BURLINGTON COUNTY TECHNICAL RESCUE TASK FORCE OPERATING MANUAL 1
I. Burlington County Technical Rescue Task Force Mission Statement The Mission of the Burlington County Technical Rescue Task Force shall be to provide emergency assistance to an Incident Commander, the Citizens and Communities of Burlington County and those that may traverse the county utilizing highly trained, experienced, structured and well equipped personnel from Emergency Service Organizations in the following Technical Rescue disciplines: Rope Rescue Confined Space Rescue Structural Collapse Rescue Trench Rescue Assist in any other rescue assignment when called upon II. Scope The following Operational Guidelines are to be utilized for the activation and deployment of the Burlington County Technical Rescue Task Force and to set the standards for their operation at an event. III. General Requirements a. All participating municipalities and agencies of the BCTRTF program are to sign a memorandum of understanding. As a result these municipalities and agencies agree to provide mutual aid by releasing those acquired resources and personnel necessary to properly staff the resource for the purpose of incident response and training. b. In addition to providing regional mutual aid, apparatus and equipment provided by the program may be used by the host agency locally in its day-to-day operation. c. When any rescue resource will be out of service for a period of more than 48 hours, that Department will notify Burlington County Communications Center and the Burlington County Office of Emergency Management. d. When two or more Departments have been determined out of service, the Burlington County Fire Coordinator shall determine the level of service to be delivered by the remaining resources and may call for supplemental assistance as he determines. e. The Burlington County Office of Emergency Management designee, the Burlington County Chief Fire Coordinator and Supervisor of fire desk operations shall be advised when the Task Force moves on an assignment. f. The BCTRTF shall establish and conform operations as prescribed by the State of New Jersey and the federally adopted NIMS protocol and accountability systems. 2
IV. Safety a. It is the duty of each Department's member(s) functioning as part of the BCTRTF to be cognizant of their own safety as well as that of others at all times b. Upon the notification of an injury, illness, exposure or death this shall be communicated to the BCTRTF Task Force Leader to ensure that emergency medical care, notifications and documentation are being provided. c. The BCTRTF Safety Officer(s) shall have the authority to immediately correct situations that create an imminent hazard to BCTRTF personnel. d. At an emergency incident where activities are judged by a BCTRTF Safety Officer to be unsafe and to involve an imminent hazard, the BCTRTF Safety Officer shall have the authority alter, suspend, or terminate those activities. e. The BCTRTF Safety Officer shall immediately inform the BCTRFTF Team Leader of any corrective actions taken while operating. V. Communications a. All BCTRTF departments and agencies have been outfitted with the Burlington County Communications equipment as outlined and detailed by the Burlington County Department of Public Safety b. All BCTRTF Departments and agencies shall sign-on radio in accordance with the Operating Procedure outlined in Appendix A using the appropriate radio designation as detailed in the Burlington County Fire Chiefs Radio Policy Manual and to the appropriately designated frequency for the incident or primary response channel when not so designated. c. NIMS compliant radio designation and assignment radio traffic shall be adhered to while operating in and out of County. d. When possible for out of county responses, or when mutual aid is received, radio equipment shall be provided or requested to ensure proper communications between all emergency response organizations and members. 3
VI. Dispatch a. Dispatch of departments and agencies shall be handled by the Burlington County Central Communications Center (BCCC). Dispatch of the departments and agencies that will make up a Task Force is done by Burlington County Central Communication Center and is designated Central. b. The BCCC shall activate the appropriate tones for the BCTRTF departments and agencies. The announcement should include the designation Burlington County Technical Rescue Task Force, the type of rescue assignment, the municipality in which the incident is located, the location of the incident and the frequency in which to operate, and then repeated with cross streets if available and per BCCC protocols. c. An established Forward Team may identify themself as responding to the incident location for evaluation and determination of needed resources. A Forward Team may be requested by the incident commander instead of a full BCTRTF activation. In that case, the request will go to BCCC and the Task Force Leader or his designee will be contacted by BCCC for assembly of a Forward Team. d. Department and agencies responding shall identify themselves as responding to the incident location with crew compliment to be noted in the BCCC for future reference. e. An official request for the BCTRTF activation and response shall be determined and deemed appropriate when requested by: The Incident Commander of the incident Any of the Burlington County Fire Coordinators or EMS Coordinators Burlington County Office of Emergency Management as requested by internal or external County sources The BCTRTF Task Force Leader or his designee f. Requests for activation may be made through BCCC Dispatch using radio or telephone contact whether in County or out of County. g. Upon a receipt of an authorized request for the activation and response of the BCTRTF the BCCC shall do the following : 1. Request and obtain confirmation of requesting jurisdiction and a call back number or contact information. 2. Obtain the exact location of incident 3. Obtain the exact location responding BCTRTF units are to report to either for the incident or staging. 4. Obtain the incident commanders information (ex. Name or radio designation) 5. Obtain the local radio frequency or cell number that BCTRTF can use to contact the incident commander or his designee 6. Dispatch appropriate BCTRTF departments 7. Contact BC OEM designee and the BC Fire Coordinators designee advising them of the request for activation and assignment details as known. 4
8. Advise responding BCTRTF units of the appropriate response channel and operational channel, the BCTRTF Leader assigned, and other pertinent information initially and while enroute. 9. If a department or agency does not respond, advise the BCTRTF Leader assigned. The BCTRTF Leader should be advised of the units responding with staffing levels. h. BCCC shall advise the incident commander of the responding TF Leader, forward team and units assigned and enroute to the incident. i. BCCC shall maintain constant contact assisting in the accountability process monitoring the response and on-scene information in the event information is not received. j. Individual BCTRTF units shall use their unit identifier according to the BC Fire Chiefs Radio manual designation throughout the incident unless otherwise designated by the BCTRTF Leader. k. The BCTRTF will maintain a text messaging system, and when available, will use this system to offer a supplemental means of notification of an incident to team members. This system should not be relied upon for a primary means of dispatch; the primary means of BCTRTF notification will be by tone activated pager. See Appendix C for text messaging instructions. VII. Response a. Upon receipt of an emergency response each department and agency will respond with personnel who are a part of the BCTRTF training program. Companies responding will be staffed with a Company Officer (Captain, Lieutenant or Sergeant Rank) and a minimum of three (3) crew members. b. BCTRTF members will be outfitted with personal protective equipment and clothing for the assignment. PPE shall meet the minimum requirements set forth in NFPA Standards 1951, 1971 and 1975 for the assigned task. c. BCTRTF members shall be provided accountability tags in compliance with BC Fire Chiefs Accountability System requirements and NJ Division of Fire Safety guideline. d. An Emergency Response Mode will be utilized by the BCTRTF when a life safety threat to civilians and other emergency services personnel exist, or when directed to respond in emergency mode by the TF Leader e. An initial dispatch to an emergency incident may be a forward team consisting of three members capable of evaluating the incident and provide on-scene assistance to the incident commander. 5
f. Response of the remaining Task Force resources may take place after assembly and response with apparatus approved for response; staging and assembly of apparatus prior to response will be directed, as necessary, by the TF Leader g. The First Apparatus arriving prior to the forward team shall initiate the forward teams assignment until relieved by the forward team, otherwise all units shall stage unless provided specific orders prior to this assignment. h. The TF Leader designated to respond with the BCTRTF shall be announced to all responding apparatus. See Appendix B for BCTRTF team hierarchy. i. Responding BCTRTF departments and agencies will respond on the incident channel prior to arrival. The BCTRTF companies will communicate among each other on the assigned frequencies. The BCTRTF Task Force Leader may use the incident channel / 4 to coordinate BCTRTF resources and relay information from the emergency incident frequency. j. The TF Leader shall obtain and utilize the proper communications equipment to ensure there is not a communication breakdown between incident operations and BCTRTF functions. VIII. Command and Control a. BCTRTF units will formally check-in at the incident by announcing their arrival and location to initiate the integration into the on-scene incident command system. Check-in will be determined by the incident commander and announced to all responding units b. In the absence of the designated BCTRTF Task Force Leader, the first arriving unit shall assume the TF Leader position until formally relieved by the arrival and briefing of the assigned TF Leader. c. The TF Leader or designee shall complete all ICS forms appropriate for the incident. An ICS Job Aide specific to the BCTRTF has been included in Appendix E. d. The TF Leader shall meet with the incident commander or designee to receive an incident briefing, incident action plan, safety plan, accountability procedures, communications plan, work assignment and area for the TF Leader to function. e. The TF Leader shall ascertain whether or not the incident commander in which the emergency incident is occurring has established and is maintaining command and control of the incident in accordance with State ICS and an approved accountability system. If the incident commander has not initiated an approved ICS the TF Leader will advise the IC of the incident one of the following: 1. That they must implement the NJ State approved IMS along with the 6
accountability system; or 2. The TF Team will take command and implement the ICS and accountability systems appropriate to the incident; or 3. The TF cannot operate at this incident. f. The TF Leader shall inform the incident commander of the TF resources, capabilities and needs. g. The TF Leader will provide the incident commander with regular operational progress and need reports as well as assignment completion reports and requests for reassignment when available or addition resources needed to assist. IX. Operations a. Rescue Personnel Operations Level: i. BCTRTF members shall be trained to Technical Rescue Operations Level at a minimum. Members not trained to this standard may used at the discretion of the department leader with approval of the BCTRTF Task Force Leader and may participate in a support role only until proper training is received. These members shall not be counted as part of the Technical Rescue qualified personnel responding to the incident. b. Task Force Leader: i. The TF Leader is the person designated within the incident command system that is responsible for the direct supervision of the Rescue Task Force operations. c. Dependent upon the level of organization established for the incident, the TF and TF Leaders will report to the incident commander, the operations section Chief or to a division supervisor. At incident point of contact, the TF Leader will obtain initial incident briefing d. The Task Force Leader will utilize the necessary BCTRTF check forms and other BCTRTF job aids designated in Appendix D for incident mitigation. These forms should be completed in their entirety based upon available information at the rescue scene. The available forms and job aids are: Trench Rescue Checklist Confined Space Rescue Checklist Rope Rescue Checklist Structural Collapse Checklist Structure and Search Victim Markings e. Upon completion of the incident briefing, the TF Leader will ascertain the need for division or group supervisors within the current and established incident management system along with the jurisdictional Incident Commander. The IC will 7
coordinate the TF efforts and develop appropriate objectives along with effective and efficient methods of implementation towards incident stabilization, rescue, recovery and demobilization. f. To maximize and facilitate efficient and effective incident resource management the BCTRTF and other department I agencies will employ: 1. Uniform personnel qualifications standards 2. Utilized standardized terminology along with interoperable communications 3. Standardized organizational structures along with a consolidated plan of action. X. Post Incident Analysis (PIA) a. The purpose of the PIA is to evaluate the effectiveness of the team s actions in order to improve the overall effectiveness of the team. b. The TF Leader is to provide: 1. The name and rank of the TF Leader, along with the TF position within the command structure. 2. A written synopsis of the BCTRTF operations at the incident 3. A diagram and/or photo of the incident scene 4. Incident strategy deployed by the BCTRTF with a list of the team objectives, and brief written commentary on the BCTRTF involvement with each objective 5. Lessons learned and reinforced. c. The documents developed as apart of this report and incident shall not be public documents. They will be internal work documents for investigative information and organizational evaluation. XI. Responsibilities a. It is the responsibility of each BCTRTF unit to maintain a level of commitment and readiness as agreed to in the MOU. b. BCTRTF shall train a minimum of 40 Personnel County-wide to be proficient in the following competencies: Structural Collapse Rescue Trench Collapse Rescue Technical Rope Rescue Confined Space Rescue c. To qualify to respond members must minimally have completed the forty-hour structural collapse course requirement given by the NJ State USAR Task Force One or equivalent as determined by the BCTRTF Task Force Leadership and the BC OEM. 8
d. BCTRTF departments are to accept and maintain apparatus and equipment provided through the UASI Grant and to insure that assigned members are proficient in its use. e. BCTRTF departments are to see that Chief Officers receive training in the USAR environment as well as the implementation of the New Jersey's adopted National Incident Management System and Accountability system. Departments should prepare Chief Officers to respond as part of the BCTRTF to provide an appropriate level of command. XII. Training, Exercises and Drills a. The goal of the BCTRTF is to provide comprehensive and standardized training by means of classroom and hands-on courses in conjunction with scenario based exercises. A re-certification course(s) may be developed once core training is completed. b. All department personnel participating shall have already completed Haz-Mat, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and confined space training to the first responder level prior to attending BCTRTF or NJSP USAR training. c. UASI Structural Collapse Operations (CBRN environment) Level 1 (SC0-1) is the first of the BCTRTF courses; this course acts as a prerequisite for all other TF training. This course is five days in length, forty hours in duration delivered by NJ- TF1 or an equivalent course as determined by the BCTRTF leadership. d. The courses (or equivalents) that a BCTRTF Member needs in order to be listed as a fully operational member shall be: UASI Structural Collapse Operations Level 1 40 hours UASI Structural Collapse Operations Level 2-40 hours UASI Re-Breather Operations and Technician - 16 hours UASI Trench Rescue Level 1-20 hours UASI Trench Rescue Level 2 20 hours BCTRTF Rope Rescue Level 1-20 hours BCTRTF Rope Rescue Level 2 20 hours XIII. Proficiency Training and Maintenance of BCTRTF Eligibility a. Once a member has completed all of the training requirements they may be required to attend additional re-certification training and exercises. b. There will be four (4) BCTRTF training exercises each calendar year. Team members must attend at least two (2) of the exercises to maintain team eligibility. 9
c. In addition to annual exercises, the BCTRTF Task Force Leader will maintain the authority to allow for a team members continued participation based on attendance at training and/or demonstrated proficiency in a given rescue specialty. 10
Appendix A- BCTRTF Response Standard Operating Procedure The following procedure will be followed whenever the Burlington County Technical Rescue Task Force is dispatched. Upon tone dispatch from Central Communications, one of the task force or deputy task force leaders will send a text message to the BCTRTF team members via CodeMessaging alerting team members to the call type and the response level (standby at station, respond to station for response), when feasible. The primary means of communications with the BCTRTF membership will remain tone pagers. If the team is requested to respond to the scene, all BCTRTF responding apparatus will sign on radio on the incident channel (e.g. N R-1) with Central Communications. Apparatus will announce their staffing compliment of trained team members. Task force or deputy task force leaders, upon responding, will sign on radio on the incident channel with Central Communications. The task force or deputy task force leader will ask Central for a report of what apparatus is responding and what the team headcount is. The task force or deputy task force leader may elect to coordinate the BCTRTF on the incident ZONE, Channel 4 (e.g. N R-4) One task force leader may switch over to the incident channel to ascertain more information from the requesting agency s incident commander. This information will be communicated, as necessary, back to the team members on the incident ZONE, Channel 4 (e.g. N R-4). The incident ZONE, Channel 4 (e.g. N R-4) will be used a as talk channel among the task force and deputy task force leaders and responding apparatus to formulate a /response rescue plan and/or staging area. All communications among the BCTRTF team members and communication from the BCTRTF apparatus to Central will be done on the incident channel (e.g. N R-1) The intent of this policy is to) allow for a coordination of BCTRTF resources independent of the incident channel. 11
Appendix B- Burlington County Technical Rescue Task Force Org Chart / Functional Assignment Guide Workgroup/Advisors Chiefs Liaisons Chief Steve Scholey Chief Bryan Ward Task Force Leaders Steve Scholey 3201 Bryan Ward 2201 Safety Todd Evans 3603 Deputy Task Force Leader Carl Bittenbender FM22 PIO Carl Bittenbender Rescue Squad Leaders Logistics Scott Freedman 22 Plans BurlCo Fire Coordinators Medical Ron Kieft M200 Training Rescue Specialists Logs Specialist Plans Specialist Medical Specialist Training Specialist 12
The organizational chart has been developed to define the team structure both during team deployment as well define team structure when not deployed. Task Force Leaders and Deputy Task Force Leaders Task Force Leaders are responsible for all aspects of the BCTRTF Task Force Leaders and Deputy Task Force Leaders will work with the ICP to assess incident and team needs, ensure appropriate resources have been dispatched, develop a rescue plan and communicate the plan to the Rescue Squad Manager Task Force Leaders and Deputy Task Force Leaders will work with the ICP and the Burlington County Fire Coordinators, as requested, to ensure the BCTRTF is functioning within the Incident Management System and the appropriate documenting is taking place Able to fill any role below their designation as needed Deputy Task Force Leader may be asked to fill role of Task Force Leader in their absence Rescue Squad Leader Members who are well-versed in all four rescue disciplines May function in a higher role (Task Force Leader) in absence of Task Force Leader In conjunction with Task Force Leader and ICP, will develop a rescue plan In absence of a Task Force Leader, members who may be tasked with developing, implementing and managing the rescue plan Member would be responsible for overseeing the Rescue Squad Leaders Rescue Specialists This position may be filled by any team member on a given deployment For non-deployment structure, members listed will be the designated contact person for their department in that respective area of responsibility The listed member will then report to the Rescue Squad Leader as necessary Members who may not be well versed in all four rescue disciplines, but in two or three of four disciplines and could lead a rescue squad Member may be tasked with developing initial rescue plan or scene stabilization plan until Task Force Leader or Rescue Squad Leader arrives Logistics, Planning, Medical, Training Leaders This position may be filled by any team member on a given deployment For non-deployment structure, members listed will be the designated contact person for the team in that respective area of responsibility 13
Appendix C- CodeMessaging and the BCTRTF The BCTRTF uses a text messaging system called CodeMessaging. This package will allow access to page/communicate electronically with members from any computer with internet access. The system is user-managed with limited need for system management by an administrator. Read: the user manages his/her profile to ensure that all phone numbers, etc. are up-to-date. For purposes of general maintenance, Carl Bittenbender (cbittenbender@eveshamfire.org) will administer the program. Users can create their account by going to http://www.codemessaging.net/cp/login.php and click on request passport. Use keyword BCTRTF to create your account. Once created, send an email to cbittenbender@eveshamfire.org letting him know so he can place you in the BCTRTF dispatch group. 14
Appendix D BCTRTF Checklists and Job Aids 15
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Appendix E- BCTRTF ICS Job Aid
BCTRTF Structure and Victim Marking System