Key Decision Log

Once again the Wildfire community is leading the way in developing tools that are leading the emergency response and emergency management community in developing tools needed in all the communities. The Key Decision Log designed to be used periodically during a response to review decisions made during the incident is a key action in developing situational awareness and a common operating picture. This allows commanders and their team to review and to analyze their decision in almost real time. It can be used at shift change briefs and during the planning period for the next Incident Action Plan. It is a simple yet powerful concept of analyzing why a decision was made and making sure that the whole team understands the reasoning behind the decision. It also records the affects of that decision on the incident. This type of document should adopted in every EOC in the country as a response tool for any type of incident.

Large Fire Management Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center

Key Decision Log  

The Key Decision Log (KDL) is one of a suite of evolving tools that make up the WFDS System. It allows Agency Administrators, Fire Management Officers, incident management organizations and other fire leaders to accurately record, in near-real time, implementation decisions that directly and indirectly affect the management of a wildland fire.

Identifying best practices and promoting organizational learning is the cornerstone of a High Reliability Organization (HRO). By understanding how and why decision makers select a specific course of action, the complexity of an incident can be better understood and transparently communicated through agency channels. It can also be used as a real-time reference to past decisions that promotes consistency during team transitions and key decision points along the life of an incident. The KDL facilitates high reliability and continual improvement by allowing practitioners and researchers to recreate the sequence of events that occur over the life of an incident. These patterns can then be used to develop Lessons Learned that embrace the fundamental concept of Doctrine by sustaining best practices and identifying and eliminating unwanted decision traps.