DFRS

POLICES & PROCEDURES
Department Of Fire & Rescue Services
Montgomery County, MD


SPECIALTY TEAM PARTICIPATION


 
 
No. 1001
Jan. 16, 1988


PURPOSE
1.0 To establish a policy for the participation of DFRS personnel in specialty teams.

APPLICABILITY
2.0 All DFRS personnel.

DEFINITIONS
3.0 Specialty Team - a recognized group of individuals highly trained in a specific area of emergency response such as Hazardous Incidents Response Team (HIRT), Underwater Rescue Team (URT) and Special Evacuation Team (SET), and Cave-In Team.
3.1 Specialty Team Coordinator - An individual designated to coordinate the activities of the specialty team in accordance with Fire and Rescue Commission Administrative Procedure 13-3.

POLICY
4.0 The DFRS supports participation of employees in specialty teams provided it doesn't compromise the individual's ability to perform vital tasks when necessary or the Department's ability for emergency response.
4.1 Except for those personnel assigned to perform specialty team duties by virtue of their specific station assignments, personnel may respond to incidents on duty only when necessary to complete minimum staffing requirements of any specialty team on an emergency incident.
4.2 DFRS personnel may respond in assigned/available emergency vehicles within the county. Permission must be obtained from the Section Head or Duty Career Officer to take county vehicles out of county. Assigned vehicles may also be used to attend scheduled drills and meetings.
4.3 The employee will not be compensated for off-duty specialty team activities or those which extend beyond the scheduled duty period as follows:

  1. HIRT personnel may be compensated for off duty emergency response at the level III dispatch to meet the staffing needs as specified by the HIRT Duty Officer or the Shift Operations Chief.

  2. Personnel may be compensated for special training activities when detailed.

  3. URT, SET and Cave-In personnel may be compensated for off-duty emergency response when required to meet minimum staffing levels.


PROCEDURE
5.0 Employees desiring to participate in a specialty team as a full-responding member must make application via memorandum through the chain of command to the Shift Operations Chief for approval.
5.1 The team coordinator will review the request will review the request and respond to the employee in writing after consulting with an getting the approval of the employee's Senior Career Officer. The response will be routed to the employee via the chain of command with a copy sent to the Senior Career Officer and Bureau Chief.
5.2 When the specialty team of which the employee is a member, has an emergency call, the employee will obtain permission from the employee's supervisor to leave their duty station to respond. Team members will notify their supervisor of when they are to be on Team duty. Employees involved in administrative functions will check with their supervisors when possible prior to responding.
5.3 The supervisor will approve the employee's response in order for the team to achieve "minimum staffing levels" provided the employee does not have to stop a critical function such as dispatching, teaching a class or providing the minimum staffing to a piece of emergency apparatus.
5.4 The Team Coordinator will produce and distribute a Team-On-Call list to Bureau Chiefs and EOC.