goes back much farther than RICS.
In 1987, I presented a paper titled “Adapting the Incident Command System to Meeting or Conference Management” at the Symposium on Wildland Fire 2000 in South Lake Tahoe, California. The proceedings were later published by the U.S. Forest Service as General Technical Report PSW-101.
Even back then, I was exploring the idea that the organizational principles that make ICS work so well on emergencies could also be adapted to meetings, conferences and other organized efforts.
Years later, when we needed to organize large numbers of volunteers and complicated trail projects, I took that same concept another step. I simplified and adapted ICS specifically for recreation and volunteer organizations and called it the Recreational Incident Command System (RICS).
RICS became an important organizational tool for Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) and our efforts to save and maintain the Rubicon Trail. I eventually trained hundreds of volunteers and recreation leaders in the system.
So RICS wasn't really invented overnight. It evolved from decades of using, teaching and adapting the Incident Command System to get people organized and get the job done.
For more details, org charts, position/job descriptions, and planning documents, drop me a note on the contact page.
