Supervisor - The Incident Command System title for an individual responsible for a Division or Group.
Supporting Agency - An agency that provides support and/or resource assistance to another agency. See Assisting Agency.
Supporting Technology - Any technology that may be used to support the National Incident Management System, such as orthophoto mapping, remote automatic weather stations, infrared technology, or communications.
System - Any combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, processes, procedures, and communications integrated for a specific purpose.
Tabletop Exercise (TTX) - A discussion-based exercise used to assess plans, policies and procedures, or to assess types of systems needed to guide the prevention of, response to or recovery from an incident. Participants are encouraged to discuss issues in depth and develop decisions through slow-paced problem-solving rather than the rapid, spontaneous decision-making that occurs under actual or simulated emergency conditions.
Task Force - Any combination of resources assembled to support a specific mission or operational need. All resource elements within a Task Force must have common communications and a designated leader.
Technical Specialist - Person with special skills that can be used anywhere within the Incident Command System organization. No minimum qualifications are prescribed, as technical specialists normally perform the same duties during an incident that they perform in their everyday jobs, and they are typically certified in their fields or professions.
Technological Hazard - Hazards that originate from technological or industrial accidents, infrastructure failures or certain human activities; they cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation, and often come with little to no warning.
Technology Standards - According to FEMA, “Conditions, guidelines, or characteristics that may be required to facilitate the interoperability and compatibility of major systems across jurisdictional, geographic and functional lines.”
Telephone Tree - A list of staff, their phone numbers and their role in the Incident Command System (if applicable). The first person on the list (usually the principal or Incident Commander) calls his or her pre-assigned staff members to relay what is and is not known and what steps should be taken. These staff members continue passing along the principal’s message to their pre-assigned contacts until everyone has been contacted.