Pre-Incident Planning
Detailed pre-incident plans are an invaluable tool – they improve Incident Command and firefighter knowledge, effectiveness and safety. Pre-incident plans aid responding personnel in effectively managing an emergency with available resources while fully understanding the hazards at the target location.
NFPA 1620: Recommended Practice for Pre-Incident Planning is the National Fire Protection Association standard outlining the recommended practice for developing pre-incident plans.
| NFPA 1620 defines a pre-incident plan as: a document developed by gathering general and detailed data used by responding personnel to determine the resources and actions necessary to mitigate anticipated emergencies at a specific facility. |
Pre-incident plans assist the Incident Commander in making better command decisions based on vital information assembled before the emergency occurs. The Incident Commander can use the pre-incident information to direct emergency operations more effectively with increased probability of a positive outcome.
Pre-incident plans are used to:
- address and evaluate fire protection systems
- identify building construction
- identify the contents and the operational features of specific occupancies
- identify target hazards
- identify problem areas requiring built-in-systems to reduce life and property losses
- identify fire department limitations
- provide access to the right information at the right time
- aid in speed of decision making
- reduce guesswork based on lack of or poor information.
Reports of firefighter injury and fatality reports issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommend that fire departments ensure pre-incident plans are updated and used on all hazardous occupancies.
Thorough pre-incident planning involves the gathering, analysis, and assembly of information pertaining to a specific occupancy, followed by application of the "what-if” approach, scenario planning and review, and scenario training. Fire departments often do not have the time or the resources available to effectively develop and maintain the necessary pre-incident plans.
West Coast Emergency Solutions has both the experience and the resources to prepare your pre-incident plans, and/or train your staff in plan preparation.
We can also assist fire departments in the development of training programs which will assist firefighters in interpreting pre-incident plans and familiarizing themselves with the target hazards within the given municipality.
without a pre-incident plan…. you are going into an emergency situation "blind." You may not be familiar with the structure or the potential hazards within the structure.
with a pre-incident plan…. you not only have immediate access to important information about the structure, but also details about hazards and their locations – knowledge that is critical in an emergency situation. |
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