The Washington Traffic Incident Management Coalition (WaTIMCo) brings together the 911 public safety/communications, law enforcement, fire/rescue, EMS, transportation, towing and recovery, emergency management, academic and research, technology and motorist communities to lead a statewide effort to improve traffic incident management policies, practices and programs. Coordinated incident response on Washington State highways is vital for life-saving operations, congestion management and accident-investigations.

Responders work more effectively if they understand each other’s roles, responsibilities, and what each responder brings to the scene.

TIM by the numbers: 4 minutes: How long traffic is delayed for every minute a lane is blocked. 2.8 billion gallons: The amount of fuel wasted annually nationwide due to being stuck in traffic. 39,000: Incident Responders potentially placed in harm’s way every day. 20,000: The average number of first responders injured annually nationwide while responding to traffic incidents.

 

Responders are being struck and killed at traffic incidents in the US on an average of:

• 5 fire fighters each year,
• 1 law enforcement officer each month,
• 1 tow truck operator each week and numerous transportation professionals from DOT, Public Works and Safety Service Patrols each year.

It is time to collaboratively enhance our safety and efficiency on incident scenes by Training as a single cross disciplined TIM team! The National TIM Responder Training Program was developed by responders for responders, and was designed to establish the foundation for and promote consistent training of all responders.