THE FIRST FEW MOMENTS
FROM TIME TO TIME, younger firefighters ask me, “What do you do when you first pull up to an incident? What’s the first thing that runs through your mind? What are your priorities, your objectives? At times, things seem so confusing.”
You won’t get any argument from me on that point. To the untrained eye, our actions on the fireground do look like total mass confusion; in reality, it’s a form of organized confusion.
I like to respond by first explaining what is called a “command sequence.” The National Fire Academy teaches a model command sequence that consists of four parts: incident priorities, size-up, goals and objectives, and tactical operations. This system works well and covers all the bases; however, 1 personally think in terms of incident priorities, incident objectives, and tactical priorities.
INCIDENT PRIORITIES
LIFE SAFETY
First on the list of incident priorities is always the life safety factor. Protecting life is always a firefighter’s primary concern, and this must also include firefighters themselves. It’s vital that you don’t let firefighters become part of the life safety problem. If one firefighter gets injured, it takes other firefighters to care for him or her. When this happens you’d better consider calling for help, because, in effect, you just lost one productive company.
INCIDENT STABILIZATION
Incident stabilization is next. Some call this second priority “fire control,” but it’s important to think in broader terms. Many tasks are placed on the fire service today; we do more than just respond to fires. Incident stabilization is the correct way to think about this second step. Be it a mass EMS problem, haz-mat incident, or fire, it’s important to stabilize the incident.
PROPERTY CONSERVATION
In this phase, we’re talking about exposure protection, salvage, and overhaul. Remember your objectives as a fire department—to protect life and property.
INCIDENT OBJECTIVES
Incident objectives involve gathering information. The strategy for an incident is starting to develop as you gather information. But what should you think about? Number one is always life safety. Then look at exposures; consider confinement and extinguishment; ventilation is a must for safe interior attack. Last, and very important, is salvage and overhaul.
TACTICAL PRIORITIES
This third part consists of your tactical priorities or tactical considerations. Once again, the life safety factor is first. In a fire incident, think about forcible entry, laddering the building, search of all the floors, ventilation (always vital), hoseline placement, and salvage and overhaul.
TURN THE CORNER-THERE IT IS
Usually I’m told at this stage of the conversation that this all sounds well and good, but what about the first few’ moments? What do you do? What are your on-scene priorities? What actions do you take when you turn the corner and there it is?
The first thing I do is establish an incident command system. This is not hard to do. Tell the dispatcher or the responding district chief exactly what you’re looking at—a fire, haz-mat incident, EMS problem, or whatever it is— and end the message by stating that you will take command.
Example: “Ladder 8 to Chief 4—we’re at 123 Main Street; two-story woodframe, fire on the second floor; side one; Ladder 8 has Main Street command.”
Keep track of your resources. Give other responding units an assignment or task to accomplish. Have a plan, some course of action to follow to get the incident under control. Know where your people are and what they’re trying to accomplish. Use a resource status sheet if necessary so you can relay this vital information to the district chief or other senior officer when they arrive to take over command.
THE FIRST FEW MOMENTS
The second priority is to conduct site management. It’s imperative that you get control of the incident. This might mean calling for help from the police department for crowd control or the highway patrol for traffic control, for example.
The third priority is to identify the problem. Why were you called? What has to be taken care of? What exactly is the problem? Determine what the problem really is and not what it’s just thought to be.
The next priority, hazard/risk/benefit assessment, is very important. What are the hazards involved and the risks to our firefighters compared to the benefits that could be gained? Look at the overall picture. At a fire, for example, step back and take a good look around. Search to find any hazards that could create more problems. Firefighters tend to have “tunnel vision” at a fire. All they see or concentrate on is the fire. It’s the responsibility of the incident commander and chief officers to protect life and property. This includes firefighters. The first-in engine and truck companies save more civilian lives than anyone else; the incident commander and chief officers save more firefighters’ lives than anyone else. Think, use common sense, take a good look, and determine the benefit. Don’t risk lives for brick and stone.
The next priority is to don the proper level of personal protection. This is usually full turnout gear. This is for everyone—including the incident commander, chief officers, and your equipment operators. When dealing with a haz-mat problem, this priority is even more critical. Make sure that you have enough information to decide on what the proper suit will be.
Another priority is to coordinate information and resources. Ask youself this question: With the information that I have about this incident, do I have the resources at the scene to handle it properly? If you don’t know, call for additional resources; if you’re not sure call for additional resources. If you do have enough resources, handle the problem. Remember to call for help before you commit your last rig.
The seventh priority is to confine and control the problem. Do whatever iu takes to confine the problem. This might mean that you should concern’ trate your efforts on exposures during a fire, diking for a spill, etc. Once it’s confined, seek ways to control the problem. This might mean turning off a valv& at a haz-mat incident, plugging a leak, or using master streams to control a fire.
After a haz-mat incident is stabilized, think about decontaminating your tools, equipment, and people. Think about picking up your equipment at a fire. You are thinking about demobilization.
The next step is to terminate the run. Remember that “first in, last out” is not the best way to do things. It makes more sense to think in terms of “first in, first out.” The last step is to gather enough information so that the incident can be properly documented.
Do you have lots of things to think about? Yes. Is it possible to cover all the bases? Absolutely. It’s very important to develop a system that works for you. Remember, no matter what system you use or develop on your own, it takes practice. Put yourself in the incident commander’s position on every run. Get used to thinking in terms of a command sequence. Remember your on-scene priorities. Run the incident through your mind, and try to improve on the actions that were taken. It takes time and experience to become efficient as an incident commander. Use common sense thinking and look at the whole picture. Remember your priorities—life safety, incident stabilization, and property conservation. Remember, incident commanders and chief officers save firefighters’ lives—that’s our greatest resource. Keep all this in mind and hopefully you’ll be prepared for the first few moments.
