TIM Trend Newsletter: May 2018

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May 2018

Message from Darin

Collaboration appears to be the theme of this month. Everywhere we look, we see reminders that our TIM Program successes are not just what you or I can accomplish, or what our respective agencies can do. They are all about what WE can do together…what OUR agencies, OUR disciplines, OUR mutual commitment can accomplish. The solidarity and perseverance of our TIM champions lift our programs to new heights as we collaboratively shape the next generation of traffic incident management across the nation. 

Across the span of a day, a week or even a year, every now and then circumstances align to underscore a common theme. Far be it for us to ignore a “sign” when one seems to be knocking down our door. September 13, 2018 will be our 8th annual Oregon TIM Conference. We are preparing our agenda and will distribute it in the months ahead. Please join us as we develop this year’s theme: Collaboration — Accomplishment Through Solidarity. If you have examples of TIM partnerships or unique ways different disciplines have partnered for success, we’d love to hear about them and include them in our conference

Darin Signature

Darin A. Weaver, Oregon TIM Program


Operations Program Plan

Our TIM Program is part of ODOT’s broader Operations Program, which includes activities that enhance the safety and reliability of Oregon’s roadways. In an effort to keep pace with increasing demands on our transportation system, we are developing a comprehensive program plan to formalize the Operations Program and keep us focused on the most important things moving forward.

We recently used FHWA’s Capability Maturity Model to conduct a self-assessment and identify gaps and improvement opportunities in our program. The core team also gathered input from internal stakeholders, including: Traffic, ITS, Planning, Maintenance and Information Systems and the Traffic Operations and Maintenance and Operations leadership teams respectively. Results include a program mission to “move people and goods safely and efficiently” and development of a draft action plan.

We look forward to sharing the results later this summer!

 

timeline

Train the trainer
New TIM Trainers

Instruction

Following our Train the Trainer event on Tuesday May 2, we set aside some time to meet with our alumni trainers to roll out the 2018 updated version of Oregon’s TIM Responder training curriculum. We were encouraged to spend the morning with a very engaged, diverse cross-section of our trainers. We reviewed changes to the Oregon TIM training material, highlighting the addition of Oregon-specific laws, photos and scenarios. The changes represent local application of national best practices and standards and make it easier for attendees to see what TIM looks like “on their roads.” We were also able to discuss potential improvements to training delivery, including further refinement of our custom Oregon Tabletop exercises, class scheduling, trainer involvement and preparation and cross-disciplined delivery coordination. As always, the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training staff were very gracious hosts—it was a comfortable, constructive and collaborative morning that left each of us looking forward to our first opportunity to deliver the updated material.  

Attendees

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Lt. Patrick Huskey with the Oregon State Police receives a handshake and plaque of appreciation from Reinhold Weissbock (left) and Michael Ingles, representing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. These two gentlemen made the journey south on a peer visit to attend our Train the Trainer event and learn about our TIM Responder Training program. Both Michael and Reinhold were a pleasure to meet and spend the day with.  Please take back our best wishes from Oregon’s TIM program. We hope your trip home was safe and free from roadway incidents! We already have several alumni trainers who have volunteered to help with your first TIM training event!

 


Performance Measures: Push, Pull & Drag

Vehicle relocation is a solid TIM strategy and one that we have been seeking to advance across the state.  We devote significant time promoting the strategy through our TIM responder training and in 2016 we developed and rolled out an ODOT Push, Pull & Drag (PP&D) training. The next phase in the maturation of our PP&D program is telling the story.

Recently we developed our first PP&D performance measure. Our Transportation Operations Center (TOC) software enables dispatchers to enter in a PP&D event attribute if this strategy is applied. When responders properly identify that the vehicle is a candidate for PP&D they notify dispatch of their intentions, the dispatcher notes the activity in the software, the responder proceeds with the activity and now we have data to tell our story!

To build our PP&D performance measure we selected the six event types where PP&D is most likely to be a viable strategy and noted the total numbers of these types of events (the red numbers). The orange numbers represent the number of times that PP&D was employed and lastly the blue numbers provide the percentage that PP&D was utilized.

PP&D is a tool that responders use to improve the safety of all  motorists and responders, it enhances the reliability of our roadways, it saves time and money. When properly executed PP&D is a win for everyone involved and that is why we want to utilize this strategy whenever circumstances allow. The development of our PP&D Performance will help shape actions to move us towards that goal!

Statewide Push Pull and Drag Stats

Responder Spotlight
Kingma with caption

Trooper Mark Kingma has been with the Oregon State Police for 29 years. Mark was one of the first law enforcement TIM trainers in Oregon and is one of our most active trainers, travelling across the state to assist with delivery of the program. Even though he has recently left the Patrol Division, moving to Fish and Wildlife, Mark is still eager to jump in and assist on a class when he can. We caught up with Mark recently to ask him about his thoughts on traffic incident management.

We asked, “Based off your experience, what is critical to clearing an incident safely and quickly?” Mark’s response revolved around collaboration and partnership: “Working with other agencies/disciplines to help get our jobs done quickly, whether taking pictures for someone, pushing a disabled vehicle out of the road, contacting witnesses...the more we can do for each other, the sooner we can open up the road.” “...The more we can do for each other…” those words should ring in our ears. That type of unity is exactly what we seek to promote throughout our entire TIM program. Enhancing interagency  understanding and cross-discipline support is one of the primary themes of our TIM Responder training. Experienced responders like Mark know that this level of unity and understanding often develops over time, but we can proactively nurture working relationships through cross-disciplined training, after-action debriefs and even taking time out of our busy schedules to share a cup of coffee with fellow responders in our area. We are very fortunate to have TIM program champions like Mark who acknowledge that we do many things well, but have too much at stake to be satisfied. If you are out enjoying Oregon’s waters or backcountry roads and you cross paths with Mark, join us in extending a big thank you for taking the time to share his thoughts on our TIM program and for the countless hours that he has devoted to advancing safe, quick clearance across Oregon.

Kingma training in Albany

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