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Saving our Own - The use of the SCBA
I am curious with the variety of training backgrounds, techniques, and equipment for Firefighter Safety, Survival and RIT, how many here at FFN were trained to lower an unconscious firefighter from an upper egress point with the SCBA straps or the SCBA backplate?
In reality if you are being threatened by fire or such, many good intent firefighters will choose the quickest way out or off the floor. We are trying to save our own but in turn our actions can create some new hazards that we should consider. In the photo below we can see an SCBA that suffered a catastrophic failure where the lowering line met at the SCBA's attachment point.
Many times during training, I have had a student say they would use their latest standard in PPE; "The DRD" drag rescue device feature. Well have you used the DRD for this type of manuever? Do you know if it was designed for this or just horizontal drags on a surface? Knowledge is the key.
Were you trained in alternative techniques and the use of rescue equipment? Do you know if your SCBA manufacturer, recommends the use or NON-use of their SCBA as an egress attachment?
Knowledge of our equipment is essential for daily survival. Should the need ever arise to think outside the box, would you have the knowledge to do it safely?
And my last thought has many pondering.... I use the KISS method and always preach the basics. My question though is have we gotten to "advanced" today? In the old days a firefighter would have carried down by another brother over a ground ladder. Has the amount of trainers in the world, created this "one-up" mentality with "Hey we could do this rescue another way."
Take Care and Stay Safe
FETC
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ron Ayotte on
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In my opinion.. the DRD is just a "feel good" device.. it is hard to acerss if a firefighter is down and wearing SCBA, and if the gear is washed and the device is not put in the right way.. it is useless.
Train the firefighters for RIT.. and train the firefighters in situational awareness on the fireground so that the firefighters can recognize when the crap is about to hit the fan and get out before it does!
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Permalink Reply by Blake Sexton on
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I carry a seat belt in my turnout pants, that i got out of a car, can support enough weight for any kind of emergency move
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And the technique waller said was taught to me in smoke diver class and is very usefull.
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Permalink Reply by David Dionne on
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The product specs for a MSA firehawk which is what appears to be pictured state:
The back plate shall be equipped with large side handles for PULLING and DRAGGING afirefightrer to safety. Each handle shall be capable of holding 400 lb. load in the vertical and horizontal direction, with a combined load of 800 lbs.
The backplate shall be equipped with a centrally located carabiner attachment point for the purpose of DRAGGING a downed firefighter. The attachment point shall be capable of holding a 1000 lb. load.
With that said MSA is not suggesting raising or lowering a firefighter by the use of the SCBA harness. If there is enough time to get a rope on the scene to raise or lower a firefighter then a piece of webbing or the rope itself can be used to secure the firefighter
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Permalink Reply by Gary Hammer on
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If you don't have the manpower to do a ladder rescue, what are you using to anchor the rescue rope that's tied to the SCBA harness? No one person can belay a 200 lb plus firefighter, especially on a sloped shingled roof. We all operate under the two in/two out rule (right?), so help is just a call away. If you are so short of manpower, you probably shouldn't be doing a second story rescue sweep/attack anyway, right?
I guess I wouldn't want to have to answer to what I was thinking if this went way bad, which it sometimes does. If it was life or death, no time, it might be a different matter, but I would think a lot of other options would have to be considered first.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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A tried and proven ladder rescue technique is taught in "Saving Our Own." It's dependable and it's much safer! I'm a relatively small guy and even I was able to bring a 200 pound guy down a ladder without any problem using the technique.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Norm, does that technique work from an elevation and from inside the structure without any help on the outside?
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We carry the Sav-a-Jake in our RIT bags, but we don't use them for anything other than horizontal or stair drags.
If you don't have one at the downed firefighter, it's not going to be used, regardless.
One of the things we teach in our in-house RIT class is that you need to be able to improvise with t he basics. We've changed the culture in our department to one where every firefighter carries at least 20 feet of webbing with a carabiner, a couple of door chocks, a cutting tool, and a spare light source in their gear. That way, if a firefighter is incapacitated, his own company can start the rescue without waiting on RIT even if a MAYDAY has been called.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Great replies by many... The thought was to provoke input from the wisdom here. I wanted to see what others were doing in their training. I do not teach this technique as shown.
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