Ops-06 - Personal Accountability System

Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department

Standard Operating Guidelines

Subject: Personal Accountability System SOG # Ops-06 Initiated 07/26/2024 Approved: Fire Chief Clay Fallis

Overview

The Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department responds to a wide range of emergency incidents where an accurate accounting of personnel may be required.

Purpose

To guarantee that all members operating at an emergency scene can be located or identified at any time during an incident.

Guidelines

Each member of the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department will receive two Velcro Personal Accountability System (PAS) Tags to be worn on their helmet. Each tag has the members position, name, and department on the tag. Each member is responsible for his or her PAS tags.

Each PAS Tag will be a different color based on the member’s position within the department.

• White – Chief Officers (CH – Chief / DC – Deputy Chief)

• Red – Line Officers (CP – Captain / LT – Lieutenant)

• Black – Firefighters (FF – Firefighter)

• Green – Firefighter Support / Probationary (FS – Firefighter Support / P – Probationary)

Each apparatus will have a passport/team tag that is red in color with Velcro. All members assigned to any apparatus (stand-by assignment, riding, or responding) will place one PAS tag from their helmet onto each passport/team tag for that apparatus.

The PAS tags will be utilized to track assignments given during an incident. Assignments on an incident will be provided by the Incident Commander (IC). They can be single resource or team/apparatus assignments. If the assignment is for a team/apparatus crew the individual PAS tags will not be removed from the passport/team tag until completion of the assignment and gathered by the senior member or officer on the apparatus.

All personnel not on apparatus that arrive on scene must report to IC or Accountability Officer (if established) and provide their PAS tag upon being assigned to a role at the incident.

The PAS tag will be utilized for all exterior type fires and all non-fire type calls unless specified by the IC. On all interior structure fire calls, the initial attack, rescue, ventilation, and back-up crews will be considered tagged in as long as one PAS tag is with command.

• As soon as manpower requirements allow, the incident commander or safety officer will assign an Accountability Officer. This individual will track all crews entering the fire building:

o   This individual will be stationed near the fire building.

o   Crews will report and provide their second PAS Tag to this individual prior to entering the fire building.

o   Crews will report to the Accountability Officer when they leave the fire building.

o   Any crew that has not reported within 20 minutes of entering a fire building will be contacted and located.

During any incidents, especially large incidents involving multiple departments/personnel, the IC will initiate a Personal Accountability Report (PAR) at regular intervals during active operations. The intervals can vary but are usually conducted every 20 minutes. The PAR is initiated to maintain accountability for all personnel that are working on a particular incident and make sure they are “OK”.

A PAR is done over the radio channel where the incident operations are being conducted. In this scenario Mt Pleasant Engine 3 with two members, Mt Pleasant Tanker 3 with two members and Gretna Engine 2 with two members are assigned to a fire with the City of Quincy Engine 3 supplying three members and working the interior. After 20 minutes the IC initiates a PAR that may sound something like this example:

• Command: Command to all personnel on the fireground stand by for the PAR!! (Repeat and pause)

• Command: Command to Mt Pleasant Engine 3 are you PAR?

o   MP Engine 3: Command, Mt Pleasant Engine 3 is PAR with 2.

• Command: Copy PAR with 2. Command to Mt Pleasant Tanker 3 are you PAR?

o   MP Tanker 3: Command, Mt Pleasant Tanker 3 is PAR with 2.

• Command: Copy PAR with 2. Command to Gretna Engine 2 are you PAR?

o   Gretna Engine 2: Engine 2 is PAR with 2.

• Command: Copy PAR with 2. Command to Interior are you PAR?

o   Quincy Engine 3 (Interior): Interior is PAR with 3.

In this example all 9 members were accounted for via the PAR and operations on the fireground continue. If there were any problems and there were personnel not accounted for, the IC will detail personnel to attempt to physically make contact at their last location, while getting the Rapid Intervention Team prepared to deploy and conduct a search of the structure.

In a non-fire or exterior fire incidents the PAR may not be as formal as personnel may be within site of the IC and can be accounted for visually. This will reduce radio traffic, especially if operating on the main dispatch channel.

Finally, there may be times where the IC may not initiate a PAR due to the lack of incident complexity or small footprint of the scene. A good example of this type of incident would be a motor vehicle crash or medical emergency response. In these situations, there are not typically a lot of personnel and can be accounted for visually.

Terms

PAR – Personal Accountability Report – A term that is commonly used in a properly implemented accountability system. It is saying, “Is everyone OK?

PAS Tag – A colored plastic tag backed with Velcro that contains the firefighter’s position, name and department that is used for accountability purposes. Typically found under the back of the firefighter’s helmet.

Passport/Team Tag – A large red plastic tag backed with Velcro designated to every apparatus. Each MPVFD apparatus has a Passport/Team tag.

Incident Commander – Person in charge of a scene, usually a department officer, they define the incident goals and how to perform operations to accomplish the objective of a scene. They will also assign personnel to provide tasks on an incident scene.