The International Association of Fire Chiefs recently released a plan for addressing intrastate and interstate mutual aid in the event of large-scale events. A National Mutual Aid System for the Fire Service: A Strategic Plan, is the result of a year-long effort by the Mutual Aid System Task Force.

Commissioned last October by then-IAFC President Bill Killen, the task force was charged with finding “a seamless process for the interstate mobilization, integration and utilization of fire service resources and assets in the event of similar disasters [to hurricanes Katrina and Rita],” according to the report.

The task force sought to:

1. Validate the use of a national point of contact for interstate deployments, as well as who will monitor and support the system.

2. Establish policies and procedures to enable interstate deployment in 12 hours or less.

3. Identify the aspects that will make a department and its members eligible to participate, such as resource typing, credentialing and interoperability.

4. Determine the best methods to educate the participants on the system, provide training for the components, and provide guidelines for exercising the system on various levels.

5. Determine the linkages with other services that will connect the systems together.

6. Determine who will be responsible to fund the development, monitoring and support of the system.

According to the report, the new IAFC Emergency Management Committee will take up where the task force's work ended and continue to foster relationships with federal partners and other national associations.

The full report is available for download at www.iafc.org/mutualaid.