ARFF Procedures Survey

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Gilbert Mills
6 years ago
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1 ARFF Procedures Survey February 2008

2 Table of Contents Background... 2 Results in Brief... 3 Chart 1: Airport Responses by Index Size... 3 Chart 2: Staffing by Index Size... 3 Appendix A... 5 Survey Questionnaire... 5 February

3 Background On behalf of a member airport, ACI-NA issued a survey on basic Airport Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) procedures. We received 47 responses between January 10 and January 16, Data will be grouped, when possible, by index size. Federal Aviation Regulation Part 139 lays out regulations, including staffing and equipment, based on the length and average daily departure of air carrier aircraft. Index categories start with A and continue through E. Index A covers air carrier aircraft less than 90 feet in length; Index B governs air carrier aircraft at least 90 feet long but less than 126 feet; Index C covers air carrier aircraft at least 126 feet in length but less than 159 feet; Index D covers air carrier aircraft at least 159 feet long but less than 200 feet; and Index E governs air carrier aircraft at least 200 feet or longer. The airport must comply with the index regulation, including appropriate staffing, for the longest air carrier aircraft with an average of five or more daily departures. Any questions or comments regarding this survey can be directed to Matt Griffin at mgriffin@aci-na.org. February

4 Results in Brief All 47 airports that responded have ARFF staffing. Chart 1: Airport Responses by Index Size Index D Index E 6 10 Index A Index B Index C Airports set staffing levels based on a number of different factors therefore every airport s ARFF department is unique in size and makeup. Of the airports that responded, the largest ARFF department included 200 personnel while the smallest department employs just three personnel. There was also a great range in the minimum daily on-duty staffing; the largest department had a minimum staff requirement of 42 individuals and the smallest reported a minimum staff requirement of just one officer. Chart 2: Staffing by Index Size Index E Index D Index C Index B Avg Reported Minimum on-duty ARFF Staffing Avg Reported Total ARFF Personnel Index A Respondents reported on the different categories of incidents that their department responds to (see Appendix A for copy of questionnaire). A summary of the responses for these questions follow; Aircraft incidents All 47 airports respond to aircraft incidents Terminal incidents 44 of 46 respondent airports respond to terminal incidents (one respondent did not answer the question) FBO/CBO incidents 44 of 44 respondent airports respond to FBO/CBO incidents (three respondents did not answer the question) February

5 Cargo incidents 45 of 46 airports respond to cargo incidents (one respondent did not answer the question) On-airport structural incidents 44 of 46 airports respond to this category of incident (one respondent did not answer the question) Off-airport structural incidents 18 airports respond to off-airport structural incidents, 23 of the respondents do not (six respondents did not answer the question) Provide Mutual Aid response outside the airfield 37 airports provide mutual aid outside the airfield, six airports do not (four respondents did not answer the question) Respondents were also asked to report on staffing levels for specific ARFF equipment. An overall average of reported staffing would be between one and two personnel per vehicle. The breakdown by equipment follows; Index Required Crash Truck 100% (47) of respondents answered this question with a staffing average of 1.6 personnel per vehicle Engine 47% (22) of respondents answered this question with a staffing average of 2.5 personnel Ladder 26% (12) of respondents answered this question with a staffing average of 1.8 personnel Command 77% (36) of respondents answered this question with a staffing average of 1.1 personnel EMS 45% (21) of respondents answered this question with a staffing average of 1.9 personnel Rescue 55% (26) of respondents answered this question with a staffing average of 1.8 personnel HazMat 19% (9) of respondents answered this question with a staffing average of 1.1 personnel Currently, only eight (17%) of respondents have an Interior Access Vehicle, the most common vehicle noted in the survey response being Air Stairs. But another six (6) respondents stated that they can request an Interior Access Vehicle or Air Stair Vehicle from some source, commonly an air carrier or airport operations department. Furthermore, two (2) respondents reported planning to purchase an Interior Access Vehicle in the next fiscal year. Finally, one (1) respondent is currently investigating purchasing such a vehicle. Most respondents stated that the equipment is deployed when needed and cross staffed from other equipment. Currently, 43 (92%) of respondents stated that their ARFF personnel have some level of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) HazMat certification. We asked respondents to report if they had personnel trained to one of three certification levels, the least qualified being Awareness followed by Operations and finally Technician. Fourteen airports have some officers trained to Awareness level, 32 airports have officers trained to Operations level and 15 airports have officers trained to Technician level. Three airports (6%) do not have ARFF personnel currently trained to HazMat certification, one of these respondents stated they rely on mutual aid in the event of such an incident. February

6 Appendix A Survey Questionnaire February

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STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES TACTICAL OPERATIONS b AIRCRAFT INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS EFFECTIVE: OCTOBER 2007

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES TACTICAL OPERATIONS 202.15b AIRCRAFT INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS EFFECTIVE: OCTOBER 2007 AIRCRAFT INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS Goals 1. To familiarize with Airport Index 2. To familiarize