Virginia's Common Language Protocol

To comply with National Incident Management System (NIMS) requirements, and protect the safety of Virginia’s responders and citizens, the State Interoperability Executive Committee in conjunction with stakeholders from across the Commonwealth developed a common language protocol for day-to-day operations and major emergency situations.  Usage of the protocol day-to-day is key, as practitioners “do what they practice” in an emergency situation.  Use of disparate coded language during these major emergencies leads to confusion and delayed response.

The common language protocol was submitted to and approved by the NIMS Integration Center in November that stated:
“The NIMS Integration Center has reviewed the Virginia Interoperability Common Language Protocol.  We are of the opinion that the Virginia Interoperability Common Language Protocol is NIMS compliant for Intra-State operations in the Commonwealth of Virginia, as it establishes a state-wide common system for all communications between responders.”

The first of its kind, the protocol marks a major stride towards improved interoperability for the Commonwealth and beyond. 

Addressing the Concerns of Local Law Enforcement, Fire, and EMS

The practitioner community of Virginia has expressed many concerns related to common language including:

• Professionalism
• Expediency
• Retraining
• Responder Safety

To address these concerns and push toward common language an Initiative Action Team (IAT) was established made up of practitioners from across the Commonwealth.  Research by this group showed that professionalism may be overcome by standardized plain English phrases, expediency is not an issue if standardized phrases are incorporated, and retraining, while cumbersome, is achievable.  The Governor's Office of Commonwealth Preparedness collected several case studies from across the Commonwealth to demonstrate how others have integrated plain English and provided this information in the links above.

Responder safety, however, was a much more cumbersome issue.  To overcome this issue and more greatly protect the safety of responders and citizens, the IAT identified four scenarios in which coded language will be necessary.  To protect the confidentiality of these codes, emergency responders should contact the Commonwealth Interoperability Coordinator’s Office for details.