Conducting a serious incident review can present several challenges including the emotional strain on the firefighters and officers involved, difficulty in getting accurate and complete information, and managing diverse perspectives of those involved and the review team. These challenges are often magnified by limited staffing and the tremendous time commitment required to conduct the review.
Data Requirements
The data required for a serious incident review varies with the nature of the incident, but often includes:
- Computer aided dispatch records.
- Incident audio including 911 calls and radio communication.
- Agency Incident reports.
- Tactical worksheets.
- Personal protective equipment.
- Training records.
- Maintenance records.
- Standard operating procedures/guidelines.
- Participant interview data (audio recording and/or written transcript).
Serious Incident Review Components
A serious incident review report generally contains the following components:
- Executive Summary
- Fire Department Overview
- Incident Overview
- Timeline
- Detailed Incident Narrative
- Analysis
- Contributing Factors
- Key Recommendations
We Can Help
Command Competence, CFBT-US, LLC can assist with the review (e.g., developing the timeline, interviews, collecting data, facilitating team meetings) or can provide expert reviewers to provide feedback on an internal review. Chief Ed Hartin has experience as a review team member and has served as an expert reviewer for National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Death in the Line of Duty Reports. Chief Ed Hartin assisted with the following: