PN828 Recording Decisions at incidents

Question 1

At some inc it’s necessary for the IC or other operational officers to?

Answer 1

record the decisions made and to provide their rationale for why certain actions were either taken or not taken. This may be of particular importance if the actions carried out deviated from the Brigade’s standard operational procedures (SOPs) or at incidents where a public inquiry or inquest is anticipated.

Question 2

What is meant by decision logging ?

Answer 2

A means of documenting decisions made at an incident, with reference to the rationale behind why the decisions were made.

Question 3

What is a key decision?

Answer 3

A decision or course of actions which either amends or changes current operational procedure, or which has an actual or potential significant impact on another organisation, person or location.

Question 4

What is risk/benefit analysis?

Answer 4

A comparison between who and/or what the decision or hazard is likely to present a risk to, and the potential benefits from a particular course of action.

Question 5

What are the types of records in relation to decision making ?

Answer 5

Automated/ system based
Statements
Contemporaneous notes
Decision logs

Question 6

What are the automated/system based records?

Answer 6

All incidents attended generate a report within the incident management system (IMS), as well as that generated on the BOSS (Browser of System Status). While much information is automatically generated, it is supplemented by detail provided by the initial and subsequent IC. These Electronic incident records account for most of the information stored about incidents attended.
The decision logging tools within CSS are incident specific, and so are able to provide a direct link between the decision made and the incident attended.

Question 7

What are statements in relation to decision making records?

Answer 7

Some incidents, such as those leading to investigation into the cause of a fatal fire, require more information than is recorded within any automated system. It is usual for a signed and witnessed written statement to be required under these circumstances, and this is normally taken at the incident or shortly after it occurs. The creation of statements may be supported by members of the FIT, or by the police.

Question 8

What are contemporaneous notes in relation to decision making records?

Answer 8

To support writing of a statement, especially if the statement is not made immediately at the incident, it is important that a contemporaneous note is made to record the sequence of events and other detail that is likely to be relevant but which might otherwise be forgotten over time. These notes are made at the time of the incident, or as soon as practicable (within 24 hours) afterwards. They may be hand-written or created on a personal computer (PC) or other information technology (IT) based system, and should contain a factual account of actions taken and a record of what has been observed and heard.

Question 9

What are decision logs in relation to decision making records?

Answer 9

There are situations where the IC or another officer makes decisions regarding actions that may have a major impact on members of the public, or other services not directly involved in the incident. There are also occasions when full adherence to the brigade’s current operational procedure would either risk the loss of a saveable life or create a delay that would increase risk to firefighters. In both cases, it is important that the circumstances and rationale for such decisions are recorded at the time they are made.

Question 10

Information relating to the decision made, which will include ?

Answer 10

the reasons why certain actions were considered necessary, and the safety measures implemented to remove or reduce any identified risk ,should be recorded in a decision log. The decision log maybe a hand-written document, or entered via one of the tools available in the command support system (CSS), which can be accessed on a command unit (CU) if one is in attendance at the incident.

Question 11

Decision logging at incidents will provide the IC and other operational personnel with?

Answer 11

a record that will support their ability to recollect the incident after the event accurately. In addition, such records may also assist any subsequent investigation, as they will show what actions were taken and when, that they were made rationally, safely, and based on the information that was available at the time the decision was made.

Question 12

When considering decision logging, a clear distinction should be made between?

Answer 12

(A) decisions to carry out an action that does not create any additional risk to operational personnel and which does not amend or change any current operational procedures, but which has a significant impact on members of the public or other services (e.g., the long- term closure of a road or railway, or the evacuation of nearby properties); and,

(B)decisions that lead to actions not covered by operational procedure in circumstances where compliance with all aspects of the policy are not appropriate due to the prevailing circumstances at an incident. These decisions may require additional safety measures to be put in place in order to reduce the risk to operational personnel to an acceptable level (e.g., establishing a bridgehead one floor below the fire because the building layout and design, and prevailing conditions make this a safe option, and where the location of dry rising main outlets, and/or the long travel distance to the fire would cause delay, if the bridgehead were located two floors below the fire ).

Question 13

If there is any doubt regarding the type of record that is required for a particular decision, then the default position should always be ?

Answer 13

To use the KDL

Question 14

At all incidents the IC will make decisions about the course of actions to take based on?

Answer 14

the available information, the incident objectives, and what is necessary to achieve their plan. This will always include carrying out an initial risk assessment, assessing current hazards and implementing suitable control measures, following the process described within Policy number 341 – Decision making model and Policy number 342 - Dynamic risk assessment.

Question 15

Where there is clear information at the incident which suggests that an adjustment to the operational procedure is required, or where a course of action based on the operational procedures will have a significant impact on members of the public or other services, then the?

Answer 15

planned action must be recorded along with the reason and expected outcome.

Question 16

The dynamic nature of some incidents may mean that it is not possible for a decision log to be started immediately. However,key decisions are to be recorded as soon as reasonably practicable using ?

Answer 16

the KDL form, or within the appropriate logging tool within CSS. Use of CSS will only be possible when a CU is in attendance at an incident and they have completed their initial supporting actions for the IC.

Question 17

To assist with the recording process at incidents, the IC should consider ?

Answer 17

nominating someone to act as a loggist. At smaller incidents this would typically be the same person that the IC has nominated to send and receive messages to and from Brigade Control.

Where a CU is in attendance, the role of loggist may be given to one of the CU crew. At larger incidents, or where one of the CU crew are not available to act as loggist, the IC should consider nominating a senior manager for this role.

Question 18

When deciding who to nominate for this role, the IC should consider?

Answer 18

the nature and scale of the incident and the likely complexity of the log that will be produced.
The loggist will be required to make a record of decisions made, which may include the outcome of any risk assessments carried out, and the rationale behind the decision.

Question 19

Decisions should be recorded on?

Answer 19

• The Key decision log pad.
  • The CU decision log–found within the“gathering and thinking” tools on CSS.
• The Key decision log–found with in the “strategic development” tools onCSS.

Question 20

When ever a KDL is completed what else needs to be done?

Answer 20

Whenever a KDL is completed, a risk assessment of the activity must be made and the risk ranking matrix completed.The KDL form within CSS prompts the user to complete the associated risk ranking matrix and will not allow the document to be saved without a score being recorded.

Question 21

The fire service has a clear and defined methodology for managing risks encountered at operational incidents, which is supported by:

Answer 21

Generic risk assessments-
Strategic risk assessments-
Incident risk assessments-

Question 22

What is generic assessment?

Answer 22

these are nationally produced,and provide statements of risk and possible control measures relevant to the fire service as a whole. They are based on information gained from operational experience across the UK and are intended to support the creation of locally based risk assessments and operational procedures.

Question 23

What is a strategic risk assessment ?

Answer 23

created locally by each Fire Rescue Service(FRS) and based on the national generic risk assessments. These result in the creation of detailed operational procedures and the determination of a pre-determined attendance (PDA) for specific incident types, as well as informing decisions regarding appropriate training, operational appliances and equipment, and PPE for operational personnel.

Question 24

What is incident risk assessment?

Answer 24

this is where the IC initially gathers information about the incident they are attending, and determines the operational plan to deal with the incident based on identified hazards and objectives.This will result in the appropriate control measures being applied to ensure safe systems of work are implemented. Incident risk assessments continue with all operational personnel carrying out actions in the operational environment. This process is outlined with Policy number 342 - Dynamic risk assessment.

Question 25

a balance between ensuring firefighter safety and carrying out the role of the fire and rescue service.This Is known as?

Answer 25

the Firefighter Safety Maxim,and is as follows:
“At every incident the greater the potential benefit of fire and rescue actions,the greater the risk that is accepted by commanders and firefighters.Activities that present a high risk to safety are limited to those that have the potential to save life or to prevent rapid and significant escalation of the incident.”

Question 26

the KDL acts to support the decision maker to show why a particular course of action was not taken why?

Answer 26

If, despite the implementation of additional control measures, the risk assessment ranking is still considered “high” then it is likely that the proposed activity carries an unacceptable level of risk. Under these circumstances, the KDL acts to support the decision maker to show why a particular course of action was not taken.

Question 27

Why is ranking risks necessary ?

Answer 27

Ranking Risks is necessary in order to identify their relative importance. The degree of risk associated with a particular hazard depends on the likelihood of it causing an accident and the probable severity of the consequence of such an accident. The focus in applying this methodology is the risk faced by a single typical member of the Occupation responsible for carrying out the task giving rise to the hazard.

Question 28

The ranking system involves ?

Answer 28

classifying likelihood (in terms of frequency) and severity each on a five point scale and then multiplying them both together to give the risk ranking as follows: RISK = SEVERITY x LIKELIHOOD