Command and control ics chapter 13

• Transportation incidents include collisions, explosions, fires, and spills involving transportation vehicles.
• Transportation vehicles include trucks, trains, ships, aircraft, and pipelines.

General Transportation Types

• Aircraft incidents involve passenger, military, private, and commercial planes at airports, during approach, and in flight.
• Ground transportation incidents include trucks, buses, and multi-vehicle crashes on major thoroughfares.
• Pipeline incidents involve the transport of flammable and explosive materials over long distances, found in nearly every community.
• Railroad incidents include passenger and freight carriers, as well as subway and light rail systems.
• Ships and watercraft incidents focus on shipping in port and open water, including float aircraft and private watercraft.

Regulatory Agencies

• Numerous agencies regulate transportation and cargo, providing training, advice, and assistance
• These agencies include:
• U.S. Coast Guard
• National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
• Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• State and local agencies

Incident Characteristics

• Transportation incidents are frequently multi-casualty events.
• They may include fires, explosions, hazmats, mass evacuations, and environmental impacts.
• Preplanning involves analyzing trends, traffic patterns, special events, and commercial users of shipped goods.
• It involves identifying facilities with dangerous processes and hazardous cargoes.

Life Safety

• Life safety is the top priority.
• Consider the potential need for evacuation due to fire or hazmat.
• Consider the availability of law enforcement, reverse 9-1-1, and evacuation routes.
• Consider victim transportation, air ambulances and trauma centers
• Consider availability of ground ambulances, triage, treatment, and transportation components.

Fire Considerations

• Initial actions should include "Should the fire be allowed to keep burning?"; "What type of extinguishing agent should be used?"; "Is it more important to cool exposures rather than concentrate on extinguishing the fire?"; or "Is containment of run-off an issue?".
• Consider cargo hazards and outside agencies
• Decontamination may be needed
• Geography and weather will affect spills, runoff, and containment.
• Preserve evidence during overhaul.

Resource Management

• Adequate water supply at sufficient pressure is critical.
• Major incidents require resources beyond the first-alarm assignment.
• Know how to obtain specialized resources like foam, special agents, and rescue dogs.
• Develop relationships with local resources like law enforcement, public works, and transit personnel.
• Use the emergency operations center (EOC) for resource identification, purchase orders, and payments.

Construction Features of Vehicles

• Construction features like vehicle integrity, forcible entry, rescue, and collapse are vital.
• Materials include aluminum, steel, magnesium, and wood, which influence forcing entry and rescue.
• Built-in safety devices like air bags can be hazards.
• Military vehicles may contain munitions or ejection seats.

Collapse Potential

• Final vehicle position after impact is dangerous for rescuers and victims.
• Train derailments and high-speed highway incidents can lead to structural collapse.

Cue Recognition

• Recognize cues such as vehicle type, design, cargo, power source and placards
• Consider passenger presence.
• Consider the impact of weather on victims.

Strategy and Tactics

• Base strategies on the acronym LIP (Life Safety, Incident Stabilization, Property Conservation).
• Use caution with standard fire-attack methods.
• Diking may be needed to contain runoff.
• Consider safety zones and community impact.
• Commit first-alarm resources to actions with the greatest impact.

Firefighter Safety

• Prioritize safety, guarding against complacency.
• Consider debris, hazmats, wreckage shifting, and fire.
• Address emergency vehicle positioning, traffic, rehab, and protective actions.
• Locate command post, medical group, and staging away from potential hazards.

Preplanning

• Develop solid training programs with outside agencies.
• Hone skills in analyzing and sizing up incidents for better strategy development.
• Plan with thoroughness to be more effective in mitigation

Aircraft Transportation Incidents

• Expect smaller private planes and helicopters in the majority of incidents.
• High air ambulance usage increases crash risks.
• Evaluate specific dangers, likelihood of occurrences, and impact on response area.

Unique Challenges

• Plan for conflagration, extrication, serious injuries, fatalities, and psychological impact on responders.

Construction Materials

• Airframes and engine components are constructed of lightweight metals such as aluminum, magnesium, and titanium.
• Aluminum loses strength early
• Magnesium burns explosively
• Titanium makes extrication difficult

Fuel Types

• Military aircraft use highly volatile jet fuel
• Small private aircraft use 100-octane gasoline
• Turbine-powered helicopters use fuel similar to diesel, with low flame spread and high flashpoint.

Preincident Preparation

• Develop and regularly exercise a well-designed disaster plan.
• Determine likely target areas in your community.
• Ensure a strong interagency mutual-aid pact is in place.
• Develop a liaison with the military for joint training.
• Develop a solid relationship with the news media for broadcasting information.

Incident Considerations

• Know the type of aircraft and ownership.
• Passenger aircraft should be considered a serious mass-casualty rescue problem until confirmed otherwise.
• Freight aircraft should be treated as a hazmat incident until the cargo is determined.
• Military aircraft often carry weapons systems and explosive charges in ejection seats.

Unified Command Structure

• Develop a good working unified command structure.
• Have personnel available to document the incident.
• Establish a system to collect and mark evidence.
• Approach the crash site from multiple sides.
• Rotate personnel and be alert to signs of fatigue.
• Establish a medical group with triage, treatment, and transportation capabilities.
• Ensure the Planning Section gets regular weather reports.
• Know hospital and special-care unit availability.
• Ensure critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) is available.

Responder Safety with Helicopters

• Incorporate aircraft safety into training, especially for rotary-wing aircraft.
• Be aware of the dangers of the tail rotor and main rotors.
• Make eye contact with the pilot when directing a helicopter.

Ten Rules of Helicopter Safety

• Never walk uphill toward a helicopter; approach from the downhill side at a 45-degree angle.
• Never approach an operating helicopter from the rear unless directed by a crew member.
• Never disembark a helicopter walking uphill.
• Never approach an operating helicopter until directed by a crew member.
• Never carry long objects or leave loose objects near the main rotor.
• Never stand next to or on a skid.
• Never smoke within 200 feet.
• Always wear eye protection when a helicopter is operating.
• Keep authorized personnel a minimum of 100 feet from the aircraft.
• Keep spectators and vehicles at least 200 feet from the aircraft.

Recommendations

• Develop and practice a unified command structure.
• Develop a training program for safe operations around aircraft.
• Set up protocols for establishing landing zones and security.
• Establish staffing protocols for landing zones.
• Develop personnel knowledgeable about documentation and accountability.
• Set up a staging area with a separate radio frequency.
• Consider establishing branches from the onset.
• Ensure enough special extinguishing agents are available.
• Understand the likelihood of the 9-1-1 system being overwhelmed.
• Assign a chief officer to the dispatch center.

Ground Transportation Incidents

• Highway incidents on high-traffic roadways present numerous problems.
• Issues include limited access, traffic congestion, evacuation, medical treatment, fire suppression, hazmat, and water supply.
• Roads with a history of major incidents should be treated as target hazards and preplanned.

Construction of Vehicles

• Structural components range from wood and glass to exotic metals.
• Most vehicles use steel and cast metal, with aluminum and plastic body parts.
• Many vehicles have aluminum or magnesium wheels.
• Plastics, vinyl, rubber, and synthetics create toxic smoke.
• Safety devices like air bags and impact bumpers present hazards.

Stabilization

• Stabilize vehicles before beginning extrication and rescue operations.
• Components weakened by a crash may shift or collapse.

Preincident Planning

• Train personnel in highway operations
• Properly block the incident scene, set up detours, and adjust lights.
• Meet NFPA® 1901 standards
• Develop an effective unified command structure.
• Establish a strong medical component with the coroner’s office and public health.
• Train technicians for assistance at the command post and sections.
• Understand how to control the air space over the incident.
• Train company officers to give a complete initial report.
• Develop response procedures and preplan access in difficult areas.
• Know where specialized resources are and their response time.
• Have regular joint-agency training sessions.
• Stay current on policy and legislative changes.

Incident Considerations

• Establish an Incident Command System (ICS) early in the incident.
• The IC should manage risk, balancing risks and benefits continuously.
• Consider surroundings, incident facts, and responders (SIR).
• Maintain maximum traffic flow for responder safety.
• Develop a staging area on streets near personnel doors in sound walls, or reroute traffic to use adjacent lanes.
• A good size-up will match resources with incident needs and develop situational awareness.
• Hazard assessment blends into scene size-up.
• Develop scene security and traffic control.
• Project resource needs and reassess the hazard.

Responder Safety

• Weather conditions greatly impact both patients and responders.
• Reduce the speed of uninvolved motorists.
• Use law enforcement and highway workers for early scene security.
• Responders must wear full personal protective equipment.
• Implement NFPA® 1500 standards
• Adopt and enforce rules of engagement.
• Appoint an incident safety officer (ISO).
• Implement a personnel accountability system.
• Provide for emergency traffic communications.
• Control scene access.

Recommendations

• Understand various state, county, and local laws, policies, and resources.

Traffic Management

• Preplan detours and emergency routes for roadways.
• Establish and maintain scene control.

Communications

• Develop interoperability with outside agencies.

Incident Command System (ICS)

• Develop and practice a strong ICS with unified command.

Logistics

• Develop a plan to ensure availability of needed resources such as special agents, debris removal, and vehicle clearance.

Outside Agencies

• Develop relationships; train with and utilize outside agencies such as utility companies, highway workers, and police agencies.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)

• Have a CISD process in place.

Public Information Officer (PIO)

• Staff a PIO position early.

Preplans

• Preplan areas that have frequent incidents or unusual access problems.

Staging Area

• Establish and enforce the use of a staging area.

Resource Capability

• Understand resource capability.

Medical Area

• Ensure that the medical area is adequate.

Patient Transport

• Establish both ground- and air-movement capability.

Pipeline Transportation Incidents

• Gas pipeline explosions are unexpected, violent, and cause great loss of life and property.
• Pipelines can be aboveground or belowground, and range in size.
• Incidents can overload dispatch systems.

Construction and Contents

• Work with pipeline companies to understand potential problems.
• Interstate transmission lines are made of welded steel.
• Local distribution lines are made of PVC or iron pipe.
• Liquid pipelines carry multiple products under high pressure.
• Natural gas is lighter than air; mercaptan is added to local distribution lines.
• LPG is heavier than air; topography is critical for strategy and evacuation.

Preincident Preparation

• Understand products and potential impact on the community.
• Know locations (aboveground or belowground) and marking systems.
• Pipeline companies can help develop maps.
• Preplanning should address "Leak or fire?"; "Heavier than air or lighter than air?"; "What are the explosive limits?"; "Methods to control or stop leak?"; Evacuate or protect in place?"; and, "Extinguish the fire or allow it to burn?".

Shutdown Time

• Rapid shutdown mechanisms are essential in populated areas.
• Reduced pressure may lead to liquid pooling.

Contacts

• Maintain contact information for pipeline owners and utility companies.
• The liaison officer should work closely with these agencies before and during incidents.

Resources

• Consider resources outside the box such as the EPA.
• Preplan for localized systems used by industrial companies.

Incident Considerations

• Life safety may not be the first action.
• Conduct a risk/benefit analysis to develop the best strategy.
• Consider: impact of the weather, topography, evacuation plans, and extinguishing options.
• Include owners, operators, and agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, EPA, and OSHA in cleanup efforts.
• Ensure adequate support resources: hazmat teams, decontamination teams, and medical resources.
• Involve law enforcement early to secure the perimeter.
• Consider incident potential and weather when establishing sites for the command post.
• Document the incident and actions taken for after-action reviews and legal action.
• Plan for liquid pooling and contamination.
• Contact pipeline representatives early.

Recommendations

• Policies and strategies are influenced by resource availability, local and state laws, and agency direction.

Relationships

• Develop relationships and a mutual-aid system with other fire departments and allied local agencies.

Incident Command System

• Agencies must be fluent in ICS
• Understand and trust unified command.

Responder Safety

• Ensure enough resources to rotate crews.
• Establish multiple rapid intervention crews.
• Ensure responders have adequate and appropriate personal protection equipment.

Responder Accountability

• Maintain accountability of responders to reduce freelancing.

Public Information Officer (PIO)

• Establish a PIO very early.

Water Backup System

• Ensure that there is some type of backup system at water pumping stations

Railroad Incidents

• Determining the location of an incident is difficult due to the rural setting and lack of markers
• Understanding mile posts and local landmarks is essential
• Posting flaggers in both directions to warn oncoming trains is vital
• Notifying the railroad is paramount
• It is reasonable to assume that every incident involving a freight train will have a hazmat component.
• Confirm the contents of the railcars as soon as possible.

Types of Shipping Documents

• Consist: List of all cars in the train.
• Industry Switch List: List of local deliveries.
• Waybill: Document with routing information, charges, and product information.

Passenger Incidents

• Passenger trains almost always present a mass-casualty situation, requiring a well-conceived, medical plan.
• Doors will often be jammed due to damage caused by derailment
• Windows can be difficult if not impossible to break
• Railcars can be two stories in height with narrow stairways

Mass Transit Systems

• There are generally two categories of mass transit rail systems: light rail and heavy rail
• Light rail systems include trolleys, street cars, cable cars, trams, and train cars.
• Heavy rail systems are the more traditional rapid transit systems such as subways, Metro, BART, monorail, and elevated trains.

Special Situations

• If an incident occurs on a bridge or in a tunnel, there are some additional considerations and challenges

Construction

• Locomotives are generally constructed of heavy steel
• Doors can be narrow and hard to force, side windows can be an option
• Freight locomotives carry between 4,000 and 6,000 gallons of diesel.
• Passenger engines carry 1,800 to 2,200 gallons of diesel.

Preincident Planning

• Develop an emergency management plan to deal with major incidents of this type.
• A plan that is not reviewed and exercised is not worth the paper it is written on.
• Ensure you know safe radio frequencies to use
• Dead zones can affect both cell phones and radio comms
• Plan alternative solutions like cell towers or repeaters
• Look at expanding your accountability system
• Evaluate your community for likely trouble spots, the target hazards.
• Predetermine primary and secondary access routes

Incident Considerations

• Put flaggers at both ends of the incident scene as soon as possible as far as 2 miles from the crash site.
• Divide the incident scene into manageable areas as soon as possible.
• Establish multiple access points due to derailed cars and/or spilled cargo blocking the tracks.
• Usually the medical component is a major piece of the organization, especially if the incident involves a passenger train or other mass transit vehicles.
• Area hospitals should be made aware of the potential.
• The office of the Medical examiner can offer guidance in handling the deceased and other related evidence
• If the incident involves a train that is powered by an electrically energized third rail, the power to that rail must be shut down.

Responder Safety

• NEVER attempt to disconnect electric power cables.
• Never pass between cars or under them.
• Under no conditions disconnect air hoses
• When an electric locomotive is involved, never get on the roof or anywhere near the catenary system or the pantograph.
• Always step over the rails — never step on them.
• Keep aluminum ladders and other tools a minimum of 8 feet from the catenary system including guy wires.
• Be aware of sharp edges, uneven terrain, and shifting debris.

Recommendations

• Preplan and exercise these types of events as target hazards.
• Develop and foster partnerships and a unified command process with allied agencies.
• Always notify the railroads involved and post flaggers.
• Establish air monitoring.
• Ensure the stability of the locomotive and surrounding cars before entering.
• Shut off power to locomotives using the emergency shutoff valves
• Never climb on the roof of an electric train car or operate within 8 feet of any part of the catenary system.
• Remember that side windows are wider and easier to remove than front windows and can provide a good option for patient removal.

Shipping and Watercraft Incidents

• Marine fires and emergencies are some of the most resource-intensive and challenging incidents faced by a fire department.
• Land-based firefighters are the first line of defense and require special training.
• The U.S. Coast Guard relies on the fire service to take the lead when there is a fire onboard a ship.

Unified command that in addition to the fire department includes

• The ship’s master,

• U.S. Coast Guard

• Harbormaster/captain of the port.

• Other agencies or individuals who might get involved include:

• Insurance companies,

• Environmental agency,

• Owners of the ship and/or cargo

• Port officials.

• Another consideration for specialized response is cost recovery.

Preincident Planning

• Fires on ocean-going vessels are high-risk and low-frequency
• The solution lies in the cooperative efforts of all the stakeholders.
• Developing a mutual-aid compact that utilizes a regional response concept can benefit all the players.

Incident Considerations

• The problems are not of the same magnitude, but nevertheless there are problems
• It is vital to understand what your department faces.
• Should you establish single or unified command?
• Does your department have adequate water-rescue capability or do you need to call someone for assistance?
• Make sure your rescuers are properly equipped

Responder Safety

• Due to the variety of ships, cargo, and geographical size of these incidents, the potential hazards to firefighters are numerous.
• Always wear appropriate protective equipment.
• Understand the hazards of the involved watercraft.
• Divide the incident into manageable components with adequate supervision (branches, division, groups).
• Have an accountability system in place and activate it on a regular basis.

Recommendations

• Work on relationships before an incident.
• Become familiar with associated hazards and the the types of ships, watercraft, and cargoes that are typical for your response area.
• Assign adequate support, engine companies if necessary, to assist the medical component.
• Responde enough personnels that crew can be rotated and go to responder rehab as needed.
• If you have transportation hubs conduct familiarization drills on location
• Provide for critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) for appropriate incidents.
• Understand that a working knowledge of the ICS and a solid ICS organization is the key to success on a long-term incident.