<bt>
After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, fire and rescue services are being examined more than ever.
"The 9/11 attacks tested the system more than ever," Capt. Corey Parker of Loudoun County Fire and Rescue in Leesburg explained to local media at a meeting hosted by the fire station on May 23.
The current emergency system is known as the Incident Management System (IMS) and it has been in place for around 30 years.
Before the IMS was implemented, three different systems were used around the country: Firescope, NIMS and Phoenix Fire Department. The major brush fires of the 1970s in California and Nevada showed that there was a strong need for a national system. Thus, IMS was born.
When an incident occurs, the scene is more often than not in chaos. What IMS does is try to control that chaos and decide what needs to happen. "We arrive on the scene with very little information, then we must identify which problems are a priority," said Parker.
TO CUT BACK on the duplication of efforts and resources and to increase the ability to handle problems, IMS defines procedures for controlling a situation: first personnel must be told what to do, then facilities, then it must be determined what equipment they have and what equipment is needed and finally, a good line of communications must be followed to ensure that, "Everyone is working off the same page," said Parker.
Upon arriving on a scene, five positions are immediately filled: command, operations, planning, logistics and finance and administration. There are also three staff positions that are filled, the public information officer, the liaison and safety, all of which must report to the incident commander. Together, these positions help to create and support the strategic plan.
One final key component is span of control; it is important that there are not an excess of help on the scene because that can just create more chaos. "When a scene is chaotic and the incident is major, we usually try to keep it to five people so that there are less people that we need to deal with," said Parker.
There are three pillars on which Incident Management sets its priorities; life safety, incident stabilization and property conservation. "First we build a perimeter around the area and develop hot zones for your safety, then we are working to prevent the incident from getting any bigger or worse and finally we work to ensure that we don't do any more damage to the structure than the fire has already done," said Parker.
IN APPLYING IMS to a situation, the stage is set as follows: a call is received, then a plan composed of four components is reviewed. First, what are the facts, second what are the probabilities, third what are the possibilities and finally what are the resources. "It's knowing how to get water, what we are dealing with and making quick decisions," Parker said.
When the fire has been extinguished, the jobs of the fire fighters are not yet over. "We will bring in personnel to work with the family. We can provide vouchers for hotel stays, clothing and a phone so they can call the necessary people," said Deputy Chief Jay Brown.
"This used to be a testosterone driven service, but that's not working anymore," said Chief Bob Griffen. "We can't just leave people on the curb after we put out the fire."
"Often we take them to a neighbor's house and get them to settle down. We ask them where the important things are in their house such as photos. We also ask where things can be stored in the undamaged parts of the house. We really just try to take care of the family's immediate needs," said Brown. "The fire service has really become a business with the victims becoming the customers and we must have a good customer service," said Parker.
As for the future of the IMS, especially after the terrorist attacks, it is now undergoing some modifications. "Normally, the fire service has been reactive, that needs to change. We need to be more proactive," said Parker. Northern Virginia is now in the process of implementing NOVA manuals that will provide uniformity of the fire service in Northern Virginia and have the stations linked together so that they are better able to work together.
"It is very exciting, counties are going to be playing on the same page because we'll all be expected to know the manuals," said Parker. The changes will lead to more organization within the Northern Virginia Fire and Rescue Services.