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Ambulance crew as RIT
Does your department assign RIT to the ALS ambulance crew, and what are your thoughts on this practice?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Johns on
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Why is it you do nothing when assigned to RIT?
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Permalink Reply by 2y0a1vey9p4zt on
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In my department the ambulance crew is assigned primary fire attack, the only firefighters in the response of 2 engines, 1 ALS unit, and a deputy chief that actually make entry. With what I have listed that is a total of 7 firefighters on scene, 3 of which are officers. We do not have the manpower for a RIT team, let alone calling a second alarm. We're a combination department, but depending on the time of day, we may only get 1 or 2 volunteers to show up. Makes life hard.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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bump....more pertinent than word games
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Permalink Reply by Bill Carlisle on
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ALS crew in my area is used for rehab and transport if needed, We call in a neighboring dept for rit/fast team , Ambulance crew rarely has turnouts on the ambulance so using them for rit/fast team would not be a good idea , I must say this has been interesting reading how everyone else does this .
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Department EMS or otherwise provided, they are onscene to provide EMS, how can they do this if they are assigned/stationed for RIT? Plus should they go in as RIT who is providing EMS?
Seems to me that taking EMS to use as RIT is little different from taking RIT for some other function.
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Permalink Reply by Wade Seely on
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If it is a FD ambulance staffed by fire medics, then I am fine with them being RIT, as long as there is another bus in scene or very close to being on scene to take over the job of ems/rehab/transport. If your only amblulance crew is used for RIT then you are asking for trouble when something does go wrong and care is needed for a wounded brother/sister.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Callahan on
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On my full-time gig our responding EMS crew is from the parish operated EMS service. That being said, many of them are either volunteer firefighters, or are part-time employees whose full-time gig is as a firefighter, so they often will pump the engines or perform exterior fireground tasks for us on the fireground. They do not carry any PPE with them, so obviously they cannot perform any interior tasks, including RIT.
On my volunteer gig, the responding EMS is a private service who may or may not come depending on availibility of a rig. Some of the employees are volunteer or full-time firefighters, but far fewer than the parish EMS service that responds with my full-time position. Again, they do not carry PPE so assistance is limited to exterior tasks.
Now the question of should they. Both of the city fire departments in my areas does EMS transports with cross-trained FF-P's. Both departments use 1st alarm firefighters assigned to the responding ambulance in fire operations, unless there are injuries. If they are put to work, a second ambulance is dispatched to standby for medical.
In my opinion, I see nothing wrong with usong EMS assigned firefighters as RIT as long as there are provisions made to bring another ambulance to the scene. If that is not possible, the first due ambulance should stay avaialble for medical.
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Danzer on
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In my department the first in ambulance, staffed with two fire medics is tasked with primary search and rescue until truck company arrives. They also are usually the first RIT crew until more manpower arrives. They also set up rehab when the other duties have been accomplished or reassigned.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Who is doing Firefighter Rehab? Who is on standby for medical transport EMS? Who is on standby for your RIT? If your ambulance is doing all of them, hopefully you never have a firefighter go down. When RIT removes a firefighter, if they are lucky enough to remove the victim, they should not have to doff their gear and then become the medical providers. Sounds like your run card is thin and admin is multi-tasking the EMS while playing the odds on paper.
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Well if our crew finds someone or has to deploy as a RIT crew another alarm is struck and another 3 engines, 1 truck, 1 ambulance is sent. So the 2nd due ambulance handles the victim.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Beyerstedt on
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Unless I am misunderstanding the question, an ambulance crew should in no way be considered a RIT. OSHA 29 CFR -1910.134 and NFPA 1500 both require the the RIT be equiped with appropriate protective clothing and equipment, SCBA's and any special rescue equipment that may be necessary to assist those in the IDLH atmosphere, almost none of which an ambulance crew would have. Your Chief can call the ambulance crew anything he wants, but that won't be of much help when the Feds come calling.
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