Dinwiddie County Fire & EMS Personnel Accountability System “ Everyone Goes Home Safe”

Purpose To provide a Personnel Accountability System (PAS) that will allow for constant awareness of the personnel and resources deployed to incidents. The system is designed to be flexible and provide basic incident personnel accountability and have the capability to be expanded to more detailed accounting for high hazard or expansive incidents at both the local and regional level.

“THE BASIC’S” In order for any accountability system to work a few basic rules must be followed: The system must be utilized on every response All personnel shall be aware of and function within the guidance of the personnel accountability and the incident management system Freelancing cannot be allowed or tolerated All personnel must be aware of who they report to and who reports to them, their assigned location and their assigned function at all times.

SYSTEM COMPONENTS Personnel Name Tags Blank or Make Up Personnel Name Tags Vehicle Identification Tags/Collectors Blank or Make Up Collectors First Due Collector Boards Command/Accountability Boards

Personnel Name Tags Personnel will carry three (3) 2 inch x 3/8 inch rigid tags stored on the underside, rear brim of their helmet with Velcro Utilized on every response Color coded to represent rank. Chief Officers = White (Black Lettering) Line Officers = Red (White Lettering) Firefighters/EMTs = Yellow (Black Lettering) Uncertified/Support = Black (White Lettering) If personnel do not have an issued safety helmet they shall insure the availability of their tags by carrying them on the back of their issued ID card.

Personnel Name Tags and Storage Locations

Blank/Make Up Personnel Tags 2 inch x 3/8 inch, Gray in color Located with First Due and Command Boards Utilized for personnel who report to scene without issued tags Utilized for Responders ( Utilities, Co. Reps, Etc.) that do not have tags but need to be in the Accountability System Name placed on tags with grease marker

Vehicle Identification /Collector Tags Located on every response vehicle 4 inch x 2 inch rigid plastic with Velcro on front and back. Front Velcro is for attaching Personnel Name Tags. Back Velcro is for attaching to collector to the vehicle and to accountability boards. Red , Blue & Green Twith white lettering that have regional unit ID at the top RED = Primary Fire Unit BLUE = Primary EMS Unit GREEN = Support/Specialty Unit

Will have an orange, 2 inch x 3/8 inch removable tag, with the word DRIVER attached to the face. Will have a color matched, 2 inch x 3/8 inch removable tag, with the regional unit ID attached to the face Located in the cab of the vehicle in conspicuous spot where it can be accessed by the driver and officer positions. Personnel should familiarize themselves with the vehicle collector locations.

Vehicle Identification/Collector Tags

Example of Vehicle Locations

Blank/Make Up Collectors 4 inch x 2 inch, Gray in color Located with First Due and Command Boards Utilized for units that report to scene without collectors (Mutual Aid ) Utilized for formation of teams or groups of individuals that aren’t assigned to units Team/Unit name placed on tags with grease marker

Blank /Make Up Collectors

Placement of Personnel Identification Tags on Vehicle/Unit Collector Tags The officer/AIC for the unit shall place their Personnel Name Tag in the top position on the Vehicle ID/Collector Tag The driver/operator for the unit shall place their tag below the orange DRIVER tag. All additional personnel should place their tags below the officers tag and above the orange DRIVER tag.

OFFICER CREW DRIVER/OPERATOR

IMPORTANT !!!!!! If the driver of a unit becomes part of the crew and does not remain with or operate the unit at the scene of an incident, the unit OIC/AIC shall remove the orange DRIVER tag from the vehicle collector. A vehicle collector tag with no orange DRIVER tag shall indicate the driver is part of the units’ crew and that the unit is staged and has NO operator with it !!

DRIVER IS OPERATING THE UNIT OR IS STAGED WITH UNIT DRIVER IS PART OF THE CREW AND IS NOT WITH UNIT

Removable Unit Identification Tag The removable color matched, 2 inch x 3/8 inch, unit identification tag shall remain on the collector. It can be utilized when a command board is used at an incident. This smaller unit identification tag can be removed and placed on the command board as the unit is assigned. The larger, vehicle collector tag can then be placed on a separate accountability board

First Due Collector Boards One located on each first out engine Additional boards are located on other apparatus as deemed necessary. (Know your stations locations.) To be utilized by initial incident commanders to begin the accountability process

Front Back

Command Boards & Assignment Tags Each agency has one(1) that should be carried on the agency unit to be utilized at incidents as the incident command post. Assignment tags are preprinted tags with common incident functions that personnel and vehicle tags can be attached to for tracking

COMMAND BOARD

ACCOUNTABILITY LEVELS Personal Single Resource Scene Point of Entry Functional

Personal Accountability Is the key to the whole system!!! Takes place before arriving on scene and after leaving Each person is responsible for maintaining their tags in the proper place and getting them into the system on EVERY response!! Three ways to achieve entry into the system: Unstaffed Unit, Staffed Unit or by POV response

Unstaffed Unit On EVERY response when personnel board an apparatus they should remove one name tag from their helmet/ID Card and place it on the units Vehicle ID Tag/Collector in the correct position before leaving the station The Officer should verify that all on board personnel have placed their name tag on the collector and that it is in the correct position The officer/AIC shall also remove any accountability tags inadvertently left on the vehicle collector by previous personnel prior to scene arrival

Inadvertently left tags that are not removed can cause extreme issues with scene accountability. Upon completion of the call personnel should remove their tag and place it back on their helmet/ID card

Staffed Unit Personnel manning staffed units (i.e ambulances) should remove their ID tag from the helmet/ID card and place it on the Vehicle Collector at the beginning of each shift The officer/AIC for the unit shall place their tag in the top position on the Vehicle ID/Collector Tag The driver/operator for the unit shall place their tag below the orange DRIVER tag.

All additional personnel should place their tags below the officers tag and above the orange DRIVER tag. The unit officer/AIC should verify that all personnel have placed their name tag on the collector correctly The officer/AIC shall remove any tags inadvertently left on the vehicle collector by previous personnel. Personnel should remove their tag and place it back on the helmet at the end of each shift.

POV Response All personnel who respond to a scene by means other than Fire/EMS apparatus must report to appropriate on scene personnel such as the IC, Safety Officer, Staging Officer or Accountability Officer and communicate their presence on the scene prior to engaging in ANY activity. Upon reporting personnel must place their personnel name tag in the accountibilty system if it is with them or have Make Up tags created prior to engaging in any incident function. Upon leaving the scene personnel must retrieve their ID tags or ensure that their make up tags have been removed from the system.

On Scene Accountability and Personnel Accountability Reports

Single Resource Accountability 95% of incidents are handled by one or two response resources and the command structure does not extend beyond an IC and Single units. Accountability of resources generally can be handled by the IC. Upon arrival on scene the Vehicle Collectors with the Personnel ID tags of all on board personnel should be left in the unit unless directed otherwise. The IC may chose to utilize the First Due Collector Board and collect the Vehicle Collectors as deemed necessary or as the incident escalates. The IC shall utilize Personnel Accountability Reports as needed to verify the accounting of personnel

Personnel Accountability Reports Personnel Accountability Reports shall be done as follows: At any report of missing or trapped personnel At any major shift of incident tactics (I.e Offensive to Defensive) After any sudden hazardous event on scene ( i.e. flashover, back draft, collapse, etc.) After any evacuation order of a hazard area Periodically during incident operations (minimum of every 20 minutes with shorter intervals for high risk incidents) At any point deemed necessary by the IC

Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) Shall be conducted by IC, Accountability Officer or their designee The IC/Accountibility Officer will announce over the assigned incident radio channel “ All units at XYZ incident stand by for PAR” All personnel shall hold all non-emergency radio traffic and monitor the entire roll call The IC or designee will roll the incident by Units, Divisions, Groups, Positions or personnel names as deemed appropriate for the incident

Personnel Accountability Reports (PAR) The assigned officer or leader of each roll called entity shall answer the roll call with their personnel status including the unit(s) operators EXAMPLE: “ENGINE 1 from Command provide a PAR” ENGINE 1: “Engine 1 has a PAR of 3 and operator is with the unit”

Personnel Accountability Reports (PAR) If personnel of a roll called entity cannot be accounted for the officer/leader shall report the name and last known location of the missing personnel EXAMPLE: “ENGINE 1 from COMMAND provide a PAR” ENGINE 1: “COMMAND from ENGINE 1 is PAR 2, FF Smith is unaccounted for and was last seen Side A at the front door”

Personnel Accountability Reports (PAR) EXAMPLE “Ventilation Group from Accountability provide a PAR” VENT GROUP LEADER “Vent group is PAR 4” EXAMPLE “Division 2 from Command provide a PAR” DIVISION 2 SUPERVISOR “Division 2 is PAR 6 and Engine 1 and Truck 4 operators are with the units”

Personnel Accountability Reports (PAR) If deemed necessary Operators can provide PAR reports as well EXAMPLE: “Tanker 1 from Command provide a PAR” TANKER 1 “ Tanker 1 is PAR 2 and operator is with the unit” IC: “ Copy PAR and operator with the unit” IC: “Tanker 1 operator from Command provide a PAR” TANKER 1 Operator: “Tanker 1 Operator is with the unit”

Personnel Accountability Reports (PAR) If any personnel are reported unaccounted for the IC only shall initiate immediate corrective actions. Personnel should not leave their designated assignment unless directed to do so by IC. Upon completion of the PAR the IC shall announce that the PAR is complete and incident radio traffic can resume.

Scene Accountability Incidents that grow beyond the Single Resources incident, and become too complex in size for the IC to effectively maintain an accurate accountability shall utilize Scene Accountability. The Incident Commander should consider the appointment of an Accountability Officer to handle personnel accountability. The IC/Accountability Officer shall collect all first due boards, vehicle collectors, personnel tags and make up tags that are in use or on scene within apparatus.

Initial arriving units may still have collectors left in the unit(s) Once Scene Accountability has been established the OIC/AIC of all additional arriving units shall bring their vehicle collector to the IC/Accountability Officer upon arrival at the scene. The Command/Accountability Board should be set up to maintain the accountability function in close proximity to the IC PAR’s shall be done as needed and/or directed by IC All PAR results should be immediately reported to the IC

Point of Entry Accountability Point of Entry Accountability is used at incidents where there are extreme hazard zones ( I.e. Haz Mat, Industrial,etc.) and accountability in those areas is needed in addition to Scene Accountability. The IC shall appoint an Entry Control Officer who shall maintain the integrity of the high hazard area

Point of Entry Accountability The Entry Control Officer shall utilize a First Due Collection Board to collect a second Personnel Name Tag from each person entering the high hazard area. The Entry Control Officer will then perform Accountability for the high hazard area and report to IC or Accountability Officer.

Functional Accountability Funtional Accountability shall be utilized on large scale incidents where it is expected that regional, State, Federal or private resources will be on scene. These incidents are challenging due to integrating different accountability systems or agencies with no system into the incident accountability.

Functional Accountability The IC shall establish a unified command and accountability shall be established as a function under the Incident Command System The accountability function shall be staffed with appropriate numbers and types of personnel and equipment to effectively manage incident accountability.

Demobilization Needs to be an orderly and planned process All resources shall only be released by the IC All units and personnel should check out and have their accountability resources returned to them as they are released. If ID tags remain after demobilization the IC shall initiate corrective actions