FireNuggets, Inc
November 2017
AFTER THE FIRE: STRENGTHENING THE DEPARTMENT
Once the fire is out and the flames are
conquered, does your department have a
mechanism in place to ensure that the lessons
learned at the fire are disseminated throughout
the department? Is the critique (incident
evaluation) a mess of opinions, chest-thumping,
finger-pointing, and hyperbole from the biggest
mouths? It does not have to be that way.
There are a few ways in which the post incident
period can be most efficiently utilized to keep the
department and its operators moving forward.
These mechanisms are in place in North Hudson.
I will share a few.
The After Action Report
The After Action report is filled out by each
Company officer who worked the fire. The
reason for that report is two-fold. First, it allows
input from the officer on what he saw, what
he did, what problems or concerned were
encountered, and most importantly, what
lessons were learned. If he is not at the
critique, his input is. The second is that it
allows those running the critique to gather
information before the critique takes place.
The form is used by the Chief officers
during their Post Incident Analysis
Operating Procedures, assess safety procedures
(led by the Incident Safety Officer), and develop
a plan of action to strengthen the department. If
all the homework is done correctly at the Post
Incident Analysis, there should be no surprises
(or fistfights) at the critique.
The Incident Commander Lessons Learned
Report
An evaluation of the operations should also be
conducted by the Incident Commander. This
lessons learned form is known as a D9. The D9
is a form that is filled out at a second alarm or
greater where the Incident Commander lists the
lessons learned and reinforced at the incident. A
solid IC will find something at every fire that is
worth passing on to the rest of the department. It
might be something he or she learned at the
incident or it might be information about a
The Post Incident Analysis
The Post Incident Analysis should take
place before the critique. It is an evaluation
conducted by the major players, namely
the Chief Officers, Safety Officer, possibly
the Chief of Department, and Chief officers
from mutual aid departments who assisted
at the fire. The Post Incident Analysis is a
pre-planning of the critique. If it is done
right, all the information should be
available and analyzed to make the
critique a more meaningful experience for
all involved. These resources include After
Action reports, video and radio dispatch
tapes, and incident reports. The object is
to identify strengths and weaknesses,
evaluate the effectiveness of Standard
By Firefighters, For Firefighters
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