Planned: GSMEAC

• G Ground
• S Situation
• M Mission
• E Execution
• A Admin / Logistics
• C Command / Communications

Emergency: STICC

• S Here’s what we face
• T Here’s what I think we should do
• I Here’s Why
• C Here’s what we should watch
• C Now, talk to me…

2 Briefing Types Sometimes a formal briefing is not warranted and seems a bit over the top; like a daily service incident or simple “call for service.” But it is good practise to get junior leaders or any leaders for that matter, to follow a template and issue proper briefings when possible, so that they are comfortable when they need to do one.

In general we use two types of briefings for mission deployments, when a briefing format is warranted. The first thing I’ll say is that in either case a quick “thank you for coming” is good practise and when appropriate you can recommend and see that notebooks are out and salient points are being written down. And do not drag a briefing on for too long. It is a ‘briefing’ not a seminar! Get to the ‘meat and potatoes’ and go!

EMERGENCY BRIEFING FORMAT

The following checklist* is the one used by Grand Canyon National Park Search & Rescue personnel for emergencies and prior to launching a helicopter Medical Evacuations (MedEvac) and Emergency Response.

It is another very useful briefing format and great for fast balls or on-the-spot briefings in emergencies.

Here’s what I think we face.

Here’s what I think we should do.

Here’s why.

Here’s what we should keep our eye on.

Now… talk to me.

*Adapted by Ken Phillips from Karl Weick;

South Canyon Revisited- Lessons from High Reliability Organizations

Also, in their book: Managing the unexpected: resilient performance in an age of uncertainty By Karl E. Weick, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, they refer to this method and state that Gary Klein, author of “Sources of Power” calls it the STICC method. Situation Task Intent Concern Calibrate.

It works well in many emergency situations where the leader and brief the team, explore hazards and gain consensus.

Situation Here’s what I think we face.

Task Here’s what I think we should do.

Intent Here’s why.

Concern Here’s what we should keep our eye on.

Calibrate Now talk to me…

You can see that they are basically the same but in slightly different formats using different mnemonics.

We use this method for any emergency briefing in the field where a fully and planned operation is not necessary or possible

5 (6) Paragraph Operation Order for Mission Briefings

The 5 paragraph operations order (SMEAC or G-SMEAC (6)) is a great pre-mission briefing – I have used this many times on international deployments and backed it up with pictures, maps, hand-outs and even video clips. It is an outline how the person in-charge can assemble and classify the facts of complex situations, determine a solution based upon those facts, arrive at a problem-solving decision, and then formulate a plan to execute their decision.

PHOTO Team briefings are a fundamental basic skill; both giving and remember to receiving them. Ask questions if you have them!

The format is fairly comprehensive and will generally cover most of the information requirements, the leader could announce at the beginning of the delivery that questions will be presented during the final phase of the briefing. Sometimes leaders like to establish understanding as the go – so questions are fields as they arise. Keep in mind, if this is before a search you don’t have a lot of time and should be on the ground as soon as possible.

Also, in order for the leader to maintain the clarity and integrity of his briefing in this format, where no information exists for a given format component, the SAR members should be informed of that intentional omission. The structure of the Five Paragraph Operation Order follows the acronym SMEAC as a memory device. S.M.E. is pretty universally accepted but A and C can stand for different things.

There is also GSMEAC where “G” stands for Ground (or terrain and environment where this will happen.)

Ground Where does this happen

Situation What has happened

Mission - Incident Objective

Execution - Strategy & Tactical objectives

Administration and Logistics or Ask Questions

Command/Communications or Confirm understanding.

SUPPORTING MEDIA:

There is a video which give one type of quick example of SMEAC (without the groud) being used in a film. It's a bit 'hollywood' butyou get the idea.

There are two downloadable briefing packs courtesy of the Justice Institute of BC which give comprehensive examples from form sets.