VOLUSIA COUNTY FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION MODEL OPERATING PROCEDURE GUIDE # 100.06 SUBJECT: MAYDAY COMMUNICATIONS DATE ISSUED: March 24, 2004 REVIEW DATE: March 14, 2015 I. PURPOSE A. To establish a guideline for mayday communications of emergency responders who are operating in an IDLH environment. II. POLICY A. This guideline will define Mayday communications for all p e r s o n n e l while operating in an IDLH environment DEFINITIONS: A. MAYDAY - The term MAYDAY will be reserved ONLY to report missing, distressed, or trapped firefighters. B. Emergency Traffic - "Emergency Traffic" will be used in the event of an emergency to limit radio traffic to priority transmissions. III. Responsibility A. It is the responsibility of each fire department to review and update their fireground procedures guidelines to assure consistency with this policy.
PAGE 2 IV. P R O C E D U R E A. Command Responsibilities: 1. Command will maintain an awareness of the location of firefighters on the fireground primarily through assignments and the accountability system. 2. In the event that a firefighter cannot be located through a PAR, or any other time that a firefighter is missing, the officer in charge or any member, may announce MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY. The PAR should be completed and the mayday declared. 3. The term MAYDAY will indicate a lost, distressed, or trapped firefighter. 4. Upon receipt of a MAYDAY: a. Immediately conduct a Personnel Accountability Check (PAR), if the identification and location of the lost or trapped firefighter(s) is unknown. b. Command should request D i s p a t c h to change the fireground tactical channel to another channel after a Mayday has been declared. This will leave the dedicated channel for the endangered personnel and personnel working the MAYDAY event. Once the fireground tactical channel has been changed and announced by the Fire Dispatcher, the dispatcher shall send the alert tone and announce the new fireground tactical channel. ALL fireground personnel shall switch to the newly designated fireground tactical channel as indicated by the dispatcher, except the IC, RIT and MAYDAY crews. 5. Command shall respond to a MAYDAY by implementing a rescue plan for the firefighter(s). The rescue plan should include: Immediately call for an additional alarm or Specific Resources (as needed) Fire operations during rescue operations Expanding organization Establishing the rescue group. Assign an officer to the rescue group Medical operations Logistics--specialized equipment Safety Support activities Media control--information management Member support--debriefing, etc. 6. Command shall notify Dispatch to announce the conclusion of the MAYDAY event. B. Missing Firefighter Status: 1. Company officers and individual firefighters who suspect a firefighter is missing must notify the Incident Commander immediately, via the chain of command. 2. The Incident Commander MUST ALWAYS assume that the missing firefighter is lost in the structure until the member is accounted for.
PAGE 3 C. MAYDAY Transmission Personnel who transmit a MAYDAY signal should, if at all possible, include the following information: 1. Type of emergency. (What happened) 2. L. Location (This is the most important item to be transmitted) Examples: floor, room, location by direction, side of building (side A, B, C, D and quadrant 1, 2, 3, 4). 3. U. Unit (that you are assigned to). 4. N. Name (name or names and number of personnel) 5. A. Assignment (last assignment by command). 6. R. Resources (equipment needed to assist in removal) 7. SCBA Air Remaining D. Emergency Traffic Tones 1. Immediately upon a report of a missing or trapped firefighter EMERGENCY TRAFFIC will be sounded to alert all personnel working on the fireground of the situation. 2. Following the emergency traffic tone, MAYDAY will be announced to alert all operating units of a lost or trapped firefighter (example: We have a MAYDAY at location ). E. Change the Strategy and Plan to a High Priority Rescue Effort: The Incident Commander must restructure his/her strategy and action plan to include a firefighter rescue effort. F. Immediately Request Additional Alarm(s) or Mutual Aid. 1. At least one additional alarm should be immediately requested, consider the need to include additional medical transport unit(s). 2. Early consideration should be given to heavy equipment resources and Technical Rescue Team assistance in structural collapses.
PAGE 4 G. Include a Medical Component when Requesting Additional Resources. Adequate medical resources must be readily available and on site. H. Utilize a Central Staging Area All additional resources shall be sent to a centralized staging area, level two staging should be implemented. I. Commit the Rapid Intervention Team Upon report of a lost, distressed, or trapped firefighter, the incident commander must deploy RIT. J. Do Not Abandon Firefighting Positions Hold Positions and Prevent Fire Spread Additional resources should be sent to priority positions to keep the fire out of the rescue area. K. Individual Member Responsibilities not assigned to MAYDAY Event 1. Follow directions from superiors. 2. Continue with assignment unless otherwise directed.
NAME MAYDAY COMMUNICAITONS DATE March 16, 2012 PAGE 5 V. RADIO PROCEDURE A. Dispatch Responsibilities 1. When a firefighter is declared lost, distressed or trapped the Communications Center will sound emergency traffic tones on ALL tactical channels being used on the fireground; personnel will be advised that a MAYDAY exists for a lost, distressed or trapped firefighter(s). 2. Command must be advised to immediately assign someone to monitor Fireground Tactical Channel(s) assigned, in the event the lost, distressed or trapped firefighter broadcasts on any channel. 3. The Communications Center must have the capability to monitor these channels. It is essential that someone monitor the MAYDAY channel only. 4. Once the firefighter(s) has been recovered, or at the conclusion of the incident, all personnel and outside agencies will be notified that the Communications Center is back to normal operating conditions. B. Portable Radio Emergency Activation 1. When activated, the portable radio Emergency Traffic Tone transmits an audible signal to all consoles in the Communications Center, along with a numerical identification of the unit the portable is assigned to. 2. Should Dispatch receive an emergency activation from a portable radio (emergency button), Dispatch will first identify the unit which activated the alert. Dispatch will then go to that unit s current radio channel for direct contact with the affected fire unit to determine if an emergency exists. 3. Where the activation may be from an incident where Command has been established, Dispatch will contact Command directly. Command will contact the affected units to determine if an emergency exists. This practice will include a known company on the incident that has an emergency activation, as well as any "loaner" activations. 4. If the lost, distressed or trapped firefighter(s) comes up on a channel other than one of the tactical channels, the dispatcher will maintain communications with him/her on that channel and relay to Command. Provide all pertinent information known about the unit I.D. It is essential that once communications have been established they not be lost.