RIT Kit

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Permalink Reply by Chris Piepenburg on April 30, 2008 at 4:48pm

Neil,

Are you carrying all of the associated hoses for the EBBS and quickfill, how about an extra mask in case you have to switch out with the downed ff? I would also put a Mast Sling-Link in there or some other way to move a ff. I am not so sure about the light on top of the bag though, that is just one more thing to get hung up while moving.

Chris

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Permalink Reply by Neil Campbell on April 30, 2008 at 6:44pm

all hoses and a mask will be included. All of our Firefighters carry 20' of looped webbing. You might be right about the light.
Neil

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Permalink Reply by Nick Weiland on April 30, 2008 at 8:23pm

I would put 100' of life safety rope in the bag or associated with it in some manner. We also have small strobe lites and glow stix, to mark exits, point of entries, tips of ladders etc. Or just to mark a member if a flashlight is not avail. You stated your members carry 20' slings, which is great, how about wedges? If not throw a few in that bag. Maybe a spare pass alarm (not a whole scba w/ a pass on it). My other question is, beside this bag which is def. needed are you taking other tools to a fire ground when establishing the RIT/FAST?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Walker on April 30, 2008 at 8:44pm

Keep the bag as simple possible. I highly recommend the Safety2go bag. No outside pockets which keeps the bag as slender which helps with low profile situations. The strap for the bag can be used to clip around the down firefighter and it will accomodate the hoses, regulator and facepiece. It's also tough as hell. Safety2go.com

A seperate rope assisted search bag also helps if the situation warrants it. I haven't seen that good of luck with strobes and light sticks in situations where the smoke conditions are more then moderate, espeacially if the smoke has much carbon in it. But I always reserve the right to be wrong.

I think the rescuers have a much easier time getting a downed firefighter out of the situation with a bag that isn't too bulky. Also, the "other" shift will fill any pockets that are available with all sorts of things that will only make the bag heavier and bulkier, a.k.a, not as useful.

I do like your concept of the wire cutters incase the rescuers (which should have them in their pockets) lose theirs some how.

I'm sure many who read this won't agree with me, but I'd cut the other pockets off, leave the one for the pliers and have your RIT teams take the tools they need to rescue the downed firefighter with them. If they can't carry the tools any other way, buy them a tool bag.... if the only way to get the brother out is reduced in size, the fancy bag can become his noose. Just a thought. Take care and be safe brother.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Marler on April 30, 2008 at 10:32pm

Hey Neil, some webbing would be great for drags and carries. You can do amazing things with a 16' piece tied into a loop with a water knot. Also, if you can afford it, a Save-a-Jake is a great tool. It's a manufactured version of the webbing loop, but it has handles and uses carabiners to vary the configuration. I used one, along with a Sling-Link(MAST), in a RIT class I helped teach, and was very impressed with the versatility. Give it a look on the net. Also, you may want to make the search line longer(100' at least), if you do any weaving around looking for someone, you run out of rope fast. Door wedges may also help, although most guys have some in their pockets. I hope this was useful. Write me if you have any more questions

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Permalink Reply by Ron Burkhardt Jr on April 30, 2008 at 11:15pm

Hey Neil, Just a few tools that my RIT uses. We have the Scott RIT pack and im not sure about your but ours is heavy as hell. We have a 4500 one hour bottle on it. We carry a extra mask, regulator, a 10' extension hose, as well as buddy breather attatchments for your self just in case. All of that is in the supplied bag. We also carry dikes, glow sticks, a save a jake,webbing for lowering the pack into a h*** and a 100' of 7 or 8mm rope. That pretty much maxes that bag out in weight. We also carry a canvas electricians bag (Standpipe bag) full of pulleys, anchor straps, beaners, another save a jake, webbing, dikes, a knife, etc. Other tools we carry is a SORD special operations recovery drag,Large area search bag w/ tag lines,100' more of rope,slings, high point rescue kit, metal and wood blades for rotary saw,quick vent, a full compliment of hand tools,defib, and a TIC. Each one of these tools are assigned to a member at a RIT run. One will have RIT pack, Another the tool bag,another the chainsaw,and so on from there. The RIT boss always has the camera and a spare battery. Hope this helps and if needed message me I will take pictures of our setup.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Piepenburg on May 1, 2008 at 8:53am

Whenever someone posts about what their RIT carries I always see chainsaw or rotary saw pop up on the list. It makes me wonder if people really understand what kind of situations they will be working in when a brother is down and we are going to get them. We will not be going into a nice clean area where we will be able to fire up the saw and go to work. Where we are going is black, oxygen deprived, hot...and so forth. Something I have put out to people when I have taught RIT is to think about a reciprocating saw. A good 18v unit weighs less, is smaller, cuts well and can be used in pretty much any situation.

A question I have for you Ron is, how many folks do you have on your RIT? You seem to have an awful lot of equipment, so i am guessing you have a large RIT as well?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Poyner on May 1, 2008 at 1:33pm

As far as the saws go every situation can be different.you can use the saws on the outside of the fire building to make a doorway out of a window.You can also use the saw to cut off metal window bars.There are alot of uses for the gas powered saw for R.I.T ops.It's just another tool in the toolbox.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Weiland on May 1, 2008 at 1:54pm

Im def with Chris Poyner, and thanks for the idea Chris Pipenburg, never thought about the dewalt saw that we carry!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Piepenburg on May 1, 2008 at 2:08pm

I am all about using saws on the outside of the building, but inside is a different story. Sorry for the miscommunication.

Piep

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Permalink Reply by Ron Burkhardt Jr on May 1, 2008 at 9:06pm

No problem Chris. We have all of that equipment with us staged on a tarp. Except for the Rit pack,Sord,Tool bag,and handtools not all will be assigned everytime but its there.The equipment needed will go along with the task. We have a medium size team of around 10 or 12 members(thats my depts team only). That doesnt mean all of the team will be on the response . Usually depending on the time of day we end up with around at least 6 if not more. My depts team has a mutual aid pact with 2 other towns so there are always 2 RIT teams on a job within the three towns the response can result from anywhere from 10 to 15 rit members average split up in 2 teams. We split our team up into an outside, as well as interior team ,when we are staging our team and equipment. This works very well and has proved to be very effective. While on scene of a fire you can let your outside team throw ladders,remove boarded up windows,even remove window bars. While your interior team is assesing point of firefighter entry, fire behavior, number of members operating,and headway of the attack. I like the point tho about the gas powered saws it is a great point and its true. A cordless sawsall is a purchase we will be making soon. In NJ the state and county is talking about making certifications for RIT teams, and there will be minum requirements for tools, and the cordless sawsall is one that will be listed.Stay safe good talking to you.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Piepenburg on May 2, 2008 at 8:20am

Wow...dedicated RIT huh? That sounds pretty good. I don't think that would ever happen here, so it looks like you guys are ahead of the ball when it comes to the rest of the country!

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