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Policy/Procedure

Civil unrest may result from any number of social circumstances. When it manifests in the form of lawlessness, and public hostility directed toward safety forces, measures must be taken to provide for the safety of Department members as they perform their duties. The following points shall be strategies employed to allow the fire personnel to respond to emergencies in an area experiencing civil strife, while maintaining a high degree of safety for our members:

1. Task Force teams comprised of three engines, one Life Squad and a chief officer shall be assembled at a safe location outside of the area in conflict. Each team shall respond to and manage a single emergency incident. Once law enforcement has secured the affected area, the team shall respond there as a single group. They shall address the emergency using the assets of the team. Any additional requested assistance shall be escorted to the scene by law enforcement.
   
   
2. Task Force teams shall operate under a coordinating authority, known as ‘Area Command’. Area Command will monitor and allocate resources to all TFRD-related incidents in the area of civil unrest. Communications with Area Command will originate with the Task Force team leader only, unless an emergency compels a different unit of the team to make contact. Communication between the teams and Area Command will occur on a designated fire department frequency.
   
   
3. When dispatched into a troubled area on an incident, the Task Force team leader shall communicate with law enforcement using a channel designated for this purpose. This communication must include the fact that TFRD is responding into the troubled area, the nature of the emergency and a request for directions for the safest response route to the scene. The Task Force team leader shall also confirm that the scene is safe and has been secured.
   
   
4. All fire personnel assigned to a Task Force team shall don available body armor and appropriate personal protective equipment, including helmet and eye protection prior to a deploying into the area. All members shall have their personal all-purpose respirator in their possession.
   
   
5. If the incident is of a medical nature the patient shall be immediately removed from the area by Life Squad and taken to a safe location. ALS patients shall be transferred to a staged Life Squad at this location; BLS patients shall be transferred to a Rescue Transport or private ambulance. Under no circumstances will the Task Force team await transport for their patient at the scene of the emergency. Staging of Life Squads, Rescue Transports, and private ambulances for transport purposes shall be the responsibility of the fire command officer in the dispatch center.
   
   
6. When responding as a Task Force team, the team leader must be aware of possible ‘pinch point’ areas, where there exists only one way in and out of a scene. If at all possible, the team leader shall not commit apparatus into pinch point areas. It is the responsibility of the team leader to make the decision to commit apparatus into a particular street or location. The relative security of the area must be taken into consideration.
   
   
7. Assembly of more than one Task Force team may be necessary to address the emergency needs of the affected area. Team assignments shall be determined and communicated by the on-duty Senior Battalion Chief to responding personnel. In the event that it becomes necessary to assemble one or more teams, Dispatch shall communicate and direct the Task Force team units to muster at a specific safe location. The designated Task Force team(s) shall fully assemble before leaving the safe assembly area, and shall deploy together as a single unit.
   
   
8. When the decision is made to assemble Task Force teams, Dispatch shall immediately institute mutual aid and recall procedures to temporarily cover lean areas of the City.

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