Firstly, the CRASH Team is not meant to replicate or replace existing first response agencies or their capabilities, but instead meant to assemble a unit of first responders with targeted specialist capabilities that are particularly beneficial or imperative during certain types incident responses in a region. CRASH Teams are intended to provide an additional emergency response resource - a specialist unit, locate it strategically in high-hazard regions, and make it rapidly accessible to a region’s first response agencies whenever it is needed.

Being a new initiative, there are many options for how the CRASH Team may be established and operate:

Where to locate:

• A region may be selected for having a CRASH Team located within it due to its abundance of natural hazards and challenging environments, and/or

• A region’s first response agencies, government or residence may express interest in locating a CRASH Team in a certain area based on their experience and desire for access to CRASH specialist capabilities and capacity.

A CRASH Teams’ fire-rescue specialties, expertise, and capabilities will be adapted to ensure they are providing the most impactful and beneficial services to the specific region the Team is intended to serve and respond in. Factors such as a region’s existing local agencies’ resources and their capabilities, the current most prevalent hazards and challenges encountered at incidents, and the existing potential for complex or severe incidents that have not occurred yet will all help determine what disciplines the CRASH Team should target and offer.

Operational Options - How CRASH may be set up

A beneficial aspect of the CRASH Initiative & model is that it can work in a variety of ways; it can be expanded and adapted as needed.

How the Team may be set up includes a variety of possible approaches:

1. CRASH as a stand-alone organization (similar to STARS)

2. CRASH as a specialty branch of a Fire Department (similar to WUI teams or a city’s specialist team - but funded via donations and not the fire department)

3. CRASH as a shared specialty fire service resources; shared by the region’s fire departments and organized via mutual aid agreements with a central base location.

4. As a public safety resource - if funded and supported by government, CRASH Teams could be

Response Options:

Respond in CRASH apparatus with equipment and staff to scene

• Report to lead response agency for briefing and assignment

  • can operate as a single specialist unit undertaking specific missions within the response (example - CRASH unit tasked with stabilizing a building and extricating a patient, or unit tasked with conducting the patient extrication from a vehicle in a vertical environment).

  • can also split up CRASH responders and assign them to crews or teams with other responders to conduct tasks and missions, fully integrated and able to provide specialist support in a more wide-spread capacity.

Deployment Options:

• As a recognized emergency response asset, through 911 system if certain conditions are present / reported

• Direct request by an emergency response agency (Police, Fire, Ambulance) or other requesting agency (government, private, etc).

  If the CRASH initiative is successful raising funding, its capabilities can be limitless - teams can expand staffing, response specialties, equipment & apparatus, training, and even undertake public safety initiatives focused on prevention, preparedness, and active hazard monitoring within the region they serve.