By Tino A. Yaccich

Personnel accountability requires a great deal of research to discover the correct system for your agency. It is important for the system to be easy to use and easily implemented by all agencies responding to the emergency while also being accurate and effective. I am a proponent of manual accountability, which I have used effectively for more than 13 years, but I would be a fool to tell you this is the only effective system. There are plenty of other systems that are on the market today that are very effective. For my department and others like it, the manual system has worked well for what we need.

However, I have recently been bombarded with card-style, electronic reading-types of credentialing. I fail to see how these systems will benefit the average emergency responder. It seems to me that we are over-thinking things a little. The systems that I have been exposed to require each responder to carry a card with a bar code which, when read with a hand scanner, will present his credentials to ensure that the responder is qualified to do certain jobs. This is a wonderful concept, except that the salesman failed to tell me what happens after people have been credentialed. Are we planning for the big 9/11-style event, or concentrating on day-to-day operations of responders? Are responders supposed to stand in a line while somebody reads their credentials with a scanner while the fire burns? There are many easier way to make sure people are qualified to do their jobs, as well as keep track of them.

First, concentrate on training. My department trains once a week. Our training officer is responsible to ensure that everyone in our department is up-to-date on their training. If not, he will schedule the type of training accordingly. Also, my department has standard operating procedures (SOPs) that must be strictly followed to ensure that everyone is on the same page when responding to incidents. Train exactly the way you expect to respond--it's paramount.

Regarding credentialing, the ABBET-RIT organization, a regional firefighter safety and survival resource (www.abbetrit.org), of which my department is a member, has developed a unique form of manual credentialing that uses helmet stickers. We have a very strict policy of selling these only to chiefs of departments, who must sign a release ensuring that the stickers will be issued only to qualified personnel. The stickers have a system to signify what each firefighter is qualified to do. If the rules are adhered to correctly, only qualified people will be used to do the job required of them. Again, this is a very effective way of credentialing manually without a computer. Firefighters do not need to stand in line while somebody waves a reader over their card before they will be allowed to perform a task which may save a life. After all, isn't that what we are here for anyway? Accountability should be the same. The system should be easy to use by all and not hinder people from doing the task that is asked of them.

The incident commander at any scene has plenty to worry about, so jobs should be assigned only to a person who is proficient in doing them. Regardless of the system selected to fulfill these tasks, responders need to understand and how to use the chosen system before there is an emergency. It should not have to be explained when you need it. I implore you to find and use a system that fits the type of emergencies you will be responding to. Don't overthink it!

Tino A. Yaccich is the accountability officer for the Beaver County (PA) Hazardous Materials team as well as numerous volunteer fire organizations in the Beaver County area. He has been with the fire service since February 1992. He became an accountability officer for Rochester Township (PA) Volunteer Fire Department in 1995. He is a cofounder of the ABBET-RIT Organization and coauthor of the Accountability System. He is a Pennsylvania State Fire Academy instructor. He has advised GE, Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security LLIS division, as well as several other organizations throughout the United States and abroad on accountability.

• 'Do You Have PAR?' by Tino Yaccich