An Incident Commander’s responsibility is to assess or “size-up” the emergency situation to get a good understanding of the problems, issues and concerns and to achieve the needed situational awareness. If the incident is going to grow to where a Unified Command structure is required, it is often helpful to write down the problems that each unified agency identifies as needing attention. This process often alleviates some of the resistance that occurs when trying to unify command among fire, law, public works, Emergency Medical Services, health and the other agencies represented. List the problems in no particular order of priority using a white board, easel pad, tablet computer or other display so all can see. Create problem statements that are limited to one or two words, such as: people trapped, looting, flooding, street access, EMS, fire control, crime scene, etc. Once all of the problems have been identified, the IC can use the acronym POST to create a hierarchy of decision making: