PSS 11.5 Information Assessment

Purpose

To provide guidelines regarding information assessment.

Policy

Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) provides the following guidelines regarding information assessment for personnel to adhere to.

Procedure

Once collated, information needs to be accessed and interpreted to convert it to intelligence by asking, among other things, the following:

• Is it relevant information, and does the relevance produce further information or change existing information?
• Is its source reliable? Information must not be accepted at face value without assessing reliability of the source and cross checking with other information. Do not discard what appears to be unlikely without sound reasons.
• Is confirmation required?
• Does the information have urgent implications?
• Is it significant? If the significance of an item of information is not recognised, the resulting response may be deficient. Significance is determined by what may need to be done in response to the information.

Reaction to Information Assessment

When information has been gathered collated and assessed, it is then possible to consider and plan appropriate responses. Actions to be considered include:

• Deploying resources and personnel to an incident.
• Activating Support Operations.
• Requesting other internal SLS assistance.
• Requesting emergency service support.
• Lifesaving service support.
• Peer support/welfare services.
• Recording – accurate recording of all actions and orders is essential to:
  • ensure accountability for the exercise of authority and the use of resources.
  • facilitate investigations including coronial and criminal.
  • maximising learning through debriefing and subsequent training.