Basic / Response Tab

 

No Arrival Checkbox-

Only check this box if the arrival time is blank.  If you arrived on-scene or were staged and then were disregarded, you still arrived and the time needs to be preserved.  Checking the “no arrival” checkbox or entering Incident Type code 611 -  Dispatched & Cancelled Enroute will blank out the arrival time!!

 

Fire Controlled Time-

All of the time fields should be filled out for you except for “Fire Controlled Time”.  This is obtained by calling dispatch and getting the time that they stamped when you gave an under control.  This field is required when the Incident Type code selected begins with a "1" which indicates a fire incident.  This is not something that you should be guessing at and the entry must include the hour, minutes and seconds.  An under control is one of our basic benchmarks and should be given for all fires.  You should only estimate the time if an "Under Control" was not transmitted by Command and then your narrative should indicate that this time was estimated.

 

Some fires are under control before or upon our arrival. In these instances, if the time is not transmitted, the arrival time can be copied into the Fire Controlled Time field provided that the narrative describes the situation. This field will not accept a time earlier than the arrival time.

 

*If you go back to add a “Fire Controlled Time” at a later date, make sure that you select the correct date on the dropdown calendar before you enter the time.  Failing to do so can alter the date in the “Cleared Time” field.

 

EMS Provided Checkbox-

The Incident Type, Actions Taken and EMS Provided checkbox are all interrelated. Certain Incident Type and/or Actions Taken Codes will cause the EMS Provided box to check automatically. Additionally, VisiCAD exports all medical calls to FireRMS with “32” in the Incident Type field and this causes the EMS Provided box to be check by default. This “automatic checking” may take place while you are still in the report but in most cases it does not happen until the report is re-opened for review.

 

If you took no medical actions, uncheck this box to eliminate the EMS tabs.

 

Casualties Checkbox-

Only check this if there were firefighter or civilian injuries or deaths.  Checking it will add  the Casualty tabs to the report.

 

Alarms-

Indicate the level of Alarms that responded to the incident base upon the incident type. For example, 2-Engines, 1-Ladder and 1or 2 -Command units responding to a Structure Fire would be a 1-Alarm response. The same resources responding to a vehicle accident would be a 2 Alarm response. Some judgment is  required when the number and type of units that respond is greater than the standard response requirements for a given level but do yet not meet the next alarm level as describe by our SOPs. In these instances, select the greater alarm level.

 

Shift and Inc District fields-

Both of these are mandatory.  Inc District is the district where the call took place.  Not the station or district you are from.

 

Incident Type-

There are almost always new incident types with every NFIR revision.  Be sure that you select the incident type that reflects the actual call.  An incident dispatched as a structure fire may have actually been a grass fire. Again, codes ending "0" are typically poor choices and should not be used unless absolutely necessary. A code that more accurately describes the situation is usually available.

 

Actions Taken-

List all of the actions taken on the incident.  You can have up to 3 here. The actions you select should not contradict the Incident Type Code or other codes  you select. For example, if the Incident type code is 321 - EMS call, excluding vehicle accident w/injuries is entered and the "EMS Provided" box is checked, an Actions Taken code 86 - Investigate is contradictory. Likewise, an Incident Type code 381- Rescue or EMS Standby without an Actions Taken code 92-Standby is questionable.

 

Mutual Aid-

For AFD reporting purposes, there are three basic types of aid that can be given or received by our department.

 

  1. Mutual Aid – A documented legal agreement exists between the involved agencies and the agency needing assistance has formally requested, via phone or other means, the response of another agency.

  2. Automatic Aid – A documented legal agreement exists between the involved agencies and one agency responds into another agency’s jurisdiction without being requested. This can take two forms.

    1. The mutual aid agreement between the agencies mandates the outside agency respond without being summoned.

    2. The agency responding outside its jurisdiction does so on is own volition.

  3. Other Aid – There is no documented legal agreement concerning aid between the involved agencies and yet aid is still given or received.

 

The entries required in the Mutual Aid fields, which are located to the right on the Basic/Response tab, are determined by the incident location, as indicated on the Basic/Location tab and the “Inc. District” fields on the Basic/Response and Basic/Locations tabs.

 

If the location of the incident lies within the city limits or legal jurisdiction of the AFD and another Fire Department or Agency performs actions that would normally be conducted by the AFD at that incident, Mutual or Automatic Aid has been received by the AFD. The “None” box should be unchecked and Code 1, or 2 entered in the adjacent drop-down box. After entering the appropriate code, the Department or Agency that provided aid to the AFD must also be indicated. Click the “Add” button and then select the appropriate entry. If the name of the agency that provided the aid  is not listed as a choice, select “See Notes for Details” and include the necessary information in the Narrative.

 

Any response, cancelled or otherwise, to a location outside the city limits indicates that Mutual, Automatic or Other Aid has been given by the AFD. This requires that the “None” box be unchecked and Code 3, 4 or 5 be entered in the adjacent drop-down box. After entering the appropriate code, the Department or Agency that received our aid must also be indicated. Click the “Add” button and then select the appropriate entry. Enter that agency's Incident number in the field provided if known. If the name of the agency receiving our aid is not listed as a choice, select “See Notes for Details” and include the necessary information in the Narrative. The Inc District fields should correspond to the county that received our aid.

 

Hazardous Materials Released-

The entry made here determines whether or not the HazMat tabs are required for the report. The entry is made based not only on the amount of materials released but also the actions taken by the fire department while on scene. It has nothing to do with the reportable quantities. Select the code that applies to your situation. If no HazMat was released select N-None. The field should not be left blank.

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