Incident Management

INFORMATION GATHERING

Aside from protecting yourself and others from danger, your most important activity is to accurately gather information. The more detail regarding victims, circumstances and indicators, the more effective ALL response actions will be. Important information includes:

• Your exact location and condition
• Type of injuries and/or symptoms
• Victim locations and positions
• Indicators of suspicious people, activities, packages, devices and substances
• Wind direction and weather on scene
• Witness statements or observations
• Safe access route

INFORMATION REPORTING

Staying calm and clearly communicating information is CRITICAL to the safety of everyone and the eventual outcome of the situation. Follow procedures and answer questions as they are asked. At the conclusion of the conversation, be sure to verify that help is on the way.

TRANSIT/EMERGENCY SERVICES INTERFACE

In many cases a supervisor will either be en route or on-scene at an emergency. Prior to his/her arrival, you may need to take appropriate actions. The primary mission is to protect yourself and your customers. If the situation appears imminently dangerous to life, evacuation should be conducted quickly. Following a safe evacuation, you should find a means to notify Dispatch or the Control Center (cell phone, pay phone).

If there is not an immediate threat to life safety, notify Dispatch or the Control Center and await further direction.

In either case, your primary objective is to protect human life. Avoid contamination whenever possible, and limit exposure to the greatest extent. If a supervisor does not arrive prior to local emergency responders, you should identify yourself to the responders and provide a brief summary of the situation. Let the responders know where you will be in case they need further information. Police, fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) all have distinct roles at an emergency, and the lead response agency will often be determined by the nature of the incident.