And i put together a one-page ‘First 10 Minutes’ incident card for my teams that locks in roles, plain-language comms, and initial containment for fires, medicals, and disruptive persons; we keep it laminated by the AED and radio chargers, and I review it at 0600 briefings. If you want the template or have a tighter version, reply here — also, any life-threatening situation goes to 911 first, then internal notifications.
Love that it’s laminated by the AED — we added our exact address, nearest cross‑street, gate code, and front desk callback so a new hire can read it to 911 without freezing. Only caveat: we also keep a mini version behind our ID badges for when we’re in the parking lot or on exterior patrol. @kevin_morris76 your 90‑second drill plus that tweak shaved about 30 seconds off our first contact.
We cut down chaos by adding a tiny QR on the card that opens a simple site map with AEDs, Knox Box, gas/electrical shutoffs, and the muster point… Building on @anna4881’s address tip, we printed a one‑liner for nights — “alone: call 911 first, keep radio on main, meet EMS at North Lobby if safe” — plus a blank for incident time so the first transmission is crisp. If you’re sharing the template, I can drop in our Stop the Bleed quick‑steps and basic ICS role labels.
Quick add from our site: we printed a one-line radio script on top — ‘Security at [exact location], [what’s happening], [what we’re doing], need [who/what]’ — and a small dry-erase box for ‘IC:’ and start time to keep handoffs clean. We also switched to matte, glow-edge lamination so you can spot and read it in a blackout like a tiny runway; only caveat is the dry-erase needs alcohol wipes so it doesn’t smear.
We stash a bright “IC” wristband in the AED pouch — the first on scene wears it so everyone knows who’s running the first 10 minutes; it’s the neon hat of accountability. Small caveat: don’t overload the card — big font and minimal steps beat clever features at 3 a.m. If you want the blurb we use, @anna4881, it adds: “Update at 2/5/10 min; if life‑threatening, call 911 now and stay on the line.”.
We zip‑tied an $8 kitchen timer next to the AED where your card lives; first on scene hits start so we can call out 60/120‑second checks and jot clean timestamps on the sheet. It cut the “what minute are we on?” chaos in our 0600 run‑throughs, but , make it loud with a big button or folks fumble in gloves. If noise is a problem, @levi52 had a vibrating clip‑on timer that worked just as well.