Describe your departments heavy rescue operations

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom Chapman on May 4, 2008 at 1:27pm

In Grand Island, Ne (50,000) we staff our rescue with 1&2 minimum and 1&3 full. We do auto extrication, high angle, trench, confined space, water and ice ( no divers) and collapse. Members are assigned by the Ops Chief and training occurs after assignment. We fill with anyone. Fireground duties are usually RIT but depends on the district. In our district we are first due. We have an engine at our house that we play musical apparatus with for fires in our district. Sounds like fun huh? We are trying to get a rescue pumper to alleviate this ridiculouse state of affairs.

Permalink Reply by Barry Aptt on May 4, 2008 at 6:15pm

Ugh that $$$$ carrot is a dangerous one to dangle. As far as my department goes, we have no Tech Rescue capability. We are sitting on $25,000 of rope and confined space equipment but only 2 -3 in the department know how to use it. We also had a Dive Team which was a victim of budget shortfalls. We went to at least 2 incidents a year but the City fathers didn't see the need.

I agree with Sandy, 5 and 1 should be the minimum and the Captain of the piece should have the final word. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the union BUT sometimes it interferes with the best way to operate and is frustrasting.

Mark, don't your Rescue Captain's have the final say on who rides?

Permalink Reply by Mark Gregory on May 4, 2008 at 7:50pm

Barry, when you talk about riding, do you mean visitors or do you mean the firefighters that Captain picks for the Company?

Permalink Reply by Barry Aptt on May 4, 2008 at 8:02pm

Sorry I should of been more specific, who the Captain picks for the company

Permalink Reply by Mark Gregory on May 4, 2008 at 8:12pm

Normally, you go for an interview with the Captain and he picks who he wants to bring over on a detail. Lately, they have been having a Special Ops Chief sit in on interview process so read between the lines (lol).....

Permalink Reply by Barry Aptt on May 4, 2008 at 8:37pm

oooooohhhh! thanks for the info

Stay safe down there brother

Permalink Reply by John Fatzaun on May 28, 2008 at 9:48pm

Hey bro,

Read your reply on March 29, regarding rescue ops and found it interesting. We here in Wilson Nc, are a 5 station department and are talking pretty heavy on getting a rescue. Hopefully the deciding brass runs it right. Would of been this year but the freakin budget put a halt to it. Well, what cought my attention was what you stated about your "Interior RIT" ops. Have a few questions for you bro -
What happens to the Interior Rit if they get in trouble? Who is there Rit ? What if there is an emergency on the exterior of the structure? Is there an Interior Rit assigned only if there is an exterior Rit ? You stated that " If a Mayday were to be called then these guys are already in a place to effect a rescue ...", I am assuming they would be in an IDLH atmosphere breathing air. Should an emergency occur there air supply would already be diminished leaving them with little time or energy to perform a rescue or stabalize the incident. By being in the inside of a structure does that prolong a Rit deployment to the exterior or roof of a structure? Can the initial vital Mayday radio communications be missed due to interior fire ground ops. C.A.N = Crew Accountabilty ? What does CAN stand for? The interior Rit sounds like it has good intentions but raises a few questions. Sorry for the fifty questions and I mean no disrespect, just want to learn about your Interior Rit.

Thanks brother - be safe

John Fatzaun DTRT

Permalink Reply by Mark Gregory on May 28, 2008 at 9:53pm

I think you are referring to PJ Langmaid's post

Permalink Reply by John Fatzaun on June 2, 2008 at 4:20pm

Hey bro,

Read your reply on March 29, regarding rescue ops and found it interesting. We here in Wilson Nc, are a 5 station department and are talking pretty heavy on getting a rescue. Hopefully the deciding brass runs it right. Would of been this year but the freakin budget put a halt to it. Well, what cought my attention was what you stated about your "Interior RIT" ops. Have a few questions for you bro -
What happens to the Interior Rit if they get in trouble? Who is there Rit ? What if there is an emergency on the exterior of the structure? Is there an Interior Rit assigned only if there is an exterior Rit ? You stated that " If a Mayday were to be called then these guys are already in a place to effect a rescue ...", I am assuming they would be in an IDLH atmosphere breathing air. Should an emergency occur there air supply would already be diminished leaving them with little time or energy to perform a rescue or stabalize the incident. By being in the inside of a structure does that prolong a Rit deployment to the exterior or roof of a structure? Can the initial vital Mayday radio communications be missed due to interior fire ground ops. C.A.N = Crew Accountabilty ? What does CAN stand for? The interior Rit sounds like it has good intentions but raises a few questions. Sorry for the fifty questions and I mean no disrespect, just want to learn about your Interior Rit.

Thanks brother - be safe

John Fatzaun DTRT

Permalink Reply by PJ Langmaid on June 7, 2008 at 11:32am

John,

Sorry for the delay in replying I have been very busy as of late. As for my post regarding the 'Interior RIT', please keep in mind that I stated that there is currently discussion about using us that way. Since the the inception of RIT, the Heavy Rescue Co has been the primary RIT and many members here are starting to question this policy. Primarily due to the response time. We have 1 Rescue for 250 square miles in a city of 500,000. So to answer your questions I must first state that these are conceptual at this time and are aligned along what we understand of FDNY Rescue Ops. The concept is that an additional truck co is assigned to alarms for traditional aggressive proactive RIT functions and that the Rescue Co will work interior splitting into two crews of two. One team will ensure that the first attack line is advancing and making progress while keeping an awareness of the situation (fire conditions, building layout, etc.) behind the attack team. This would assist the Engine with hose management and if they run into problems there would be two Rescue guys in a ready state in close proximity to assist them out. It also provides the Chief with an extra set of hands in the event that the initial hose team has to back out due to low air. (The Rescue uses 60 min bottles.) The other team of two Rescue guys would back up the search team, primarily on the floor above, again they would assist the truckies by keeping an eye for them, the conditions, etc. Also if the truckies locate a victim, the Rescue guys can either assist with victim removal or pick up the search immediately where the truckies left off. Again if the truckies run into problems and need assistance two Rescue guys are in close proximity to assist them immediately. So to sum up your questions. The traditional outside RIT functions would be assumed by a truck co. Yes the Rescue guys are at a greater risk to falling victim to a Mayday situation as well but the benefits appear to be acceptable and the outside RIT, along with the other Rescue guys inside, would be the rescue team. Any emergency outside would be quickly handled by the outside RIT and the Rescue Co could redeploy to the exterior for assistance. While the RIT is interior they would have to be on air but they must maintain enough discipline to not become engaged in many firefighting tasks. They are the eyes, and ears of all companies working interior and of the Chief in charge. Their only role is to ensure the guys go home. They can accomplish this by ensuring that any problem is being quickly solved and that the fire is put out. As for the Mayday radio communications....unfortuanetly they are often missed period. Even Chiefs outside in a quiet environment are missing these vital transmissions. Again it comes down to excellent discipline of all members, especially the RITs, in listening. CAN= Conditions, Actions, and Needs. Ideally we would staff every Rescue Co with a total of six personnel due to technical incidents and then that would offer the fireground a Rescue Co that can cover the fire floor, the floor above (or below depending), and the roof with teams of two. For now we deal with only four total and do our best. The other benefits to this concept have come up in incidents where companies are engaged in firefighting and information comes to the Chief that hazardous items are inside and the Rescue guys can immediately be used to locate and remove these items (such as flammable gases or chemicals, etc.) this follows along with the concept by mitigating immediate threats to the members by removing them from the problem. The Rescue has also assisted in checking for extension in remote areas from the fire to ensure that the fire is not quickly spreading and endangering the members that way. Again they are not intended to be used for demanding tasks so that they will be in a ready state to affect a FF Rescue if needed. I hope this helps. It is not our Policy as of yet but only a concept.

Permalink Reply by David Dragan on November 26, 2008 at 2:35pm

Here's how we operate:

Branford, CT. Combination Department with 8 career guys in one house (3 man engine, 2 als units, 1 deputy chief). There are 4 other houses which are volunteer. All togeather 7 engines, 1 tower ladder, 4 als units, and yes...a volunteer heavy rescue.

Being a volunteer on a heavy rescue has its downfalls. We respond on all box, mva, rescue box, haz-mat, and special requests in the town. We operate a 96 pierce walkaround with roll up doors (big mistake). We are Tech level rope, veh and machinery, water rescue, and collapse/confined space. All Haz-mat is operational level with a regional team responce. Also we have a mutual aid rescue from a neighboring town that is usually special called for manpower. We have a career D/C in charge of the Rescue Squad which is a plus. As for the career staff, some are trained, and some barely have EMS certs. So depending on the shift, you might get a great group of guys that know what they are doing.

Being volunteer, its hard just to get the rig out durring the day. Granted we do not have the call volume of FDNY or Boston (only about 5000 a year...2/3 of that is EMS). Our company membership requires just a year experience at an engine or the truck, and you must be a interior guy with an EMT ticket. We do however offer ALOT of training. However being volunteer, you usually get your core group that goes to everything. Plus some of the career guys show up from time to time.

Basicly I wanted to post our situation to maybe get some feedback on how well the volunteers AND career staff SHOULD be trained. The chances of the Rescue going career is slim due to the present economy, but even being a volunteer myself, I agree it should durring the day.

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