Organizing a Volunteer Tech Rescue

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott Richardson on March 13, 2008 at 2:37pm

Hey Sunshine,

One advantage you have, as you mentioned is willing people. Often times that is the most difficult component to come up with. I am unfamiliar with your department and regional demographics so please bear with me. One approach that might work well for you regardless of your response are demographics is a concept we have developed called ASTART. This concept is a pretty simple one and basically provides an outline for development of special team from an honor guard of six individuals to a special operations response of 100 members. The readers digest lesion is this:

The first piece is simply determining who is interested in the concept.
Next, determine (by an informal survey) what areas of interest there are and if your organization or a consortium of organizations around you have. Often times you may start with your organization and meet with a few motivated individuals from surrounding organizations and response areas. This will come in to play later on.

Once you have a core group of leaders then it is time to get the white board, paper and pencils out. I say pencils because this is an extremely dynamic, or constantly changing process (and that is a good thing).

The next step is a rough analysis of your current and potential staffing, training and education, apparatus and equipment, resources and team-ability, or the ability to function as a team.

Team-ability is the most important here. The implementation process will involve change which, to some is a dirty word in the fire service. If the leadership of this process can agree that, no matter what they will work to present a united leadership body everything else will fall into place.

These initial meetings can be informal and do not require a bylaw change, yet. Once you have a plan together on how to proceed then it is time to approach the formal side.

I hope this helps; feel free to contact me if I can bee of any other assistance. With leadership initiative and teamwork you will be successful!

Scott

Permalink Reply by Sunshine Lemme on March 13, 2008 at 4:11pm

Thanks, Scott, I was thinking about proposing something like that, though my concern was getting it into the right venue. I'll start working on that next week, I've got the second half or FSI I until then.

ASTART sounds like an acronym. Can you remember what it stands for? If you can't, don't worry about it, I don't remember a lot of them, and am wrong about a lot of others. :-)

Permalink Reply by Scott Richardson on March 13, 2008 at 8:01pm

ASTART is actually a system I developed and trademarked through my company, On the Job Emergency Services Training, LLC. It stands for:

Analysis of-
Staffing
Training and education
Apparatus and equipment
Resources (public and private)
Team-ability

I have a book coming out from Delmar-Cengage around the middle to the end of the year titled Technical Rescue: Trench ISBN: 9781428335073 that discusses this concept in detail. I would be happy to start a forum on the subject once the legal gurus give me the okay...

Take care...BE SAFE...Scott

Permalink Reply by Art Bloomer on March 14, 2008 at 5:05pm

Sunshine,

My first comment is the term Heavy Rescue.....what is it really? I go back a long time and I remember setting up Gin poles, and working with 3/4" and thicker manila and sisal rope. That was heavy rescue. The term is I think used wrong in most departments, as for an example, if you look in the average "Heavy Rescue" of most fire departments in the country, all you will find is extication equipment, some rope, and fire support equipment. No trench panels, no pneumatic struts, no pavement breakers, torches....you know where I'm going. It might be tradition to call it a heavy rescue....but it sure isn't. I know I'm going to catch flack on that from some, but if your into tech rescue, you know where I'm coming from. Today it can be grouped under the term specialized rescue or special ops. Since September 11th, everyone and there brothers (strange choice of words) wants to be into special ops. Bigest problem is they don't all get the right training...they can afford a tractor drawn rescue truck, and order one of everything from the rescue specialty catalogs. Then they paint the words Heavy Rescue on the truck and wait for the next big one.

If your department really wants to get behind a good special operations group, you need to start slow. A good group of commited firefighters is a good start, then spend as much time on training as possible. And get a good and reputable training organization to come in and train and certify you. Then buy only the equipment you need for your response area. I've seen departments when I go out to teach that have tens of thousands of dollars invested in concrete breaking equipment, but not a single concrete building around for a hundred miles.

Concentrate on your response areas immediate needs, train, train, and train again.

And follow Scotts advice.

Permalink Reply by Scott Richardson on March 14, 2008 at 5:36pm

Sunshine,

Art makes some great points. Once you bring together that core group of motivated people set realistic goals for the organization. If your members have not been trained to the Level I (Operations Level) in a particular technical rescue discipline (rope, trench, structural collapse, confined space) there is no need to plan technician training. Start with the basics. You will find that providing this training will cerate a natural recruiting progression.

Soliciting advice from the many experienced people on these forums/blogs or whatever you want to call them is a GREAT step in the right direction.

Keep charging forward!

Scott

Permalink Reply by Sunshine Lemme on March 14, 2008 at 8:25pm

Thanks, sounds like a great concept. I'll be looking forward to it.