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Each agency signs a standard
agreement, which has changed little since its inception, stating that they
will help in an emergency and are subject to MABAS policies.
MABAS is organized into Divisions, with each division made up of mutiple,
adjacent, Fire and EMS emergency services. MABAS includes over
25,000+ firefighters and daily staffed emergency response units including
more than 750 fire stations, 900+ engine companies, 275+ ladder trucks,
600+ ambulances (mostly paramedic capable), 150+ heavy rescue squads, 125+
light rescue squads, and 225+ water tankers. Fire/EMS reserve (back-up)
units account for more than 600 additional emergency vehicles. MABAS
continues to grow, and is currently over 50 divisions. MABAS has
been adopted as the statewide plan for Fire and EMS Mutual Aid in
Illinois. More divisions are being added and eventually the entire state
will become MABAS divisions.
MABAS provides an orderly mutual aid response to the scenes of fires,
accidents or other incidents. Equipment is sent to the scene according to
predetermined lists, called "Box Cards". Each card covers specific types
of incidents in specific areas. Help is sent from many surrounding
agencies a little at a time, instead of one adjacent agency sending
everything it has. This keeps equipment available in the event that
a surrounding agency also has an incident. As the original incident
escalates, more equipment and manpower are drawn from surrounding
agencies. If more help is still needed, equipment and manpower sent
by surrounding agencies is replaced by new equipment and manpower sent
from agencies adjacent to them. This "cascade" effect insures that
no one is left unable to respond to an incident.
All responding units report to an "Incident Commander" (who is in overall
command of the incident). MABAS has adopted the National Incident
Management System to coordinate responses in an orderly and recognized
manner. This allows agencies that may be unfamiliar with each other
to work together under a unified command and with common
procedures.
For a good article on MABAS, click here.
MABAS Division 39 offers a course called "MABAS 101" that teaches how to
create and use Box Cards. This is about a two hour session based on
materials used by the State MABAS organization. It is suitable for
both Firefirghter/EMS and Dispatch personnel. To schedule a session,
or for more information, contact Don
Adams by e-mail. |
