An incident involving the rescue of a submerged person will usually require a multi-agency response. The JESIP submerged person tool supports joint decision-making and the development of a multi-agency operational response plan.
The submerged person tool is designed to give a submerged person every reasonable chance of rescue and resuscitation and is balanced against the risk of harm to responders when carrying out rescues.
For more information on the triage of casualties and the submerged person tool refer to Water rescue – Apply the submerged person tool.
Fire control personnel should gather sufficient situational awareness to allow them to mobilise the most appropriate and informed resources as detailed by their fire and rescue service water rescue mobilising procedures.
Fire control personnel should share the situational awareness they have gained with operational personnel to support them with their risk assessments and decision-making. The information gathered should be used to inform the submerged person tool.
Where possible, fire control personnel should gather the following information to aid mobilising decisions and share it with operational personnel and other responding agencies to inform a joint understanding of risk.
Witness
- Whether someone witnessed the person or vehicle enter the water
Time
- The time that the person or vehicle entered the water
- The time that the person was last seen
- The time that the call was received (if received from another control room)
- Start time of the submerged person tool clock (if received from another control room)
People
- The number of people in the water
- The age of the person in the water
- The size of the person in the water
- The clothing that the person was wearing
- Whether the person was conscious or unconscious
- The person’s state of mind
- The person’s position in the vehicle, if relevant
Vehicle (if relevant)
- The type of vehicle
- The size of the vehicle (if the type is unknown)
- Whether the vehicle is fully submerged
- Whether the windows or doors are open
- Whether the vehicle is upright or upside down
Location
- The point that the person or vehicle entered the water (point of entry)
- The point that the person or vehicle was last seen (point last seen)
- The last known position of the person or vehicle (last known position)
Water
- The type or body of water
- Whether the water is tidal, static, or fast- or slow-moving
- The depth of the water
- Whether the water is frozen or icy
- The direction in which the water is flowing (in relation to other landmarks)
It is not possible to know for certain when a person became submerged, so the submerged person tool clock should start when the first emergency responder arrives on scene and submersion is confirmed. It should not be assumed that the person has been submerged for longer than this.
The incident commander should provide fire control personnel with the start time of the submerged person tool clock, so that this can be recorded and shared. Fire control personnel should record information gathered on an incident log and share with other emergency responders.
Fire control personnel may gather information from various sources, including:
- Technology allowing the streaming of video footage from a mobile phone, or similar technologies
- Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage
- Credible witnesses, such as other emergency service responders
All information gathered by fire control personnel should be recorded on the incident log and shared promptly with the incident commander and other appropriate agencies.
Fire control personnel should contact other appropriate agencies at the earliest opportunity to share and obtain situational awareness and information about their response arrangements. Other agencies include:
- Police
- Ambulance
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency
- Specialist dive teams
- Rescue organisations
Fire and rescue services should consider mobilising different levels of response based on the submerged person tool. The levels of response should reflect the persons’ likelihood of surviving and the level of risk to which operational personnel will be exposed.
When fire control personnel are in any doubt about the credibility or accuracy of information received, appropriate mobilisation should take place.