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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on February 15, 2010 at 4:40pm

Hey Joe,

For this evolution, practice doing everything on your knees and blindfolded. If you have a basement, practice following a rope while dragging something heavy. A 2'x2' piece of plywood with some sandbags on it makes a good practice drag sled. You can rig up a rope handle or if you have an old bunker coat, put the sandbags in that and practice your clothes drag. The main thing is get acclimated to dragging a downed FF while following a search rope or hose to the exit.

Good Luck!

TCSS

Reg

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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on February 15, 2010 at 4:41pm

Oh, and don't forget to practice swapping an SCBA bottle while blindfolded!

Reg

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Permalink Reply by Joe Workman on February 15, 2010 at 7:41pm

thanks for the tip Reg, will be getting something rigged up

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Permalink Reply by Kern Hicks on February 15, 2010 at 10:57pm

Knots.
Know your knots. let me rephrase that, KNOW your knots. 4 steps to this are, while watching tv, tie up one knot over and over, when that show is over, use a different knot. THe idea is to know how thw knot feels, get to the point where you don't have to look at your hands. Do that for the the entire series of knots ( there are 4 or 5 seasons of RESCUE ME to watch). when you have it down pat, put on a pair of gloves and start over. Feeling confident yet? Start over, bare handed except tie them behind your back. Feeling like stud material yet? Put the gloves back on and again behind the back. You should by now have a pretty good tactile appreciation for knots. Next go for the body harnesses knots and use a volunteer

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on February 15, 2010 at 11:24pm

First of all, when it comes to RIT, the goal is to removed a downed FF, how that happens doesn't really matter too much. What I mean is that there is no pretty technique to worry about, no special fundamentals, no formulas, etc....it is get in, get air, get em out.

Now there are a few things that will help in this which should be practiced. First of all is even the calling of the MAYDAY. Practice that, because chances are you may be one of the "victims" in a scenario, RIT can't get to you if you don't call the MAYDAY. As a RIT member, do a quick sizeup of the situation, what will you use for an egress point? What are fire conditions? Why is the FF down? Did they just get lost from the crew, entangled in wires, under collapse debris, fall through a floor? How will you get the FF out, is it a matter of getting them air and assist them out? Do you have to drag them?

Now for the most part if looking at a training evolution, I'm willing to bet it will be a case of dragging a FF out etc, vs something more elaborate like a Denver drill, rope or hose lift etc. When it comes to dragging a FF, use their waist strap from their SCBA and go around one of their legs and groin and clip it together to make a makeshift harness. This gives you several places to grab onto. Using webbing or even some rope, you can go through the SCBA shoulder straps and a couple members can drag the FF out. If you have a crew of 3 or 4, you can have 2 FF's dragging and one or two pushing. A FF can place the downed FF's legs over their shoulders and help push the downed FF out.

Basically try not to be nervous, RIT isn't about style points, but getting a FF out. Do a good size up, get the FF air, and look at the best way to get them out. If you have it I would suggest some webbing with a water knot already tied in it, you can use this to make a quick girth hitch harness, run it through the FF's shoulder straps, and gives a better grip to do a drag.

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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on February 16, 2010 at 12:01am

I think Mr. Crabbe hit the nail with the hammer on RIT. Good luck!!!!

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