SPOTLIGHT: TIM   

On July 29th, Forsyth County Deputy Fire Chief Dwight Clark, recognized as an international expert in extrication and the do’s and don’ts of working with hybrids, is the champion for Forsyth County’s Traffic Incident  Management Team (TIM).
He invited  the county’s first responder decision makers  to a, “What-If” incident seminar. The What-if incident selected for the 29th was, “What-If we have a school bus crash...What do we do and who’s in charge” His timing could not have been any better, with the new school year rapidly approaching. We encourage other agencies to follow suit. Set up meetings to discuss your, “What-Ifs”.
Fire Chief Danny Bowman, Battalion Fire Chiefs, the Fire Training section, Col G. Moss with the SO / Operations Commander, uniformed Majors, Precinct Captains, Lt’s, Sgts., EMS, 911, Northside Hospital Forsyth,  Forsyth County School Transportation System and the Director for the EOC, were all there. All agreed that more discussions were needed to develop a course of action should such an event ever occur so a ‘next meeting’ is scheduled.
The Task Force commends Deputy Fire Chief Clark for taking the initiative for developing an operations plan for such catastrophic events. We also support the first responders and Chief Clark for pushing department heads to come together to develop such a plan. It’s never easy to get a buy-in but we encourage all agencies to come together, set up a TIM Team and work jointly to mitigate the event that best suits your community.
The Metro Time Task Force provides facilitators, presenters, brochures, videos, training, information and any other assistance that will help promote the TIM Team Concept. They’ll come to you. It’s FREE!
Please contact Rory Howe, or @ 770-827-4956, with the Task Force if you have any questions. If you feel that you need some help in putting a TIM Team together, give him a call.

Federal Register Notice, November 21, 2008 - Worker Visibility - Interim Final Rule
On November 21, 2008, the FHWA issued an Interim Final Rule Revising the Worker Visibility Rule (23CFR 634) to create an exemption for the firefighting community. This interim Final rule allows firefighters or other emergency responders working within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway and engaged in emergency operations that directly expose them to flame, fire, heat, and/or hazardous materials to wear retroreflective turn-out gear that is specified and regulated by other organizations, such as the National Fire Protection Association. Firefighters or other emergency responders working within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway and engaged in any other types of operations shall wear high-visibility safety apparel as defined in this rule. The FHWA decided to issue this interim final rule to address safety concerns raised by fire fighting community. The interim final rule was published in the Federal Register November 21, 2008 and went into effect on November 24, 2008. If you have any questions, please contact Hari Kalla or Ken Wood. Video Presentation available here.

UPDATE:

The FHWA has exempted the firefighting community from the high visibility worker rule in circumstances when they are exposed to hazardous materials and the use of such apparel may increase the risk of injury to firefighting personnel. The new rule became effective June 15, 2009.
 
The FHWA published an Interim Final Rule on November 21, 2008 and it has been effective since November 28, 2008. Since then, the FHWA was made aware of safety issues that could develop under certain conditions with the high visibility worker garments such as having the background material catch fire or melt.

The FHWA feels that the exemption “provides a balance of increasing the visibility of workers under most conditions, but not create a condition that could endanger them with other hazards.”

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors