Advance Warning
This module discusses the concept of advance warning, its benefits, and how to implement a range of advance warning devices.
The Emergency Responder Safety Institute is pleased to congratulate ERSI Charter Member Chief Joe Kroboth, III, PE, on his appointment as a Technical Member of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD). He will serve on the Temporary Traffic Control Technical Committee. The NCUTCD is responsible for the technical aspects and development of the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The MUTCD is a national standard detailing requirements for roadway features and operations such as signs, pavement marking, traffic signals, railroad grade crossings, personal protective equipment, and temporary traffic control devices. Kroboth's appointment was approved based on his combined background in transportation engineering and construction coupled with more than 40 years of fire service experience operating at highway incidents. Kroboth is the President of the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman's Association, the organization that founded and oversees the Emergency Responder Safety Institute.
Kroboth is a 35-year career professional in public sector transportation and capital infrastructure. He is currently the Director of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure for Loudoun County, VA. Kroboth serves on other technical committees, including NFPA 502: Standards for Road Tunnels, Bridges, and Other Limited Access Highways and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Committee on Geometric Design of Streets and Highways. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the NCUTCD committee, not just in transportation, but also in fire service operations. "I am humbled and delighted to accept this appointment," said Kroboth. "Given my long career in transportation and experiences as a volunteer firefighter, I feel a responsibility to advocate for the safety of all parties impacted by the MUTCD, whether they are highway workers, emergency responders, or the public. We must keep striving to improve the standards that govern our roadways and craft them to reflect the realities of today's society and technology."
Kroboth joins Jack Sullivan, ERSI Director of Training, who has served with distinction on the NCUTCD since 2009. As fire and emergency services professionals with an intimate knowledge of roadway incident response safety and traffic control, Kroboth and Sullivan are important voices who bring the first responder's perspective to the development of the MUTCD. "Emergency responders must have input into standards like the MUTCD," said Sullivan. "The boots on the ground are the ones responsible for implementing the provisions of the MUTCD and the ones in harm's way from oncoming traffic. We need to be in the room to say how these requirements are going to affect us and what we need to be better protected on the roadway. I'm thrilled Joe has stepped up to be one of those voices."
Kroboth's ties to the fire service in Maryland are deep. He is the retired Director of Fire and Emergency Services for Washington County, MD and currently an Assistant Fire Chief of the Longmeadow Fire Company in Hagerstown, MD. Kroboth is also a family survivor of a struck-by line-of-duty death. His father, Chief Joe Kroboth, Jr. of The Volunteer Fire Company of Halfway, MD, was struck by a vehicle and killed in 1998 while working an incident on I-81 in Washington County, MD. Kroboth III subsequently served as Chief of his father's department. The elder Chief Kroboth's death and the Pennsylvania Turnpike incident that same year were the catalysts for the founding of the Emergency Responder Safety Institute.
To learn more about the MUTCD and how its requirements apply to emergency responders, please visit the Responder Safety Learning Network (RSLN.org) and watch the module titled, "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices."
This module discusses the concept of advance warning, its benefits, and how to implement a range of advance warning devices.
In this program, you will learn the basics of autonomous vehicle technology, the challenges and opportunities it presents to emergency responders, the current state of technology development, and how to begin to prepare for the presence of these vehicles on the roadways you serve.
This module discusses the concept of blocking, why it is important, how to determine whether linear positioning or block positioning is appropriate at a given incident.
In this program, you will learn the basics of connected vehicle technologies, the challenges and opportunities they present to emergency responders, the current state of technology development.
This program raises awareness on how fire department-based vehicles can be outfitted for temporary traffic control at incident scenes, including special purpose vehicles and modifications to vehicles used for fire suppression.
This self-paced program discusses how the fire service and towing personnel can communicate and collaborate effectively to safely and efficiently handle roadway incidents.
The first 15 minutes of a roadway incident response are critical. What the first responding units do, and do not do, will impact the response in many ways, including safety, traffic control, secondary incidents, and clearance time.
This module discusses the importance of helmets and head protection, head protection concerns specific to struck-by incidents, the advantages and disadvantages of available helmet types, and how to evaluate helmet choices for the roadway incident response context.
It is widely known that the visibility of responders is a key factor in safe emergency operation on the roadways.
This program raises awareness about these new devices, technologies, and methods so departments can evaluate whether these options can be adopted in their communities.
This module introduces roadway safety and safe driving practices that fire and life safety educators and all emergency services members who participate in public events can use to reduce the risk of roadway incidents in their communities.
The responsibilities, qualifications standards, qualities, and preparedness needs for fire service traffic incident management professionals.
This program summarizes the federal regulations with regard to high visibility safety apparel, examines the objections of law enforcement officers to wearing this apparel.
In this program, we look at four NIOSH reports on firefighter line-of-duty deaths that occurred while operating at a roadway incident.
This module highlights and explains in plain language the portions of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) that apply to first responders working roadway incidents.
This program lays the foundation for successful manual traffic control and offers recommended procedures for manually directing traffic safely and effectively.
The module relates the Move It Work It decision to safe, quick clearance and the National Unified Goal.
This module presents the National Unified Goal as the road map for implementing cross-department cooperation and communication.
This program examines the history of emergency lighting technology, current trends vs. research, problems with current lighting technologies, and potential solutions to address these problems.
This module discusses PPE requirements and how to select, and correctly and consistently wear PPE from head to toe, including high visibility apparel and head protection, to mitigate the hazards of working roadway incidents.
This self-paced program provides guidance for jurisdictions and Traffic Incident Management (TIM) teams to plan for long term events.
This program delves into the topic of professionalism at the organizational and personal level to give both leadership and boots-on-the-ground responders.
This module presents ways to better integrate public safety telecommunicators into the roadway incident response team.
For years, the fire departments have worked to standardize their operating procedures across jurisdictions within geographic areas.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) vehicles respond to a wide variety of roadway incidents, such as crashes, pedestrians struck by vehicles, other medical emergencies, natural disasters, and weather events.
This self-paced program will assist fire officers with integrating roadway incident safety training into their department, including (but not limited to) self-paced programs and resources available through RSLN and ResponderSafety.com.
This module provides a basic understanding of the framework of traffic control at emergency scenes.
This program prepares safety officers to be advocates in their departments by reviewing recommended traffic incident management and roadway incident safety practices with recommendations for how to implement them.
This self-paced program will provide both an introduction to Safety Service Patrols at the awareness level and recommend vehicle outfitting and roadway operating procedures for SSPs.
This self-paced program discusses the issues created when persons other than responders and victims are present at a roadway incident scene.
This module presents best practices in deploying emergency optical warning devices, called here "emergency lighting."
This self–paced program uses existing Fire Police units as examples for demonstrating how an agency can set up a dedicated traffic incident management unit.
This module presents practical steps law enforcement officers can take to maximize their safety while working sobriety checkpoints.
This module discusses the safety and traffic incident management challenges of vehicle fires and options for responding to these challenges.
This self-paced program discusses the traffic incident management impacts of several special circumstances: HAZMAT, medical helicopters, vehicle extrication, and crash investigation.
This self-paced program provides guidance on how to start and sustain a TIM Team, offering a framework, proven models, and tips for success.
This self-paced program begins with a review of foundational knowledge about the definition of the termination phase and quick clearance strategies. Then, the program covers best practices for typical tasks in the termination phase.
This self-paced program is specifically for first responders who are newer to the profession, typically in their teens and twenties.
This module spotlights how weather impacts emergency scenes on roadways and provides guidance for how to plan and respond when weather conditions significantly affect the incident.
This self-paced program presents information on how to tailor some roadway response best practices to the characteristics of rural roads.
This module highlights the new traffic incident management and responder safety requirements in NFPA 1500: Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety, Health, and Wellness Program and point departments to resources that will help them meet the requirements of the standard.
This module discusses the use of the Incident Command System (ICS) to manage the response to a roadway incident, both in the context of the Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Team and implementation at the incident scene.
This module presents model policies, practices and procedures for key topics in the traffic incident response and management process, from pre-planning to incident response and through to investigation and post-incident analysis.
This module sets forth a series of vetted best practices for drivers to follow when encountering emergency scenes on the roadway.
This module provides a framework for TIM training and guidance on the techniques and methods used in TIM training.
This self-paced program explores both uses of NFPA 1091, explaining it in "plain language" for emergency responders and discussing how it can be used as a training objectives blueprint.
This self-paced program examines the question, "Who's In Charge at Roadway Incidents?"
This program teaches traffic incident management considerations for roadways affected by wildland fires, firefighting operations, and safety procedures to follow when wildland firefighting vehicles are operating in close proximity to responders on foot.
ResponderSafety.com and The Responder Safety Learning Network (RSLN) are a project of the Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI), a Committee of the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Fireman's Association. The RSLN is an online training network delivering critical safety training for roadway incident responders. All training is free and delivered 24/7/365 on demand. The self-paced modules include critical components of roadway operations safety in an emergency situation, including: Advance Warning, Blocking, High Visibility, Traffic Control, Public Outreach, Incident Command, and more. Register online to get started.