Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue Personnel Accountability System PDF

**PURPOSE** The purpose of this policy is to identify an accountability system to ensure the safety of all personnel operating in a hazard zone. **POLICY** It is the policy of the Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue to maintain personnel accountability by defining the roles and responsibilities, wh...

**PURPOSE** The purpose of this policy is to identify an accountability system to ensure the safety of all personnel operating in a hazard zone. **POLICY** It is the policy of the Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue to maintain personnel accountability by defining the roles and responsibilities, when to use the accountability system, when to establish accountability, the use of personal accountability reports, and its implementation on mutual aid incidents. **PROCEDURE** **DEFINITIONS** - **Personnel Accountability Report (PAR)**: Roll call to the Company Officers and/or Division Supervisors of **ALL** personnel assigned to the Hot Zone - **'T' Card:** A write-in card for accountability. Typically used on multiagency or complex incidents. - **Telestaff**™ **Daily Roster:** provides a list of members and which units they are assigned for the day. - **Tactical Worksheet:** A template designed to record incident deployment and actions during an incident to include resource status, resource assignment, personnel inventory, tactical benchmarks, an incident time scale, etc. - **Command Board:** A dry erase board (with markers) located on all first out fire apparatus and command vehicles to maintain command and accountability and to provide initial accountability and tactical drawing(s) for the Incident Commander or designee. - **APAA:** Personnel Accountability Software I. **ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES** A. **Operations Chief:** 1. Is responsible for the implementation, supervision, and periodic review of the Personnel Accountability System. B. Training Chief: 2. Shall ensure all necessary training regarding the Personnel Accountability System. C. Incident Commander: 3. Shall maintain an awareness of all resources at emergency incidents. 4. Retains overall responsibility for accountability and implementation of the Incident Command System. 5. Shall ensure accountability is maintained throughout the duration of an incident. D. Support Officer: 6. Shall enhance the accountability system during incidents by completing and maintaining the tactical worksheet with all units assigned to the incident, group/division assignments, staging, etc. 7. May use the APAA software as an additional form of accountability for all units assigned. E. Battalion Commander: 8. Notify the company officers in his region and other Battalion Commanders of any changes to the Telestaff ™ daily roster. 9. Will have a printed copy of the current Telestaff™ daily roster on their apparatus. F. Company Officers: 10. Will have a printed copy of the current Telestaff™ daily roster on the assigned apparatus. 11. In the event of a staffing change, a new roster will be printed and placed on the apparatus. 12. Shall always be accountable for assigned crew or division personnel assigned. II. **USE OF THE PERSONNEL ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM** G. The Personnel Accountability System will be mandatory at all incidents based on one or more of the following criteria: H. Presence of three (3) or more Fire Department Units operating at the incident scene. I. On scene of a hazardous materials incident. J. The presence of an IDLH atmosphere. K. At all structure fires. L. As deemed necessary by the officer in command. III. **ESTABLISHING INCIDENT ACCOUNTABILITY** M. The first officer on scene shall be responsible for implementation of the Personnel Accountability System when initiating or assuming Incident Command. N. Command shall declare who will be responsible for accountability their "Follow Up Report" after their Initial Radio Report. O. Upon arrival, the first Battalion Commander or Chief Officer will assume command and accountability. P. 13. APAA can be used to help with large/complex incidents as a tool to track personnel on scene. IV. **PERSONNEL ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT (PAR)** Q. A PAR should only be requested by command after an emergency traffic declaration. The report method will be one of the two following: 14. When directed by Command to provide a PAR upon exit, Unit identification and PAR will be reported to directly to Command or division supervisor immediately after exiting the hot zone. 15. Command will conduct a roll call only to the units operating in the hot zone. Units will reply with unit identification and a PAR. V. **MUTUAL AID ASSISTING ON EVENTS** 16. In the case that we send/receive Mutual Aid to/from another Agency, accountability shall be maintained for each unit utilizing the following procedure: R. Establish Unified Command with the responding agency when possible 17. Receiving mutual aid - The Incident Commander or designee shall write in the Mutual Aid Agency, unit 'radio identification' and number of personnel assigned to the Unit on the Command Board and/or tactical worksheet. \[Example: AFD Engine 7 (4 personnel)\] 18. Providing Mutual aid -- A Battalion Commander will provide Telestaff™ roster to agency incident commander. S. Consider the use of "T" Cards for complex or multi-agency incidents. VI. **USE OF APAA -- PERSONNEL ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE** T. 19. At a minimum the support officer should use the software to ensure the radios are on the right channel and can view all personnel on the dashboard of the APAA software. U. V. APAA is a tool to be used and is not a requirement of the accountability system. W. **REVIEW/REVISED** **[May 2023]**: - Changed references to name of department BCFR. - Added the use of APAA software for accountability. - Added section VI. USE OF APAA -- PERSONNEL ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE.