Purpose: To establish a procedure for personnel to follow when giving mutual aid to neighboring Fire Departments.

Procedures:

Request for an Engine:

In the event that an Engine is requested, 52-12 is the designated mutual aid response apparatus.  Sometimes the County will dispatch 52-13 or 52-11.  In the event that this occurs, the officer or the driver of 52-12 shall call out "52-12 responding in place of “Engine #”.  All available manpower must respond directly to New Hackensack Fire Department.  No firefighters shall respond directly to the mutual aid assignment unless given authorization by a New Hackensack Firematic officer.  The driver of the Engine will not respond until they have a crew of at least 3 interior-qualified firefighters to respond.

To the Scene: (Code 3 Response – Lights and Sirens)

Enroute to the scene, the officer or the driver of the apparatus will contact the Incident Commander or Staging Officer on the fireground and receive their assignment.  If unable to gain contact, the Engine and it’s staff will respond directly to staging and await an assignment.  Members will follow guideline NK-303 (Accountability) upon arrival if the neighboring department is not utilizing an accountability system.  In the event that an accountability system is not in place, the driver will be responsible for collecting the tags of each member on the apparatus, otherwise the crew will report to the Accountability Officer and turn in their tags.  Members will also follow the Incident Command System being utilized by the neighboring department.   Upon being released by the neighboring department’s Command, all members will report back to staging to collect their accountability tags prior to returning to the Engine.  The driver or the officer of the Engine is responsible for ensuring they account for all members that responded on the apparatus.

Relocation:  (Code 1 Response – No Lights or Sirens)

Upon arrival at the mutual aid department’s quarters, the driver or officer will notify Dutchess 911 that they have relocated to the assigned station.  Members will monitor the radio for dispatch assignments.  If requested to respond to another incident for the mutual aid department, members will follow any and all applicable guidelines for response as set forth by New Hackensack Fire Department.

Request for a Tanker:

In the event that a Tanker is requested, 52-32 is the designated mutual aid response apparatus.  Sometimes the County will dispatch 52-31, however in the event that this occurs, the officer or the driver of 52-32 shall call out responding in place of 52-31.  All available manpower must respond directly to New Hackensack Fire Department.  No firefighters shall respond directly to the mutual aid assignment unless given authorization by a New Hackensack Firematic officer or if the requesting department requests additional manpower.  The driver of the Tanker can respond without any additional manpower however it is recommended that they have at least 1 additional crew member to assist with operations. 

Request for Manpower:

In the event that only manpower is requested to respond to the scene, members will respond and report directly to the staging area for assignments.  It is suggested, but not required, that members should assemble together in staging.  An officer on scene should try to account for all members on the scene.  If an accountability system is not in place by the neighboring department, the members should make every effort to put their tags with either a senior member or an officer of New Hackensack on the scene.  Freelancing is prohibited and members must follow the Incident Command System being utilized.  Upon being released, members must ensure that they receive their accountability tags back and return to the fire station.