Who's responsible for Planning

The Incident Controller has overall responsibility for Planning

If you are the Incident Controller, you are responsible for:

• holding planning meetings every two hours or more often
• approving all plans developed during the SAR operation
• maintaining knowledge and constant oversight of all aspects of the SAR operation
• sending regular situation reports to people involved in the SAR operation
• directing the operation as effectively as possible.

Your regular planning meetings must review key information

These meetings need to review:

• how well the Incident Action Plan and other plans are being implemented
• the progress of the SAR operation towards its objectives
• any further planning that may be needed
• the Incident Action Plan, and any changes that you (as Incident Controller) decide to make to it.

Your regular situation reports must inform people about progress

These reports should update people involved in the SAR operation on the operation’s status and progress. At a minimum, the situation report should include information about changes to:

• the operational environment
• the status of the subject
• the profile of the subject
• the Incident Management Team
• risks to the operation
• communication (for example, changes to contact details, radio frequencies and channels)
• the coordinating authority
• the status of resources.