The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Differences in Civilian and RIT Rescue
So I was reading a FF magazine, and in it was an article about different sets of tactics for civillian and FF rescue. And in this article it mentioned that there are some dept's that train the same way either for rescuing a civillian or rescuing a firefighter. It then goes on to give some differences between each type of rescue and why they should not be treated the same as far as tactics go. Different things to keep in mind while performing a search for a homeowner or a firefighter.
I have 2 questions/polls or whatever you wanna call it regarding this topic:
#1- Be honest, are there any dept's out there that DO train the same way for rescuing a civillian or rescuing a firefighter? Personally, I know of none around here.
#2- What would be some differing tactics between the two? For example: searching for a civilian usually is focused in the most common areas (near windows,doors or in the actual fire location). Searching for a firefighter is different as he/she could be anywhere within the structure. Another example would be dragging a civilian out who is wearing likely minimal clothing as opposed to a firefighter who is fully dressed in PPE and other tools. A little more difficult.
I hope this generates many comments, not only for myself, but for others who might be curious.
Thanks. stay safe and have fun.
I have 2 questions/polls or whatever you wanna call it regarding this topic:
#1- Be honest, are there any dept's out there that DO train the same way for rescuing a civillian or rescuing a firefighter? Personally, I know of none around here.
#2- What would be some differing tactics between the two? For example: searching for a civilian usually is focused in the most common areas (near windows,doors or in the actual fire location). Searching for a firefighter is different as he/she could be anywhere within the structure. Another example would be dragging a civilian out who is wearing likely minimal clothing as opposed to a firefighter who is fully dressed in PPE and other tools. A little more difficult.
I hope this generates many comments, not only for myself, but for others who might be curious.
Thanks. stay safe and have fun.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
-
John, we do all of the same blackout drills except that we don't change cylinders in an IDLH atmosphere. Using the URCs to transfill the downed firefighter's SCBA eliminates the need to swap cylinders. The URCs are a simple plumbing device and they're well worth the investment if you don't have them on your SCBAs yet.
-
Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
-
Thanks Ben. I will be sure to read your blog. I've read others of yours so it should be a good read. Like I mentioned before, I'm eager to find any info. I can on this topic or anything relative to it.
-
-
I'm still using the old scba's with no extra connectors. So I'm not up to speed on this URC. Is that where you can hook another person up to your bottle? If so, we did buy 2 new scott packs and they did come with that. But I haven't looked into them.
Is there more information somewhere in regards to manipulating the scba to provide quick hookup of air to the FF. We do not have RIT packs.
Yes, it is very true that everything that you do at a scene is situational, and that's why people should try to get as much information as possible, so that maybe someday they will have another avenue to fallow when needed.
Thanks again Ben. Very helpful info as usual.
-
-
Two major things that every fire dept should have:--awareness of their surroundings and good communication. But also , as in any situation, we can get sidetracked or get tunnel vision, especially when it comes down to the safety of children.
-
-
Once I found out I was getting the new gear, I looked into what the internal webbing was all about and how to use it and maintain it. As part of my TOG inspection, I remove then reinstall the webbing. That way I fell better knowing it will do what it's supposed to do.
We were trained to grab and go the best way we can under whatever the circumstance is at the time.
And now that I'm thinking about it more, I believe that we were shown the waist strap through the legs. And with that, I would say a refresher is in order. Guess it goes to show, that if you don't train something, it can go away on you.
(oops, this was supposed to go before Paul's reply)
-
-
Just checked out the blog Ben. We also do the 360 w/ top,bottom and in. Depending on the incident, the first in might not do it, but someone in the second responding will.
I haven't heard of the UCAN communication system, and quite frankly, I like it very much.
Command knows where, why, what and how FF are doing. Our system is our accountability officer will do radio checks periodically. just to get us to check in and see if we're still ticking. Or we'll radio in if something significant happens. I will bring up this UCAN system to him and see what he thinks.
And again...thanks Ben. Very helpful info.
And thank you everyone for your input and knowledge.
-
-
Just wanted to say thank you to all that have replied to this post with their helpful information. This will definately help our dept. in becoming an even more safe and effective dept. as well as providing more tools to better help others in future incidents if the need arises. We haven't had the need for RIT as of yet, and I hope the need never presents itself, but it will be good knowing that we will have some knowledge and hopefully future training to help us be successful. I also hope that others have maybe learned something too from reading this.
Keep safe and have fun.
-
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
-
We don't change out cylinders in IDLH either, it was just a skill set to know and understand your equipment.
Prior to receiving out RIT packs for air, we had a spare SCBA and would change out the facepiece. Now we can just plug air into the URCs, we still have a facepiece though because some of our SCBAs haven't been replaced as of yet.
-
-
I agree with that, found the SCBA into a makeshift harness works fast and effective.
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
-
Know what you mean Ben...we just had training (again) on the RIT gear...this time we did all the drills blacked out....including putting a mask on someone down that had "lost" theirs...we carry a "spare" in the Rit pack...talk about a challenge with gloves on.....Paul I carry a hose strap that easily can go through the crotch and around the Airpack straps.....abbra -cadabbra you have a "harness".....Paul
-
Permalink Reply by Billy B Casteel JR on
-
Sorry Timothy there is a big driffernce between victim rescue and a RIT rescue. Your not just dragging a firefighter with a air pack on. That firefighter is a brother or a sister in need of help now.
-
Permalink Reply by george nolette on
-
dont like the sound of connecting two ff, we train the pack conversion .. waist strap connected under legs , with out it the likelyhood that the downed firefighters pack is coming up over his head is pretty good , + it gives you stuff to grab, places to connect,if hes still on air you dont want to yank that from him. also the things i saw on hear about tics, that they cant find your way out , we train with the first guy in (team of 4 ) has the rope bag and the tic once ff is located he stays out of the way ,ties the rope bag up to something if possible and looks for other possible exits , if theres a window ten feet away have your fourth member check stuff out ,having more then two guys addressing the downed ff makes a mess , so if theres a window ten feet away and its safe to use it why follow 120 feet of rope back . its all pretty intense ,we train alot , rit is not a regular search most of the time your off walls ,listening for pass and hustling afterall its supposed to be rapid
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
