Manage to Survive: Traffic Incident Management for First Responders

The Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Subcommittee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Highway Safety Committee has produced a new 18-minute training video entitled Manage to Survive: Traffic Incident Management for First Responders.

Over 24 years, more than 278 law enforcement officers were struck and killed by vehicles. That averages out to one officer killed each month. Five firefighters were killed in "struck by" incidents in 2010 and an average of 23 highway workers were struck and killed by vehicles each month in 2010. In total, an average of one towing professional is killed every 6 days. 

To some degree, traffic incidents are inevitable. But they're definitely something that we need to manage better for the benefit of everyone involved – for commerce, for convenience, and most of all, for safety. Traffic Incident Management (TIM) is one way we can all pull together in the same direction on an incident scene. The National Unified Goal (NUG) provides the framework for Incident Management for Responders:

• Responder Safety;
• Safe, Quick Clearance; and,
• Prompt, Reliable Interoperable Communications.

This training video provides the basic tools to understand TIM, work together on-scene, and ultimately work together to clear the scene quickly and safely. The aim of TIM is to reduce incident duration significantly, reduce secondary collisions, and improve safety for all motorists who may be driving near incidents.

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The TIM Subcommittee, working with the IACP Highway Safety Committee and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), works to address safety, operations, training, and outreach initiatives related to Traffic Incident Management nationally; promotes TIM policies, procedures, and training in the law enforcement community while maximizing the overall effectiveness of TIM strategies and resources; enhances existing TIM programs while providing necessary resources to those jurisdictions new to TIM; and supports relationships and understanding between TIM disciplines. 

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), through enhanced Traffic Incident Management (TIM) programs, provides tools, guidance, capacity building and good practices that aid local and State DOTs and their partners in efforts to improve transportation network efficiency and public/responder safety when a non-recurring event either interrupts or overwhelms transportation operations. Non-recurring events can range from traffic incidents and traffic planning for Planned Special Events (PSE), to disaster or emergency transportation operations. Over the past decade, FHWA has developed tools and capabilities to improve the management of transportation for both planned and unplanned events. Whether the precipitating event is a traffic incident, a planned event, or an emergency with the potential to escalate to an evacuation, state and local DOTs must be prepared to respond to and manage such events no matter what time of day or night.

For more information and resources, please visit the Traffic Incident Management Subcommittee's web page.