OIC

'What's an OIC?'

An OIC is the Officer in Charge, the person who leads the team when prosecuting a rescue and who takes ultimate responsibility for the safety of:- 

• himself (herself)
• the team 
• the general public
• and the casualty. 

(Yes! in that particular order... I'll explain tomorrow)

Normally it would take about 5 years to gain the necessary experience before taking the course to qualify. The assessment includes practical sessions and a series of incidents where the trainee OIC would run a job under supervision.

Within the Swanage team we have 4 current OICs, Whilst the OIC is in overall charge of the team we work a Chinese Parliament system where every rescue officer can have their say before a course of action is decided upon; however the OIC has final call. 

Whilst orders are given a rescue officer can decline an instruction if safety is compromised, and we'd have it no other way.

A debrief is held after every rescue led by the OIC and again everyone gets to have their say about how the job went and whether we could have improved on any aspect.

You can normally spot the OIC wearing the tabard below.

Tomorrow... What's the Hierarchy of Rescue all about?