Principles for Joint Working

Joint Decision Model (JDM)

One of the challenges facing commanders in a joint emergency response is how to collate the available information in order to make effective decisions collaboratively.

The JDM has been developed to enable efficient and effective joint working by the emergency services, helping to determine their priorities for action. The JDM achieves this through different stages that establish a shared situational awareness and a joint assessment of risk to inform decision-making.

All joint decisions must be made with the primary aim of saving lives and reducing harm. Reducing harm may relate to potential damage to people, the environment, property or infrastructure.

Emergency responders should have this uppermost in their minds when making any decision. The JDM is organised around three primary considerations – situation, direction and action.

Primary considerations: situation

The situation primary consideration involves answering the following questions:

• What is happening?
• What are the impacts and risks?
• What might happen and what is being done about it?

Having situational awareness is having an appropriate knowledge of these factors.

Primary considerations: direction

The direction primary consideration involves answering the following questions:

• What is the end state desired?
• What is the aim and objectives of the emergency response?
• What overarching values and priorities will inform and guide this?

Primary considerations: action

The action primary consideration involves answering the following questions:

• What needs to be decided?
• What needs to be done to resolve the situation and achieve the desired end state?

The JDM develops the three primary considerations and sets out the various stages of how joint decisions should be reached. All joint decisions must be made with the primary aim to save lives and reduce harm through a co-ordinated multi-agency response. Responders and commanders can use the JDM at the scene of an incident.

The JDM consists of 5 stages:

1. Working together – saving lives, reducing harm

The pentagon at the centre of the JDM is a reminder to emergency services that all joint decisions must be made with the primary aim of saving lives and reducing harm. This is achieved through a co-ordinated and joint response.

2. Gather information and intelligence

This stage involves gathering and sharing information and intelligence, for example, through a METHANE message. Sharing information is essential in the handover to commanders. The purpose is to achieve a shared situational awareness. Social media can be a useful communications tool for organisations and commanders to use for gathering information, and for warning and informing the public. First responders and those outside of the command group must not use social media for sharing information about the incident.

3. Assess risks and develop a working strategy

Commanders use joint risk assessments to achieve a common understanding of threats, hazards and the likelihood of them being realised. This is done in order to make informed decisions on deployments and establish which risk control measures are required. The key steps to delivering an effective emergency response are:

• Identify hazards
• Perform dynamic risk assessments
• Identify the tasks
• Apply control measures
• Plan an integrated multi-agency operational response
• Record decisions.

4. Consider powers, policies and procedures

This stage relates to any relevant laws, operating procedures or policies that may impact on the response plan and capabilities that are available to be deployed. For example, in relation to a road traffic collision, the operational commander has legal and statutory responsibilities.

5. Identify options and contingencies

There will almost always be more than one option to achieve the desired end state. Commanders and responders should work together to evaluate the options and contingencies available. Contingencies refer to events that may occur and the arrangements that are put in place to respond to them should they occur.

6. Take action and review what happened

Building situational awareness, setting direction and evaluating options all lead to taking the actions that are judged to be the most effective and efficient to resolve the major or complex incident. It is essential that all actions are reviewed. The commanders and responders will revisit the JDM stages as information changes during the emergency response until the incident is resolved.