Incident management process in road accidents

INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS IN ROAD ACCIDENTS

An incident management process is a set of procedures and actions taken to respond to and resolve critical incidents.

It primarily concerns:

• how incidents are detected and communicated
• who is responsible
• what tools are used, and
• what steps are taken to resolve the incident.

Traffic incident management standards are there to protect all road users. 

Incident management is defined as the systematic, planned, and coordinated use of human, institutional, mechanical, and technical resources to reduce the duration and impact of incidents, and improve the safety of motorists, crash victims, and incident responders. 

Agencies typically responding to highway incidents include:

• Police
• Fire
• Towing and recovery
• Emergency medical service (EMS)
• Hazardous material
• Transportation agencies
• Media 

An “incident” is defined as any non-recurring event that causes a reduction of roadway capacity or an abnormal increase in demand.  

Events include:

• traffic crashes
• disabled vehicles
• spilled cargo
• highway maintenance
• reconstruction projects and
• special non-emergency events

Incident management process can be characterized as a set of activities that fall into the following seven categories. 

    1.    Detection of incident by:

• Mobile telephone calls from motorists
• Closed circuit TV cameras viewed by operators
• Automatic vehicle identification (AVI) combined with detection software
• Electronic traffic measuring devices (e.g., video imaging, loop or radar detectors) and algorithms that detect traffic abnormalities
• Motorist aid telephones or call boxes
• Police patrols
• Aerial surveillance
• Department of transportation or public works crews reporting via two-way radio
• Traffic reporting services
• Fleet vehicles (transit and trucking)
• Roaming service patrols 

2.     Verification

• Incident verification involves confirming the occurrence of an incident, determining its exact location, and obtaining as many relevant details about the incident as possible. Verification includes gathering enough information to dispatch the proper initial response. Incident verification is usually completed with the arrival of the first responders on the scene. Methods of verification include:
• Closed circuit TV cameras viewed by operators
• Dispatch field units (e.g., police or service patrols) to the incident site
• Communications with aircraft operated by the police, the media, or an information service provider
• Combining information from multiple cellular phone calls

3.    Motorist Information

• Motorist information involves activating various means of disseminating incident-related information to affected motorists.
• Media used to disseminate motorist information include the following
• Commercial radio broadcasts
•  Highway advisory radio (HAR)
• Variable message signs (VMS)
• Telephone information systems
• In-vehicle or personal data assistant information or route guidance systems
• Commercial and public television traffic reports
• Internet/on-line services

A variety of dissemination mechanisms provided by information service providers Motorist information needs to be disseminated as soon as possible, and beyond the time it takes clear an incident. It should be disseminated until traffic flow is returned to normal conditions. 

 4.    Response

• Incident response includes 
• dispatching the appropriate personnel and equipment, and
•  activating the appropriate communication links and motorist information media as possible.
• This is made possible through training and planning
• Effective response mainly involves preparedness by a number of agencies so that response to individual incidents is coordinated, efficient, and effective.

5.    Site Management

• Site management is the process of effectively coordinating and managing on-scene resources. Ensuring the safety of response personnel, incident victims, and other motorists is the foremost objective of incident site management. It involves the following activities
• Accurately assessing incidents
• Properly establishing priorities
• Notifying and coordinating with the appropriate agencies and organizations
• Using effective liaisons with other responders
• Maintaining clear communications 
• Effective incident site management can be facilitated by an incident command system (ICS) which involves
• Common terminology  
• Modular organization
• Integrated communications
• Agreed upon command structure
• Consolidated action plans
• Manageable span of control
• Designation of incident facilities and 
• Comprehensive resource management  

 6.    Traffic management

• Traffic management involves the application of traffic control measures in areas affected by an incident. It includes:
• Establishing point traffic control on-scene,
• Managing the roadway space by:
• opening and closing lanes
• blocking only the portion of the incident scene that is needed for safety 
• staging and parking emergency vehicles and equipment to minimize impact on traffic flow

• Deploying appropriate personnel to assist in traffic management (e.g., state police, local police, and service patrols)
• Actively managing traffic control devices (including ramp meters, lane control signs, and traffic signals) in affected areas, and
• Designating, developing, and operating alternate routes.

Each function of effective incident management, traffic control in the incident management context is rooted in planning.

7.    Clearance

• Incident clearance is the process of removing wreckage, debris, or any other element that disrupts the normal flow of traffic, or forces lane closures, and restoring the roadway capacity to its pre-incident condition.