ORGANIZING CREWS IN INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

ORGANIZING CREWS IN INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

Using an incident management system is both a requirement of contemporary firefighting standards and just plain good sense for the fireground commander. Such a system should provide guidelines for assigning resources to fulfill incident goals and objectives, establish accountability, provide communication channels, establish common understandable terminology, and provide for a command structure that can be adapted to any size or type of incident.

Several incident management systems have been established that satisfy these requirements. Among these are the National Fire Academy’s Incident Command System (NFA ICS), Phoenix Chief Alan Brunacini’s FIRE COMMAND System, and the California FIRESCOPE System. Many fire departments are using these systems in their generic form or adapting them to suit specific department requirements. Some departments have developed totally different but equally viable systems of their own.

Incident management systems are directed at strategic operations yet also must provide structure for the implementation of tactical operations. Though the incident commander must think strategically at all incidents, he or a subordinate commander must at some point during an incident direct the implementation of tactical operations.

The most frequently promoted designation of tactical assignments is by the standard resource designator of the individual company, such as Engine 3, Truck 1, and Rescue 2. Company designation works well in situations where a department can maintain the integrity of the company throughout the duration of an incident. The entire company organization principle is founded on the premise of an identifiable workforce associated with a specified piece of apparatus. Such a workforce is under the direction of a company officer. The force arrives together, works together, and leaves together. It is worthy to strive for such discipline and regimentation, but in how many departments in the United States are such discipline and regimentation a reality? In how many can this realistically be done?

Demographically, 80 percent of our nation’s fire departments are composed of all-volunteer firefighting forces. Another 10 percent are staffed with combination career/volunteer personnel. In these fire departments the situations are such that the majority of incident responses are not manned by the idealized, regimented company response.

Because of the organizational constraints of their departments, ICs cannot know for certain the number of personnel on a particular apparatus and who specifically is on board. These “unknown” factors present difficulties when designating an apparatus as a company to a specific tactical operation. Also, in many volunteer departments firefighters respond to incidents in their own personal vehicles and not as a member of a designated company. Some progressive volunteer departments have implemented preassigned company designations in an attempt to improve incident organization. Consider, though, what happens when only one member of a company responds to an incident and receives a company tactical assignment that requires six firefighters!

THE CREW CONCEPT

A more practical and understandable concept for the delegation and designation of tactical assignments is the designation of CREWS—or, as some have referred to them, standard tactical crews. Most incidents require a commitment of only two or three pieces of apparatus —no more than probably a dozen firefighters and the implementation of three to five tactical assignments. Would it not be more practical to regard the individual firefighter as the basic single resource for the majority of incidents, which are small in nature? Apparatus should be regarded perhaps not as a company designator but rather as a tool for incident mitigation. Individual resources (firefighters) then can be assembled into practical, identifiable tactical work units (CREWS) at the incident.

Crew concepts are mentioned only briefly in incident management texts. By definition the crew is a contingent of firefighters assigned to conduct a specific tactical fireground operation such as suppression, ventilation, or search and rescue. Keeping in context with the span-of-control principles advocated by current incident management texts, a crew should consist of two to five firefighters. The crew also requires an identified leader.

Crews differ from companies in organization and implementation. A crew is assembled for a tactical assignment from amongst the conglomerate of firefighters at an incident. Members of crews generally would not arrive together at an incident but would be assembled as a crew by the IC or other command officer and given a tactical assignment comparable to their abilities.

Crews can be designated in a number of ways. One is by the type of tactical operation being performed such as search and rescue, ventilation, and suppression. In situations where geographical location and not tactical operation is the major distinguishing characteristic of crews, they can be designated as Crew 1, 2, 3, and 4, corresponding to building floors. A, B, C, and D frequently are used during defensive mode operations or wildland and grassland fires.

Crew leaders may be bona fide fire officers or firefighters given such responsibility based on the circumstances. It is acceptable to designate the individual crews by the last name of the crew leader, such as Crew Jenkins or Crew Miller. Whatever the designation or identification system used, it is important to delegate a crew leader for every crew to maintain accountability and establish communication channels. The safety of firefighters thereby is maximized, and enhanced safety, in addition to enhanced effectiveness, is a primary objective of all incident management systems.

Departmental procedures for crew identification should be established by SOP—not the 1C—to negate the possibility of any communication confusion that could result from different ICs using different identification terminology.

Crew organization concepts are equally applicable in situations where all-career departments respond to incidents as companies. Granted, career departments are not affected by the unknowns of which or how many firefighters make up a given company. Though the department may respond as individual companies, frequently the company members are reshuffled into workforces not associated with their original company when the IC begins making tactical assignments.

WHEN TO USE CREWS

Take a routine car fire, fully involved, with no exposures as an example. The response of six firefighters and two engines provides a very simple example of the crew concept applied to a common incident. Typical tactics for this incident most likely would be the activation of two 1 1/2inch handlines to suppress the fire. One line simply may serve as a backup line. The command structure for this incident would be as follows: The IC directs Suppression Crew 1 and Suppression Crew 2.

Or consider a house fire 25 percent involved at 10 p.m. With three engines, an IC, and 18 firefighters responding, Figure 1 (below) could be a likely command structure. Simple modification of this command structure can accommodate 90 to 95 percent of the incidents a fire department encounters. Even if the IC does not refer to the individual crew by the name of the crew leader, the crew leader should always be noted for documentation purposes.

In those rare large incidents where the command abilities of fire officers are stretched to the limit and a multitude of resources are operational, the tactical crew also is a viable option. Strategically, the IC focusing on the big picture may have designated branches, groups, divisions, or sectors (depending on the incident management system used). At the lowest level of tactical implementation, the single resource still must be assigned by those in lower-level incident management positions.

figure 1.figure 2.

Imagine an incident large enough to involve a branch devoted to suppression. In such an incident the command structure could appear as complex as that in Figure 2 (above).

Crew organization also lends itself to more creative use of available single resources (firefighters) on the fireground. Forming crews allows the IC to delegate the expertise of the talents and abilities available in single resources to resolve incident problems. Thus a firefighter with considerable expertise in forcible entry could be freed from a company to lead a special forcible entry crew rather than be tied to some other tactical maneuver.

Implementing and using crews for tactical assignments can be an important step in the promotion of a workable incident management system. For those departments that have the resources and the regimentation to make effective incident management work using company assignments for tactical maneuvers, crew organization may not be a viable option. However, for the many departments in which company organization is not a reasonable expectation, crew organization can be the answer for accountable tactical assignments.

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