Other agreements are common in small towns that have no resources or have limited resources. In these cases, local crews are able to deal with small incidents themselves, but in the event of a major incident, surrounding communities and local resources are called upon for the first deployment. For example, local fire and EMS services will generally handle fire alarms and car accidents, while fire reports result in automatic dispatches (automatic assistance) to surrounding cities. As far as emergency services are concerned, mutual assistance is an agreement between emergency relief to provide assistance beyond the jurisdiction`s borders. This can happen due to an emergency response that exceeds local resources. B, such as a disaster or multiple alarm fire. Mutual assistance can be ad hoc and can only be requested in case of emergency. It may also be a formal permanent agreement for continuous management of the urgency of cooperation, for example. B to ensure that resources are sent by the nearest fire station, regardless of which side of the jurisdiction where the incident is located. Agreements that send the following funds are regularly referred to as “automatic assistance agreements.” International mutual aid is also common in border communities in places such as Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and others. Such calls for mutual assistance are the result of an escalation in the event of an incident, as defined by the incident commander. The necessary responses to other cities are predefined, so a distributor only has to call the appropriate resources that the “Run Card” determines for such an incident. Mutual assistance can also go beyond the local response.
Several states have national mutual assistance systems. National mobilization programs in Washington and Oregon are examples. MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) is a regional mutual assistance system based in Illinois with 1,500 member firefighting corps in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Missouri. In general, utility companies also have mutual assistance agreements. [1] If a city does not have its own resources, it can enter into contracts with one or more surrounding cities to provide all coverage.