First let me start by saying i live in a small town and most know each other at least the police, fire and ems. We had a gas leak last night (ie thanksgiving) police, fire and ems where all dispatched. by the time fd was dispatched the police had already evacuated half of the block, when we arrived on scene we where staged half a block away with ems behind us. The IC ( chief ) request all man power except for one of the captain another fire fighter to remain with their apparatus. Ems ( a family member of mine and two good friends) came up to our engine, we were discussing what we knew of the incident so far. ( not very much but a gas leak with levels reading 50% from the street. One of the emt asked who was at the scene and when i responded with the chiefsthat where there he took it upon himself to walk up to the scene with one of his partners. (his other partner stayed with us we both just got out of fire school but both know better than to disobey a direct order from the chief and both have respect for the ics system.) The emts who went to scene i honestly believe did not mean to willfully disobey an order or circumvent the ics system but if something would have happened they would have become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. I know for a fact it is required to have ics 100, 200 and nims 700 and 800 to be allowed to volunteer in town and remain a certifed emt in our state. (i am emt and used to voli for the fas) Now i am at a lost for how to suggest to the chief to fix the problem. I can speak very openly with my chief but id like to offer a way to help with situation with out causing a more problems between the fd and the fas. I would speak to these people myself but i feel that will not resolve anything and it is not really my position since i am a new fire fighter and it would be better from the chief to the captain of the fas than from one new fire fighter to a few emts. Also i think if it comes from the chief than it will not be a problem in the future. Am I right? Am i wrong? what do i say?

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It sounds like to me that if the chief was the IC, he should have been at the staging area making sure everyone was accounted for. He could have sent the captain and another firefighter to check the scene. If the chief was nwanting to be active at the scene he should have gave another officer or senior firefighter the order to keep everyone at the staging area. To answer your question if the EMT's did knowingly violent the IC system have your chief make a complaint to thier commanding officer. Stay safe
Candle to moth... Type A Emergency Personality, "I must do something!" Hey we drove 100 miles per hour to get here damnit just to be told to wait down the street? WTF - LOL

Kimmie, This is the Chief's problem (who was in Command) and you state you are new firefighter there... therefore as you stated, providing a direct critique to the FAS is not your responsisbility. If you feel that strongly about the safety of the EMT's, then bring the issue to the Chief for his review but...

FYI: If he knew because they walked up to the scene and he didn't act on it, then you might be labeled as a tattletale by some.
Someone maybe the Chief himself may have said something to them but as one of our Brothers said he should have stayed and sent in a Captain or another officer and remained back at command.
It appears we have two different critques going on here. I addressed the poster concern. Now I have question about the Chief's actions.

I have established Command at similar incidents and requested all incoming units to go to a Level 1 or Level 2 designated staging area before. The first arriving officer from an incoming unit at the Level 2 staging area becomes the staging officer by default until relieved by another staff officer.

What I am getting at is the IC or the Command Post is NOT going to be located at the staging area. When you are ordered to stage, sit in staging and not worry about what/where others are. Command staged you for a reason. For instance Level 1 staging, (no designated staging officer) I may want to further identify the best access to the incident and then assign the next due unit to the rear or side, instead of having all the units parked out front with my vehicle and then re-position the truck(s) to the assignment.
In rural areas you normally have a small amount of responders and engines. Most scenes in my area, the staging area is usually where the IC is set up. You can keep track of everyone and dispatch them as needed. Of course on a bigger department or a large scale scene I can see this causing problems. Stay safe

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