#108 Accountability on the Fire Ground

If the Ten Commandments were written for the Fire Service, one of them would surely be, “Thou shall not freelance on the fire ground.” Accountability is an essential component for those who intend to run a safe and efficient fire ground operation. Establishing and implementing an accountability system is imperative for a department that is serious about maintaining company integrity and preventing freelancing from occurring on the fire ground. 

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The primary reasons for a Personnel Accountability System (PAS) is to keep track of fire and emergency personnel, promote safety and enable your department to fall within the parameters of NFPA 1500: ‘Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program’ and NFPA 1561: ‘Fire Department Incident Management System’. In addition, the Personnel Accountability System sets standards of responsibility for all participants on the fire ground.

 

A good accountability system will, at a minimum, consist of personal accountability tags that are assigned to each firefighter (which should be attached to a company tag or passport with other crew members at the beginning of each shift/call), an Accountability Officer (whose sole purpose is to track those working at the scene), and a tracking mechanism (such as an assignment sheet, or a more elaborate accountability board as shown in the photo above).

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An accountability system will come in handy in any of the following situations: when a firefighter or team is presumed missing or trapped; When changing from an offensive to a defensive strategy; When there is a catastrophic change in the incident such as a building collapse, explosion, backdraft, sudden flooding or release of a vapor cloud; or Whenever the Incident Commander determines a need for a roll call.