Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue Field Operations PDF

Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES Field Operations Effective Date 2/2016 Revised Date:2/2024...

Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINES Field Operations Effective Date 2/2016 Revised Date:2/2024 4.1 Response Source Documentation: NFPA 1710 Overview It is the responsibility of all fire department personnel to respond to all incidents dispatched in a safe and timely manner. In order to do so, all personnel will adhere to criteria as described. This criterion is necessary in order to balance safety during response with the performance measures established for the department. Purpose This policy is intended to describe response criterion for fire & rescue apparatus based on predetermined performance measures. This will not, however, trump the decisions of our officers when based on a bona fide need for the safety of the public or our firefighters. Such decisions will be weighed carefully based on the risk(s) versus the benefit(s) and then documented in the respective electronic report. Definitions Firebox: A predetermined area within a fire district. Each firebox is given a number location. The prefix to each firebox number is the fire district number. This number is associated with a computer-aided dispatch system and GIS location. Clawson™ MPDS: Medical Priority Dispatch System. [EMD Codes: 1-36] Clawson™ FPDS: Fire Priority Dispatch System. [EFD Codes 51-83] Code 1: A term used to describe a response mode without the need for lights and sirens. The dispatched unit(s) will respond to a specified incident in a non-emergent fashion. Code 3: A term used to describe a response mode with the need for lights and sirens. The dispatched units(s) will respond to a specified incident in an emergent fashion. Single-Unit Response: A term to define either a single engine/quint; or single rescue unit is required. A single unit response is determined based on specific MPDS/FPDS codes. Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander. Dual-Unit Response: A term to define the combined response of an engine/ladder with a rescue unit. A dual unit response is determined based on specific MPDS/FPDS codes. First Alarm: A term to identify the first group of units being dispatched to an incident based upon community risk analysis and critical tasking. Second Alarm: A term used to describe a standardized set of units determined to increase the resources activated to augment the first alarm. Third [or higher] Alarm: A term used to describe increased resources beyond a first and second alarm response. These resources may come from other county regions; however, it is desirable to activate closer units through the use of existing mutual-aid agreements. Wildland First Alarm: A term used to describe a standardized set of units for wildland fires. Wildland Second Alarm: A term used to describe a standardized set of units used to increase the resources activated within a wildland first alarm. Assigned Move-Up (AMU): A term used to describe the activation of units to relocate to another region or station within the county in order to provide response coverage in the area. Turnout Time: A performance based on NFPA 1710 standard time measurement that will begin upon activation of the fire station alerting system; or, radio communication notification of an incident. Travel Time: A performance based on NFPA 1710 time measurement that will begin upon notification by a unit that they are enroute to an incident either by voice on the radio or MDT to the time that the unit has arrived at the designated location. Effective Response Force (ERF): ERF is the minimal amount of personnel necessary to mitigate an incident based upon critical task analysis. Support Unit- A unit that is designated to have additional equipment to support the operations of a Truck company. Guidelines: The following is the Structure fire first and second alarm run configuration as based on community risk assessment/standards of cover module 3 determinations. North and South with hydrant. o 1st Alarm: 2 Engines, 1 Truck, 3 Rescues, 2 BC, 1 FMO/support unit. o 2nd Alarm: additional 2 Engines, 1 Truck/Ladder, 1 Rescue, 1 BC North and South without hydrant o 1st Alarm 2 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Rescues, 2 Tenders, 2 BC, 1 FMO/support unit. Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander.  o 2nd Alarm additional 2 Engines, 1 Truck/Ladder, 1 Rescue, 1 BC West Mesa o 1st Alarm: 3 Engines, 1 Rescues, 2 Tenders, 2 BC, 1 FMO /support unit o 2nd Alarm: additional 2 Engines, 1 Rescue, 1 BC East without hydrant o 1st Alarm: 3 Engines, 1 Rescue, 3 Tenders, 2 BC, 1 FMO /support unit. o 2nd Alarm: additional 2 Engines, 1 Rescue Commercial and Multi–Family Structure Fire o North/South: 4 Engines, 2 trucks/ladders, 4 Rescue, 3 BC, 1 FMO /support unit. o East: 5 Engines, 2 Rescues, 3 Tender, 2 BC, 1 FMO /support unit o Additional units as specified by the Incident Commander Support Unit: The support unit will respond to all first-alarm fires. This unit will level one upon arrival and await assignment. The support unit is combined with the DFM response unit to accomplish both tasks of getting a fire investigator to the scene and the needed additional equipment needed to support the truck company. Assigned Move-Up (AMU) : This is typically performed when multiple regional units are assigned to a major event. AMU will be at the discretion of a chief officer or the regional Battalion Commander that remains in- service during a first alarm response in coordination with the other region’s respective Battalion Commander. It is preferred to have AFR assist the North and South regions with mutual aid to respond to incidents rather than moving units. Due to the unique circumstances of the East region, it is preferable to use BCFR units to maintain response coverage. The desire is to maintain two Engines and two Rescues in the East region whenever possible. It is preferred that the North and South regions provide one Engine and one Rescue each when all units are busy with a large fire event. The predesignated move-up units are as follows: E-30, R-36, E-34 and R- 38. If the predesignated units are unavailable, then the units may be substituted at the discretion of the third Battalion Commander. The units selected to send to the AMU are at the discretion of the third Battalion Commander or Chief Officer. When practical, the third Battalion Commander (commander not assigned to the incident) or Chief Officer should make an effort to communicate with the Battalion Commander from whom the moves-up will come from, before the move-ups are done. The unit location for East coverage is as follows: Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander.  Station 40: E-30 Station 43: E-34 Station 46: R-36 Station 41: R-38 Response Times: The department monitors response times in an effort to ensure the proper delivery of service. When analyzed, the repose times are broken down into categories by stages, level of risk, type of response, and response area type. The department considers the north and south valley as urban, and the east region as rural. Reference the Department’s CRA-SOC for further details. Turnout Time: The benchmark for BCFR is a turnout time of less than or equal to 60 seconds for Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) call types and 80 seconds for Fire Priority Dispatch System (FPDS) call types. Travel Time: The benchmark for BCFR travel time is dependent on location. All risk levels and types of response are the same. Travel time begins with the first unit responding until the arrival of the first unit on the scene. o Urban travel time is 4 minutes or less. o Rural travel time is 11 minutes or less Effective Response Force (ERF) The benchmark for BCFR ERF time is dependent on the type of response, risk level, and area. ERF begins with the first unit responding until the arrival of the predetermined number of personnel it will take to mitigate an incident based upon the critical task analysis. Structural and Wildland Fire Response Moderate Maximum Low Risk Risk High Risk Risk Travel Time Effective Response Force Urban 4 min 8 min 8 min 8 min (ERF) Concentration Rural 11 min 18 min 23 min 23 min 6 min 20 10 min 20 10 min 20 10 min 20 Total Response Time Effective Urban secs secs secs secs Response Force (ERF) Concentration 13 min 20 20 min 20 25 min 20 25 min 20 Rural secs secs secs secs EMS Response Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander.  Moderate Maximum Low Risk Risk High Risk Risk Travel Time Effective Response Force Urban 6 min 8 min 8 min n/a (ERF) Concentration Rural 11 min 13 min 13 min n/a Total Response Time Effective Urban 6 min 10 min 10 min n/a Response Force (ERF) Concentration Rural 13 min 15 min 15 min n/a HAZMAT and Technical Rescue Response Moderate Maximum Low Risk Risk High Risk Risk Travel Time Effective Response Force Urban 4 min 8 min 8 min 8 min (ERF) Concentration Rural 11 min 13 min 13 min 13 min 6 min 50 10 min 50 10 min 10 min 50 Total Response Time Effective Urban sec sec 50 sec sec Response Force (ERF) Concentration 13 min 50 15 min 50 15 min 15 min 50 Rural sec sec 50 sec sec Arrival Time: The time upon arrival at the dispatched, staging, command post, mission initiation (SAR) or stand-by location. Upon arrival at the location the unit will status “arrived” via voice (radio) or MDT. When arriving and needing to await clearance from law enforcement, the unit will advise that they have “arrived, but awaiting clearance from law enforcement” and then advised of the staged location. Response determination It is generally accepted that all responses for BCFR units originate from the communications center as a result of a 911 caller. This is considered the norm for the sake of argument. However, it is recognized that events can originate through self-dispatching or things we may encounter or happen upon during the normal course of duty. In any case, all responses will be recognized and communicated to the Bernalillo County Emergency Communication Center. This provides the foundation for an organized and efficient classification of calls for service and the resulting response of our units. The foundation of our system is to send the appropriate number and type of unit(s) based on community risk assessment. Given this foundation, nothing within this guideline is intended to inhibit the decision -making of our personnel when based on consideration for life safety and the best interest of the public. Regardless, the specific run- Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander. strings designations should not be modified without justifiable cause and must be justified in the report. Response by call type and severity: Through the use of the Clawson™ MPDS/FPDS systems, the BCECC classifies and codes the calls for service that they receive. The fire department administration, with assistance from the Medical Control Director, determines the appropriate response of our units. In general, the availability of the closest resource type will determine our response. When needed, the assistance of outside agencies may be utilized based on mutual and automatic aid agreements. The response criterion by call type for BCFR is demonstrated in Appendix A (CRA/SOC) as attached to this document. The general foundation for MPDS and FPDS response is based upon the department’s critical incident task analysis, specific exceptions include: A “LH”, which designates a special code for Mountain Search & Rescue events. The Battalion Commander will coordinate and determine appropriate response units. All “33” MPDS codes are considered as patient transfers. These are considered ambulance only calls. The exception is BCFR will only respond to a 33 when there is a condition where the transfer situation developed an emergent condition. This is further defined within the appendices. MPDS/FPDS crossover phenomena: this is a general conflict that can occur where departments may only use MPDS. Thus, the system has provided fire-based emergencies in the medical categorization. For example, o An MPDS 7-Echo is essentially the same thing as a FPDS 69-Echo. It is our intent to ensure that the department's response is consistent in such occurrences. A modified alarm configuration can be applied to specific severe MPDS categories. All “52” FPDS codes include alarm activations. The general alarm activation response from BCFR includes a dual-unit response, adding the regional Battalion Commander for commercial or high life hazard occupancies. For Automatic Aid, this is modified by specific rules contained within the AA agreement with the Albuquerque Fire Rescue. All “67” FPDS codes include outside fires which may include specific instances where a “wildland first alarm” is utilized. All “69” FPDS codes include structure fires which include specific instances where a “first alarm” is utilized. For Automatic Aid, this is modified by specific rules contained within the AA agreement with the Albuquerque Fire Rescue. Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander. Response by severity, code 1 and code 3 response modes: The response mode of our apparatus is determined either as emergent or non-emergent. This translates as follows. o Code 1: Non-emergent, no lights or sirens o Code 3: Emergent, lights and siren The general foundation for determining response mode is as follows: Alpha – Code 1 Bravo – Code 1 Charlie – Code 3 Delta – Code 3 Echo – Code 3 Omega – Code 1 Specific exceptions that modify the response mode include: The specific response mode by call type is designated for all codes in the attachment Appendix A. 29 Bravos (MVAs), units will respond code three as long as the operator of the unit determines safe to do so. Code three response for MVAs is only to assist with getting through traffic to the incident and should be done so with caution. Factors that interfere with a safe emergent response as determined by the driver/operator, Company Officer, Battalion Commander, or Chief Officer. For example: A unit is responding on the interstate highway with a posted speed limit of 75 mph; and, the unit is only capable of driving a maximum speed of 55 mph. Another example, a unit is responding during a snowstorm and road conditions are icy. If due to known patient condition (CAD notes) and with consideration of the best interest of the public, the Officer or Paramedic decides to respond code 1 to a Charlie level call the reason for code 1 response must be narrated in the unit times area of the report. If the unit downgrades to code one due to the safe operation of the unit; the author of the report must indicate that they were “code 3 then downgraded to code 1”. Justification of the downgrade must be narrated in the unit times area of the report. Factors that inhibit an efficient response or may cause a non-emergent event to become Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander.  emergent. For example: If units are responding to a classified non-emergent event from a great distance or are blocked by excessive traffic. Another example, a unit is responding to an escalating event like a small outside fire that has been determined to have the potential to escalate or threaten structures. o If the unit upgrades to code three, the author of the report must indicate that they were “code 1 then upgraded to code 3”. Justification of the upgrade must be narrated in the unit times area of the report. Multi-unit responses, the first arriving unit will quickly assess and determine if additional responding units are needed in a Ccode or non-code response mode. As soon as practical, additional units will be downgraded/upgraded or canceled as appropriate. Ambulance response The response performance criterion for the ambulance company are defined within the current contract. The following provides a summary of notable rules for daily operations: Ambulance response modes, in general, include: o Alpha – Code 1 o Bravo – Code 1 o Omega – Code 1 o Charlie – Code 3 o Delta – Code 3 o Echo – Code 3 “Advise” Calls – The ambulance service will not respond unless specifically requested in a case that is out of the norm. These “advise” calls are further described within the appendices. ILS response- AAS has obtained authorization to respond with an AEMS (EMT-I) to some calls due to level of severity. See Appendix for authorized ILS response codes. o If AAS dispatches an ILS unit to any calls other than those mentioned in Appendix C, an EMS QA shall be submitted. All “33” MPDS codes are considered patient transfers. These are considered ambulance- only calls. The exception is BCFR will only respond to a 33 when there is a condition where the transfer situation developed an emergent condition. This is further defined within the appendices. AAS will dispatch a transport unit (if available) on structure fires coded as 69 Deltas according to FPDS. AAS Dispatch will code these calls as a 7B2. AAS will respond Code 1 until “Command” either upgrades them to Code 3 for a confirmed patient or cancels them upon reaching the benchmark of “All Clear” on primary search while Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander.  operating in the offensive strategy. If fire is determined to be in a defensive strategy, Command will cancel the unit after confirmation of no patients. It is expected that Command will cancel or upgrade the AAS unit responding early in each incident to ensure that unit is cleared and available for other system needs. Upon arrival of the AAS unit, the crew and unit will be staged outside of the immediate fire operational area. The responding AAS unit will switch to designated TAC CHANNEL, function within the NIMS system, and report to Command or designee upon arrival. Transfer of patient care other than on scene (intercepts) The Department’s position is to ensure safe, efficient and comfortable transport of patients to area hospitals as necessary. BCFR will not intercept with AAS to transfer patient care from mutual aid areas of the county, or if transportation has already been initiated. If BCFR begins transporting a patient, then the unit should continue to the destination hospital. If an additional provider is needed due to protocol or patient acuity the transporting unit may request AAS to intercept, and the AAS provider will assist in the BCFR transporting unit. Long Duration Events Some events require units to stand-by to mitigate an incident i.e., power lines down, SWAT standbys. The intent is to relieve these crews every three hours until the event is mitigated or transferred to another agency (PNM, NM Gas). The regional Battalion Commander should relieve crews as necessary to ensure meeting the crew’s physical needs. If the event is in an automatic aid area, BCFR will maintain three- hour watches then request relief from AFR Alarm. It might be necessary for the respective Battalion Commander speak to their AFR counterpart to ensure a smooth transition of units. * Department SOGs should be precise but inherently flexible, permitting an acceptable level of discretion that reflects the nature of the situation and the judgement of the incident commander.