The O'BRIEN'S Group history with ICS is deeply rooted in the company’s origin. All of the founding members of the company have responded to major emergencies using Incident Command System (ICS). Several of our staff, many with municipal firefighting backgrounds, worked to promote the use of ICS in the oil industry primarily as a method to coordinate with mutual aid organizations and municipal fire departments in responses to large petroleum fires or hazardous materials releases. When the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA ’90) was passed, several government agencies including the US Coast Guard and California Oil Spill Prevention and Response group were charged with managing oil spills. In 1996, members of The O'BRIEN'S Group (formerly known as the Emergency Response Strike Team (ERST)) worked with members of the USCG, CA OSPR, California Office of Emergency Services, and representatives from the Firescope task force to develop a NIIMS based Incident Command System for oil spill management. The committee was named Standard Oil Spill Response Management System (STORMS) and developed a Field Operations Guide (FOG) which has become a guidance document used nationwide by agencies and industries responding to pollution events. STORMS also developed training curriculum consistent with the National Curriculum (NIFC) ICS Modules.

Since STORMS, The O'BRIEN'S Group has been actively involved with the promotion of ICS in the industrial, governmental and even educational sectors. We have developed and taught ICS courses for oil and chemical companies, government agencies, fire departments and even international organizations. We have participated in the development of state-of-the-art ICS tools like electronic ICS forms and software to develop Incident Action Plans and track resources. Finally, we continue to promote ICS as the universal method of managing emergencies, particularly in the wake of 9-11 and the resulting development of the Homeland Security Departments at Federal and State levels. Just as ICS has evolved in the oil pollution response arena, we see a similar type of evolution where various agencies may find themselves working together in response to a domestic terrorist attack. We believe whenever an emergency, regardless of the size or type requires multiple agency response, ICS is the best system to use to effectively and safely mitigate the incident and we stand by, ready to assist as these organizations indicate the need for training and exercising.