Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue Standard Operating Guidelines PDF

***Robert Rose, Deputy Chief Operations Greg Perez, Fire Chief*** Purpose: To confirm the current Strategy and IAP meets the incident's tactical requirements & adequately provides for worker safety. The biggest reason we continuously perform size-up, evaluation and revision is so our workers can...

***Robert Rose, Deputy Chief Operations Greg Perez, Fire Chief*** Purpose: To confirm the current Strategy and IAP meets the incident's tactical requirements & adequately provides for worker safety. The biggest reason we continuously perform size-up, evaluation and revision is so our workers can operate safely, complete the tactical priorities, and go home unharmed after the event. Scope: A standard front end ensures our incident operations remain under control from the beginning of the event and assures those operations occur within a structured plan. When the incident commander performs the standard command functions from the very beginning of the incident, it provides a basis for any revisions required to match the strategy and IAP to the current incident conditions. The ongoing evaluation of the incident's critical factors is the basis for managing the current Strategy and IAP ***and*** keeping it current (positions always match conditions). Definitions: **IC-** Incident Commander **RMP-** Risk Management Plan **IAP-** Incident Action Plan **IRR-** Initial Radio Report **ETN-** Elapsed Time Notification **CAN-** Conditions Action's Needs General Guidelines: **Carry out all Command Functions in a standard order** The initial arriving officer performs the first five functions of command during the first minute(s) of incident operations. The functions are arranged in the natural order in which the initial arriving officer performs them. This provides a standard system for managing the emergency scene. The command system is designed to achieve the tactical priorities in a regular fashion. The initial arriving officer uses the system to: - **Control the incident (establish command)** - **Determine the appropriate strategy and IAP** - **Manage incident communications** - **Request and assign resources** - **Decentralize the management process by assigning division officers** - **Review and evaluate operations and make the required changes** - **Transfer command to a later-arriving Battalion Commander** - **Complete the Tactical Priorities** - **Support the incident commander when necessary** - **Terminate command when the event is complete.** **Use Strategy & Action-Plan Review as the Revision Checklist** - **Firefighter safety** - **Does the current strategy match the current conditions** - **Location of attack** - **Size of attack** - **Effect of the attack** - **All affected areas searched** - **Timing and support** - **Adequate back up** - **Adequate resources** - **Achievement of tactical benchmarks** - **Have a Plan B?** IAP No. 1 is the IRR; it states that someone has arrived on scene, it describes the incident problem, it explains the incident strategy, describes the action taken, the resource needed to control the problem, and it establishes command of the incident scene. The minute or so that initial arriving officer spends making a good initial and follow up report, wraps together the first five functions of command and serves as the foundation for the first strategy and IAP. In many cases, this initial IAP and the effective assignment of 3 other units into the incident scene solves the incident problem. The typical Offensive Strategy and IAP looks like this: - We put out the fire - We search the occupancy - We revise the IAP from one that targets search, rescue and fire control to one that focuses on checking for fire extension, removing smoke, controlling the loss. - After achieving tactical benchmarks, we shift the IAP again, focusing on recycling/rehabbing personnel, fire investigation, securing the property, turning it back to the Responsible Party, and making sure the customer has the necessary after-fire support. **Quickly Make Strategy Transitions and IAP Revisions Based on the RMP and Changing/Forecasted Conditions** Once an attack is in place, all fire conditions behave in 1 of 2 ways; they are getting better or they are getting worse. After assigned resources have had a chance to assume their key tactical positions and begin operations, command must quickly determine their effectiveness on controlling the incident problems. - In general, a well-executed, offensive fire attack will quickly control the fire. - If the fire continues to grow despite control efforts, it is a sure sign the current plan is not working. - Command must quickly determine whether they can solve the problem by: 1. Reinforcing current positions or 2. Establishing key attack positions that are not covered If the fire is too big to control with handlines from interior positions, a strategic change from offensive to defensive is required. - This decision must take into account how long it will take to get required resources into position, as well as how long it will take to evacuate and account for interior crews if conditions continue to worsen.  When the current IAP doesn't solve the incident problem(s), command must reevaluate the IAP and revise based on incident conditions. References: *Blue Card Command SOP's, October 2018 update, Blue Card Command™*