Development of a behavioural marker system for incident command in the UK fire and rescue service: THINCS

Butler, Philip C.; Honey, Robert Colin; Cohen‐Hatton, Sabrina R.

doi:10.1007/s10111-019-00539-6

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Skills which are important for an efficient incident response consist of decision making, situational awareness, leadership, teamwork, communication and personal resilience. These have been adapted for use by incident commanders (Butler et al, 2020). The identified lack of a simple and common nomenclature can affect the efficiency of the rescue effort, i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-efficiency factors in road tunnel rescue as perceived by Swedish operative personnel – an interview study

Hylander

Saveman

Björnstig

et al. 2022

IJES

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PurposeMajor incidents in road tunnels remain a collaborative challenge for the emergency services (fire and rescue service, police and ambulance), emergency dispatch centres (EDCs) and infrastructure owners. The aim of this paper is to investigate how collaborative partners to the ambulance services perceive the rescue effort and to identify factors that may influence its efficiency.Design/methodology/approachFocus group and individual interviews were conducted with 19 participants who were infrastructure owners or had operational or tactical responsibilities with the emergency services or EDCs in two regions in Sweden with multiple road tunnels. The collected data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.FindingsThree main categories described efficiency factors during and after an incident: (1) coordinating the initial information (using a shared terminology), (2) achieving situational awareness (identifying those persons in need) and (3) lessons (not) learnt (lack of joint tactical plans and exercises). The emerging theme was access, assess and evaluate.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that establishing national policies and collaborative forums might yield more efficiently managed rescue efforts in road tunnel incidents in Sweden and other countries with similar organisational structures.Originality/valueThis study offers new insights on interoperability during responses to complex underground incidents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-efficiency factors in road tunnel rescue as perceived by Swedish operative personnel – an interview study

Hylander

Saveman

Björnstig

et al. 2022

IJES

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“…The clear prediction is that such training would increase the use of OD when it is required. The results of a recent survey of training provided by UK fire and rescue services are illuminating in this respect: all of the fire and rescue services that responded (27; approximately half of the UK fire and rescue services) delivered training in decision making (25 involving both theoretical and practical components), while relatively few (14) provided training in any form of personal resilience (with only nine providing practical training; Butler et al, 2020 ; see also Sawhney et al, 2018 ). There are clear grounds to augment the training given to first responders in personal resilience, directed at mitigating the effects of acute stress, and to engender a culture in which different facets of incident command, including the effective use of OD, are integrated and supported.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Making Within and Outside Standard Operating Procedures: Paradoxical Use of Operational Discretion in Firefighters

et al. 2021

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Objective To understand how firefighters’ use of rules (i.e., standard operating procedures [SOPs]) and deliberative decision making (i.e., operational discretion [OD]) interacts with acute stress. Background Current operational guidance for UK firefighters combines the provision of SOPs, for routine incidents, with the use of OD, under prescribed conditions (e.g., when there is a risk to human life). However, our understanding of the use of SOPs and OD is limited. Methods Incident commanders (ICs; n = 43) responded to simulated emergency incidents, which either licensed the use of OD or required use of a SOP. Video footage of IC behavior was used to code their response as involving a SOP or OD, while levels of acute stress were assessed using a blood-based measure and self-report. Results ICs were less likely to use OD selectively in the simulated emergency incident that licensed its use than in the one for which use of an SOP was appropriate; IC command level did not affect this pattern of results; and the incident that licensed OD resulted in more acute stress than the incident that required use of a SOP. Conclusion SOPs and OD were not used in the manner prescribed by current operational guidance in simulated emergency incidents. Application These results suggest that firefighter training in SOPs and OD should be augmented alongside personal resilience training, given the impact of stress on health and wellbeing, but also to improve the deployment of SOPs and OD under stress.

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“…Butler et al. (2019) have developed a set of NTS and behavioural markers for UK fire and rescue service incident commanders. Butler et al.…”

Section: Non‐technical Skills In the Emergency Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Butler et al. (2019) used a combination of survey, semi‐structured interviews with incident commanders (i.e. levels 1 and 2), subject matter expert advice drawn from commanders performing at each level of command (i.e.…”

Section: Non‐technical Skills In the Emergency Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐technical skills for emergency incident management teams: A literature review

Hayes

Bearman

Butler

et al. 2020

Contingencies & Crisis Mgmt

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Every year, incident management teams (IMTs) coordinate the response to hundreds of emergency events across Australasia. Larger scale emergencies such as a storms, floods, wildfires, oil spills and chemical explosions can place a lot of pressure on an IMT. Non‐technical skills play a central role in the performance of these teams. This article reviewed the broader non‐technical skills (NTS) literature before focusing on the NTS required for emergency management. It was found that most NTS frameworks share four to five common skill categories, although there were greater differences at the element and behavioural marker level. A variety of issues were identified in the literature that highlight that emergency management is very different from other domains where NTS systems have been developed. The literature on NTS in conjunction with this set of issues was used to develop a proposed NTS framework for emergency IMTs. This framework comprises 7 skill categories (i.e. communication, coordination, cooperation, decision‐making, situation awareness, leadership and coping, stress and fatigue management). The 7 skills can be further delineated into 16 elements and 44 behavioural markers. The framework provides a prototype that can form the basis for further research in this area.

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Development of a behavioural marker system for incident command in the UK fire and rescue service: THINCS

Cited by 10 publications

References 27 publications

Time-efficiency factors in road tunnel rescue as perceived by Swedish operative personnel – an interview study

Time-efficiency factors in road tunnel rescue as perceived by Swedish operative personnel – an interview study

Decision Making Within and Outside Standard Operating Procedures: Paradoxical Use of Operational Discretion in Firefighters

Non‐technical skills for emergency incident management teams: A literature review

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