Firefighting threat assessment matrix

The firefighting threat assessment matrix is a risk assessment methodology used by German firefighters and aid organizations in order to identify the risks at the action scene. It has a form of a table with threats as columns and vulnerabilities as rows. The proposed here terms Threats and Vulnerabilities (not really defined in the origin) come from the field of risk management.[1] The filled table helps the commander to prepare the strategy for handling the situation.

Since the table is just virtual, in the commander's head only, there is an underlying mnemonic scheme for naming the threats in German language (4A-1C-4E-Rule).[2] For each vulnerability each likely threat is checked, not just the most likely/important one.

There are two versions of the Threat matrix, the classical and the extended. While the classical one is undisputed in the basic training of the German firemen, some experts recommend the extended version, as it allows for better description of the situation.[3]

Threat Matrix
German version

Vulnerabilities

Scientific research

The Threat Matrix is used in some scientific projects as it allows for providing a human-computer interface in order to describe the emergency situation to the commanders.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ Guide for conducting risk assessments (Report). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. 2012. doi:10.6028/nist.sp.800-30r1.
  2. ^ Heinrich Schläfer: Das Taktikschema, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, 1990
  3. ^ Graeger, Arvid (2009). Einsatzpraxis: Einsatz- und Abschnittsleitung. pp. 55–57. ISBN 978-3-609-61151-8.
  4. ^ Krasuski, Adam (2013). "Semantic tagging of heterogeneous data: Labeling Fire\&Rescue incidents with threats". 2013 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS). IEEExplore. pp. 77–82. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  5. ^ Krasuski, Adam (2013). "From Sensory Data to Decision Making: A Perspective on Supporting a Fire Commander". 2013 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Joint Conferences on Web Intelligence (WI) and Intelligent Agent Technologies (IAT). IEEExplore. pp. 229–236. doi:10.1109/WI-IAT.2013.188.
  • Ulrich Cimolino: Erweiterung des Gefahrenschemas, z.B. Einsatzleiterhandbuch, ecomed Verlag, ab ca. 2002
  • Karl-Heinz Knorr: Die Gefahren der Einsatzstelle, Kohlhammer Verlag, ISBN 3-170166-58-1
  • Roland Lipp und Bernd Domres (Hrsg.): LPN 4 – Berufskunde, Organisation, Einsatztaktik. 2., überarbeitete Auflage. S. 216–223. Stumpf und Kossendey, Edewecht, Wien 2000, ISBN 3-932750-43-8
  • Hans Kemper: Fachwissen Feuerwehr: Gefahren der Einsatzstelle, ecomed-Verlag, ISBN 3-609-62268-7
  • Heinrich Schläfer: Das Taktikschema, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, 1990