In this episode I share best practices from my and my teammates experiences in planning Line of Duty Death (LODD) Services. Planning and then helping execute LODD is one of the hardest assignments for any Incident Management Team (IMT) member. In the aftermath of a line of duty death, the IMT member asked to help coordinate service planning will be challenged in many ways.
LODD Planning Challenges
- Emotions: We must be sympathetic, but focused to help plan the best service and honors
- Outsider: We may be visiting someone else’s home. Be respectful and supportive.
- Relationships > Process: While we want to work a good process, the relationships we’ll build and support trump the perfect plan
- It’s Not Our Plan: It’s hard not to interject what we feel would work for the family and teammates of the fallen
While creating a LODD Incident Action Plan (IAP) is difficult, the process and experience is also an opportunity:
- We will learn more about applying the planning process during a difficult time.
- LODD planning bonds those involved in a different way than missing persons or after a storm response deployment.
- There is opportunity to send the lost off with honor and provide some peace for the family
Thank you all for listening to this tough episode and reading this short write up.