Media

So you say you are providing rapid intervention to your firefighters? Sounds good, but to be providing true rapid intervention you must be able to truthfully agree to all of the following statements.

1. We are using trained and experienced firefighters on our team and not rookies or members without experience or training.
   
   
2. All of our RIT members know how to proficiently perform the Denver drill.
   
   
3. All of our RIT members can tie the handcuff knot or similar knot and perform the charged hoseline pull to remove a firefighter from a sub-level rescue.
   
   
4. Our RIT is trained and proficient at performing patient assessments and SCBA rescue pack changeovers.
   
   
5. Our team members can rig high anchor point mechanical advantage lowering systems using extension ladders.
   
   
6. Our team members can create an anchor point using a haligan bar in a floor or wall and rig a 2 to 1 mechanical advantage pulling system.
   
   
7. Our team members are skilled in at least 3 ladder carries for the removal of a firefighter.
   
   
8. All of our members can operate airbag-lifting systems, hydraulic tool systems, and other specialized rescue equipment in low visibility environments.
   
   
9. Our team is well versed in wearing, using, and troubleshooting SCBA in hostile environments.
   
   
10. Our team performs periodic walk around sizeups of the fire building every 15-20 minutes.
    
    
11. Our team is proficient in basic and advanced search procedures.
    
    
12. Our members know how to perform and have practiced enlarged openings for removal.
    
    
13. We have a written mayday plan that all members know well.
    
    
14. If a mayday is sounded, we have a contingency plan to quickly assemble more teams and can actually accomplish it. (The rule of three)
    
    
15. We always have the proper rescue equipment on scene in the event it would be needed immediately and do not have to call for it after a mayday is announced.
    
    
16. Our RIT members have trained and are capable of moving firefighters up and down steps.

So how do we correct this situation? First, stop talking the talk. Admit that your team is not properly trained and equipped so that you can start to recognize your deficiencies and weaknesses regarding firefighter rescue operations. Make a list of what training your team must have and what training they should have, then complete it. Must have training is mentioned in the list above and should be started immediately to bring your team to a level where they can perform adequately and safely. Should have training is anything that will compliment the above list such as; advanced specialized rescue tool operations, rope and rigging, collapse rescue operations, confined space operations, advanced SCBA, etc. The basics of search, assessments/changeovers, extrication, and removal must be mastered first, before we can move onto advanced operations. If we are weak and unknowledgable at the basics, we will surely fail even before we get to any advanced operations. Second, make a list of firefighter rescue equipment that you are lacking. If your mutual aid departments have this equipment, don't duplicate it, train with it. Make a plan to have it available to you on the fireground. Equipment that is not available in your immediate response area is the thing to place on your list first. Then work at securing funds to make these purchases a reality. This equipment will obviously not show up overnight. Set priorities and stick to them.

Thirdly, seek out Fire Departments or organizations that already have reached this trained level. They will be able to assist you in reaching your goal. Search for local individuals or instructors that are good at delivering firefighter rescue training. Be sure that they are reliable and proficient at this delivery and not self proclaimed gurus. Firefighter rescue training can be dangerous if not done properly and safely. There are also many nationally recognized Rapid Intervention instructors across the country providing excellent training programs that can be brought to you. These instructors pull no punches when it comes to firefighter rescue training. Instructors such as Robert Cobb, John Salka, Mark McLees, Mike Bates, Tim Sendelbach, Greg Crawford, Mickey Conboy, Rick Lasky, and many, many more to numerous to name. I have had the privilege of working with most of these instructors and the honor of calling them friend. These gentlemen truly want to prevent firefighter fatalities. These instructors, and more, can be reached through the firefighter rescue website www.rapidintervention.com.

Additional training that should be sought after is firefighter fatality case study lectures that provide all of the key factors as to why a firefighter fatality occurred. These lectures are a great resource for rapid intervention teams and provide pertinent information as to what these deceased firefighters did, or did not do, to create this event. This is very important information for our teams to study. It could provide us with behavioral information we can use in the future. We all need to know what happened when a firefighter is killed and more importantly how to prevent it so that it does not happen again. Assistant Chief Mike Bryant of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Deputy Chief Mike Smith of the District of Columbia Fire Department, and District Chief Mike McNamee of the Worcester Fire Department are a few of several individuals that provide both eye opening and somber seminars on firefighter fatality/injury incidents. Chief Smith also delivers a great program on building construction and accountability, two more areas of training that our rapid intervention teams often overlook and must have knowledge of.

As you can see, this venture down the road of rapid intervention for our firefighters at incidents is ongoing and never ending. It must be a priority in our fire suppression plan as well as our training curriculums. Unfortunately, firefighter deaths on the fireground are not going to go away. We may reduce the occurrence and continue to provide safer firegrounds, but we will always kill firefighters. It's the nature of this business. Some of you may not like the sound of that, but it is reality. Simply look at the annual firefighter fatality reports issued at the end of each year. When it reaches zero, we will have won. The American fire service performs aggressive interior firefighting on a daily basis. This is a risk we assume. But it can, and will, contribute to firefighter fatalities. There are thousands of career and volunteer fire departments across this country and Canada that are still not providing rapid intervention for their firefighters. Until these departments become waist deep in a firefighter rescue operation, they more than likely will not change. The reasons are many. From I don't have the manpower, to simply not believing they need it, to the old saying that it can't happen to me. My friend and colleague Mike Smith continues tirelessly to make an important point to the fire service. He comments that it unfortunately takes a cultural change to make change in the fire service. Only we can agree to change the way we do things. If we are not interested in changing something, we won't change it until we are forced to. When we kill a firefighter, we are forced to change the way we do things. The culture has changed us. At this point it is too late. We have already lost somebody that we can never get back. It is easy for me to contemplate this reality because I have experienced it.

We all need to make a serious effort at providing true rapid intervention operations on our firegrounds. It is the only possible way to attempt to protect the American firefighter when they can't help themselves. If you are one of those departments that currently are keeping rapid intervention on the back burner and not making it a priority, I urge you to reconsider your efforts. Find a way to make it work. You have an opportunity right now to do something about it whether you are volunteer or career, a Chief Officer, a Line Officer, or Firefighter. Give your people the chance at survival that they will need. No firefighter deserves to die in this beast we call fire. If we are not prepared and trained to "rapidly intervene" when things go bad, we are only adding to the negative event. If you currently are talking the talk with your rapid intervention team operations you have a chance to change. We all must walk the walk when it comes time to perform a firefighter rescue, before it's too late. I for one want to go home at the end of my shift, I'm sure you do too.