During a fire department response to a structure fire, controlled chaos is often the best case scenario.
With the potential for the situation on the ground to change in an instant—whether via backdraft, flashover, or collapse—remotely deploying and managing ground and support personnel can be a herculean task, especially when there's multi-agency coordination.
Here, firefighter accountability systems and strategies can help an incident commander and the incident management team keep track of who's on the emergency scene and where, what tasks they're handling, and their current safety status.
But how does this fire response management software work? And what benefits does it provide?
Let's review.
What Is A Fire Accountability System?
Since the inception of NFPA 1500—The Standard for Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program—firefighter accountability has been spotlighted as an essential element of any fire department's incident response safety strategy. Yet, far too often, the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program has cited an insufficient firefighter accountability system as a contributing factor to dozens of potentially preventable line-of-duty-deaths (LODDs).
Historically, this inadequacy was largely due to fire department reliance on manual accountability systems that are cumbersome for personnel to use. As is often the case with almost any manual-based system, these were inherently limited—they required the firefighters to manually input notifications and maintain data resulting in a system that is error prone.
So, while tags, riding lists, and passport tags could create some accountability over an incident response, it often lacks enough real-time data to provide reliable,
actionable value to command, particularly if they were stationed offsite or dispersed in the apparatus.
But many of these safety issues have been remedied with the emergence of automated fire accountability software.
What Are the Benefits of Automated Fire Response Management Systems?
For firehouses across the country, installing a Personal Accountability Management System (PAMS) has been a total game changer, enabling them to maintain an accurate, real-time record of any incident response.
How does it work?
The automated, cloud-based solution integrates with existing response workflows and can be accessed via a mobile app or browser by any personnel to:
- Log new incidents
- See where personnel, responding staff, and resources are deployed
- Respond to an incident
- Share their destination and ETA to the scene
- Track on-scene responders in real-time
For incident commanders and management teams, this continuous, two-way, communications channel makes it possible to passively update and track and manage all responding and operating personnel. Armed with this knowledge, incident commanders are better prepared to deploy their forces, respond immediately to on-scene changes, and ensure the safety of every single boot on the ground. As Fire Rescue 1 points out:
"Real-time updates from multiple sources can help incident commanders on the ground plot fire activity, the location of hand lines and where unit assets are located. Quickly capturing and sharing vital information is key to the safe, effective and efficient conduct of emergency operations, and paramount for providing a safer work environment for firefighters."
To protect your personnel and foster the best outcomes, you need to know the answers to who, what, when, and where. Fire department response software keeps you in-the-know, acting as an end-to-end accountability solution that creates a unified operations and accountability picture across every single incident.
Incident Management Technology—Personnel Accountability Software Your Team Can Rely On
For practically every industry, automation has played a crucial role in optimizing various processes. And while many of these are meant to streamline business tasks and cut costs, there are some that provide even more intangible value, seeing as they have the potential to save lives.
Enter IMT's Personal Accountability Management System.
From pre-incident to incident response to incident management, our comprehensive firehouse accountability solution provides your department with the tools it needs to facilitate real-time accountability, viewability, and management of all personnel and responders.
The time for manual-based accountability is over. We've entered a better, safer age—the era of automated accountability.
Want to see how the PAMS could transform your response management? Schedule a demo today.
Sources:
NFPA.Standards Guide 1500.
https://www.nfpa.org/Assets/files/AboutTheCodes/1500/Standards_Guide_1500_1720_1851.pdf
CDC. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/investigations/completedinvestigations/completedinvestigations.html
Fire Rescue 1. How real-time accountability improves response, safety.
https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-products/fire-software/articles/how-real-time-accountability-improves-response-safety-dfBNLztiKCCxZjMR/