Overview of Traffic Incident Management and Public Safety
Traffic
Incident Management
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Traffic incident management is the planned and coordinated program process to detect, respond to and remove traffic incidents and restore traffic capacity as safely and quickly as possible. This coordinated process involves a number of public and private sector partners including:
Law
Enforcement
Jurisdiction of law enforcement agencies varies widely from state to state and even within a state. Typically, State Police and Highway Patrols have jurisdiction on State highways and county and municipal police have jurisdiction off the State highway system. State Police and Highway Patrols have statewide coverage and many lack sufficient resources to adequately respond to incidents on State highways in urban areas. In many locations, State law enforcement agencies receive assistance from county and local agencies and in some cases local law enforcement has jurisdiction even on State highways. Law enforcement agencies are first responders at traffic incident scenes, providing 24-hour emergency response and operating under a paramilitary command structure. At most traffic incidents, law enforcement officers act alone and trained to make unilateral command decisions. Fire
and Rescue
In
most jurisdictions, the fire department is the primary emergency
response agency for hazardous materials spills.
Like police agencies, fire and rescue departments also
operate as first responders under a well-defined command structure
proving 24-hour emergency response. Unlike police, who operate individually for most duties,
fire departments operate under a highly organized team structure
with the close supervision of a commanding officer.
Fire departments and emergency medical service providers
(EMS) also act at the direction of one decision maker, and may
not respond individually to requests from other response agencies
unless their command officer directs them to do so. In most large urban areas, fulltime professional personnel staff fire and rescue departments. In many suburban and in most rural areas, primarily volunteers provide fire and rescue services. Emergency
Medical Services (EMS)
Emergency medical services have evolved as primary care givers to individuals needing medical care in emergencies. As with police, emergency medical personnel have a defined set of priorities. They focus on providing patient care, crash victim rescue, and ensuring the safety of their personnel. Transportation
Transportation agencies are secondary responders. That is, they are typically called to the incident scene by first responders, usually law enforcement. Transportation agencies are rarely connected directly to public safety emergency communications and dispatch systems Public
Safety Communications Emergency
Management Towing
and Recovery
Towing and recovery companies are secondary responders operating under a towing arrangement usually maintained by a law enforcement agency. Towing and recovery arrangements generally fall under one of two major types – rotation or contract. In rotation towing, a police department will maintain a list of pre-qualified companies and will rotate the call of those companies. In many locations, rotation lists are classified by specific company capabilities so that a company with only automobile towing equipment doesn’t get called to a truck incident. Rotation lists may also be maintained by location zones so that companies closer to the incident scene will get called. In contract towing, companies are contracted to provide specific services on call. The contracts are often awarded through a bidding process and qualification requirements to bid may be more rigid than requirements for placement on a rotation list. Contracts may also be awarded on a zone basis to help enable response by the closest qualified company. Towing and recovery companies that
respond to highway incidents are indispensable components of all
incident management programs. Even programs that include service patrols with relocation
capability depend heavily on towing and recovery service providers.
Challenges facing this industry are unique because they
are not public agencies.
As such, they must remain profitable to retain a skilled
work force, purchase and maintain expensive and complex equipment,
and to stay in business. Hazardous
Materials Contractors Traffic
Information Media In 2000, the federal Communications Commission approved 511 as a national traffic information telephone number. Activity is underway in some locations to provide traffic information through a 511 number. For more information on 511, please go to the FHWA Operations 511 Traveler Information web site.
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