It’s easy to sit back and talk about how well your accountability system works, but the facts show that the fire service is still a long way from mastering accountability on the fireground. Many near-miss reports and NIOSH reports identify accountability–or the lack of it–as a contributing factor to the incident or a recommended area for improvement for the department involved.
And remember: It’s not how well your system worked last month or last year, it’s how well it will work today, when your incident is really going downhill and you have a collapse or flashover and need to know the names and locations of all your troops.
Making an accountability system work is like being a vegetarian: It’s a lifestyle that takes commitment and dedication. Everyone from the fire chief to the firefighter on the street must continually focus on making the system work. It requires both hardware–things like tags, boards or computers–and people for the system to really work when needed.
Following are a few factors that contribute to the effectiveness of an accountability system.
SOPs
Every good accountability system will have standard operating procedures (SOPs) that provide clear direction for the system’s use. Even the simplest system needs operational guidelines to be consistent. When you’re drilling on accountability, start with the SOPs. Most of us have a good handle on the part where we log in or put tags on the dash of the apparatus, so look deeper. Review aspects such as who serves as the accountability officer before a designated officer arrives, or what to do when you have more than one entry point into the hazard zone.
In addition, use accountability training to determine appropriate benchmarks when you’ll call for a personnel accountability report (PAR) during an incident. Catastrophic events such as flashover or collapse will of course trigger the call for a PAR, but you should also determine other benchmarks, such as bringing the fire under control, where a PAR may be appropriate.
Everyday Use
Just like our incident management system, we must find ways to use our accountability system on a day-to-day basis. We can’t save the accountability system just for the big ones where we think our personnel could be lost or trapped. Making it work day to day will help ensure its use and success when you really need it.
Find ways to use whatever system you have in “routine” incidents and training. If you use a PAR tag system in which each crew member’s name is on a passport card, place a duplicate of the accountability board in your training classroom. Ask companies or crews reporting to a training program to place their tags on the board just like they would at an incident. The more we use and think about accountability, the better the system works.
In addition, think about how often you use your department’s accountability system in incidents other than structure fires. Look for incidents where you may only have a couple of units operating, such as an automatic alarm or motor vehicle accident. At the conclusion of the incident, ask for a quick roll call as if you’d just had a partial building collapse. This enables you to practice with your system and demonstrates to your crew that your department takes using the accountability system seriously.
Regular practice will also reveal problems, allowing you to address them through training before a mayday situation occurs. Common problems include crewmembers “wandering off” on the fireground or failing to check in.
Play with Others
Few fire departments in today’s environment work in a bubble. More and more of us use mutual or automatic aid with our surrounding departments. For accountability to really work, our systems have to be similar or at least be able to “plug into” one another. Accountability is an ideal topic for a drill with your mutual-aid groups or fire departments in your county.
Don’t forget about other agencies or organizations, such as law enforcement, EMS and public works that may need to be involved in incidents but don’t have a formal accountability system–how will you “plug” them into the system when needed? In my department, we carry blank accountability tags and a grease pencil so that we can write in the names and agencies of personnel from law enforcement or other agencies. If your system is computerized, determine ahead of time whether and how you can easily add people to the system.
Make the Commitment
How well your accountability system works on the day you really need it will depend on what steps you take today. Everyone must be committed to the process for it to work. That commitment starts with using the system as often as possible on your day-to-day operations and training.
Drill 1: Familiarity
Step 1: Whenever you’re conducting hands-on type drills, such as live-fire training in a burn building or an acquired structure, incorporate a section on the accountability system.
Step 2: During the exercise, reinforce the use of the accountability system by calling for a personnel roll call.
Step 3: Each company officer should respond that their crew is intact and accounted for.
Drill 2: Communications
Step 1: Most accountability systems rely heavily on good radio communication skills to reinforce crew status and location. With your crew, review both your accountability and communications SOPs to show how the two are connected. Review the importance of working in pairs and maintaining visual or voice contact with your crew. Also discuss the demarcations of the hazard zone, since that will determine which crewmembers are subject to a PAR. The pump operator may not be inside, but they’re still considered to be in the hazard zone.
Step 2: Discuss the balance between maintaining accountability and micromanaging. Too many PARs can hinder crews from operating. Crews should know that unless one of the benchmarks or catastrophic events occur that trigger a PAR, the assumption is that they are accounted for.
Step 3: Using your department’s radios, allow each member to practice their communications skills following your department’s guidelines for reporting crew status and accountability requirements.
Step 4: Review what to say when responding to a call for a PAR: what company you’re operating with and whether you’ve accounted for all the people assigned to you, including those who may be operating from a different location, such as the pump operator on a first-due engine crew.
Step 5: Review what not to say: Don’t clog the channel. This happens when ICs call for too many PARs or when those responding to a PAR provide more information than necessary.
