Critical Attendance Standard And Intervention Window Methodology For Incident Command Resources

This Annual Conference fully supports the use by all Brigades within their local IRMP process, of the Fire Brigades Union's critical attendance standard (CAST) and intervention window methodologies, as recommended in the 2004 Fire Brigades Union National IRMP document. In the light of the many previous resolutions passed by AGMs of Officer Representatives calling for action to ensure adequate numbers of Officer posts at appropriate ranks within Brigades for safe and effective incident command purposes, this Conference particularly welcomes the document's statement that 'employing the CAST methodology supports the building of effective command structures at emergency incidents, in line with national incident command standard operating procedures'. This Conference notes, however, the acknowledgement within the document that the CAST planning scenarios contained within it are restricted to the relatively smaller and 'more routine incidents that Fire And Rescue Authorities can expect to encounter in their areas' and that the intervention window recommended maximum attendance times relate only to attendance of fire appliances. This Conference also notes the documents acknowledgement that development of CAST planning scenarios for more complex incidents must also be undertaken' and that, in particular, 'span of control maximums... are an additional consideration for responses to incidents which require larger Fire And Rescue Service Incident Command Structures (Fire Service Manual - Volume 2 - Fire Service Operations -incident command refers)' In view of the continued moves by Brigades to reduce and downgrade numbers of Officer posts, this Conference therefore calls upon the Executive Council, supported by the Officers National Committee, to pursue as a core element of the Fire Brigades Union's national IRMP strategy, the extension of the CAST and intervention window methodologies to include more complex and larger incidents, so as to establish as soon as practicable, recommended attendance standards for oncoming Officers for incident command purposes at such incidents and the ability to maintain Officer cover in other parts of the Brigade.