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One Aspect of the 360
I understand that all buildings, for various reasons, will not get a 360 performed on it during a fire. But, for those that we do get to job around, we need to understand what we are looking for.
I recently spoke with an acting officer and asked him what he was looking for when performing a 360. His answer was "fire." I asked what else? The answer came, "ways in." We need to make sure we are taking advantage of the information being made available to us while we are circling the building.
This post is going to focus on some basement indicators. The pictures shown below are just examples of things you might see when making the round. Keep in mind that at night you need to take a hand light. For example, the wood behind the basement windows below may not be noticeable with shining a light in the windows on the way around.
We must pay attention to what we are looking for when conduction the 360. As you can see, we may be faced with some very challenging situations. Not only do we need to be aware during the initial arrival, but the RIT will need this information as well.
As always, follow you own operational guidelines and train hard.
This and other topics will be discussed during one of my presentations at Fire Rescue International 2011. I am presenting for the Company Officer Development track and hope to see you there.
Jason
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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We usually stage our RIT in one place and rotate companies through the assignment if needed.
We don't confuse RIT with truck work. Laddering and forcing entry are routine truck work.
The concept of "active" RIT has gotten confused with routine truck work due to the chronic shortage of manpower that a lot of departments have. If you have adequate manpower present and assigned to truck work, you don't need to wear out your RIT doing truck work and wasting energy that they may need to respond to a MAYDAY.
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I don't have an issue with RIT keeping an eye on the building, but all of that laddering, forcing entry, gas shut-off etc. is just routine truck work. That is basic LOVERS-U stuff that's been around since - the dawn of time or something.
RIT should have a RIT Group Supervisor that is assigned to stay outside the building to track RIT accountability and to manage the RIT communications while Command and the rest of the companies operating move to another channel, which also gives you another RIT set of eyes on the outside without moving RIT away from the cache.
The bottom line is that even if your RIT cache is simply a secondary air source for the downed firefighter, whatever time your RIT takes to get to it is wasting air and time for the downed firefighter. The only way to avoid wasting that time is to have RIT staged with the cache at all times.
Then there's the issue of more than one downed firefighter. If you have only one RIT SCBA, how do you extend "on air" time if the MADAY involves two firefighters?
For those that view staged RIT as a bummer assignment, just rotate the crews so that everyone gets some of the non-RIT work.
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Permalink Reply by Chief Dino on
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Ben,
Would you define LOVERS-U for me?
Shawn
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LOVERS-U is the classic mneumonic for truck company duties...
Ladders
Overhaul
Ventilation
Entry (Forcible)
Rescue
Salvage
and
Utility control
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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but all of that laddering, forcing entry, gas shut-off etc. is just routine truck work. That is basic LOVERS-U stuff that's been around since - the dawn of time or something.
Yep, but call me newish school or what because I don't believe in seperate duties for rig assignments. I like the fact that a FF could be on a truck one day and on an engine the next. I also like the fact of having things go quick on the initial operations and that means doing non-traditional jobs.
Now I know every dept is different and operate differently. We happen to send one truck with 3 personnel and four pumps with 4 personnel, an ambulance with at least 2 and the bat chief. First in pump is attack, second back up, third RIT. The truck may be assigned any number of duties from search, force entry, laddering etc....all those truck duties. However, being a proactive RIT, they can get ladders up faster, freeing up the truck crew for other assignments, they can do utility control (if not done already) freeing up the truck crew, they can force other doors, freeing up the truck crew etc.
The point is, there is much that a RIT crew can do on a scene that makes the building safer for interior crews, frees up personnel to perform other assignments, like roof ops or search, both of which can be a bit more time consuming. The RIT team can have ladders up, doors forced, etc so the truck crew can go in and say do a search or vent the roof. Actually, what doesn't make sense is why rely on a truck crew to ladder, force entry, utility control etc and THEN have them go in and perform a search etc where the extra exertion may be enough to create a MAYDAY. Whereas a proactive RIT team can accomplish many typical truck tasks, thus sharing the workload and expediting the incident priorities.
The bottom line is that even if your RIT cache is simply a secondary air source for the downed firefighter, whatever time your RIT takes to get to it is wasting air and time for the downed firefighter. The only way to avoid wasting that time is to have RIT staged with the cache at all times.
Personally I don't see a big time difference in sitting by a door with a cache and a few seconds to regroup. Besides if the MAYDAY happens to occur away from the main entry point and a window or other access point is closer, there would still be time to move equipment. Whereas if you do have a member in place they can expedite ops by moving ladders, breaking out a sash, etc while the cache is moved. Besides, part of any RIT operation also involves FF survival and to train on even calling a MAYDAY. We do train to recognize the situations that one should call a MAYDAY and stress about calling a MAYDAY early, which should buy the RIT team any few extra seconds they may need to get in and get air to a FF.
Then there's the issue of more than one downed firefighter. If you have only one RIT SCBA, how do you extend "on air" time if the MADAY involves two firefighters?
Easy, we have multiple RIT packs available. There is air with the initial RIT cache that each truck carries and the RIT team graps to stage. Since the RIT team is from the third due pump, they will also grab their RIT pack off the engine and can grab other RIT packs off other engines as needed. For a typical fire response there are at least 2 RIT packs staged with the RIT team. On scene there are 4 RIT packs minimum and more with an additional alarm. Along with that there are several other spare SCBAs on scene which can also be utilized if needed.
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John Crabbe,
Don't assume that truck work is limited to firefighters assigned to a truck company - I didn't say that nor did I intend it.
Truck work can be done by anyone trained and equipped for it and assigned to it. I've done truck work as a member of engine, truck, rescue, and even medic companies.
As for who opens up, throws ladders, etc. it is indeed simply truck work. The only reason that RIT does it in many places is simply that many departments don't have the resources to staff both traditional truck work and RIT, so they dilute those two assignments by having one company do both.
As for the time it takes to get RIT to the cache if they're not staged with it, are you kidding me? Are you really advocating for wasting time going to get your tools during a MAYDAY?
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Thanks, Ben
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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Having them throw a ladder or cut down some bars shouldn't be "wasting energy". If they can't handle that then maybe this isn't the job for them. It's also not being wasted considering they are helping everyone out. If that extra ladder is in place it may prevent the need to activate the RIT team in case of a firefighter trapped in that room. They are NOT doing the trucks job. The truck is doing their own but can only move so fast and do so much.
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Once again, you don't need RIT to do regular old truck work like throwing ladders or cutting security bars.
If RIT is working on something else that someone else can do, they're not only wasting energy, they're out of position to respond to a MAYDAY.
This isn't a question of if RIT can handle the diversionary jobs or not, it's a matter of if it's a good practice or not.
If you don't have enough people to do all of your truck work without diverting RIT to do some of it, send more companies so everything gets done without diverting RIT from their primary mission.
The bottom line is that any company with the basic equipment and training can throw ladders or cut bars. Only RIT has the assignment to locate, give more air to, and rescue a downed, lost, or trapped firefighter.
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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on
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Iwas trained the same way as Ben suggests that RIT stages at the A side of the structure and stays there while an appointed memmber does a 360 and reports back with his findings. The moment a member of the RIT team does any duty besides standing by at the RIT staging area they sease to be a memmber of the RIT team and must be replaced.As for RIT being a bummer assignment ask anyone who has ever needed RIT how much they were appreciated. "They also serve who sit and wait ."
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Don't assume that truck work is limited to firefighters assigned to a truck company - I didn't say that nor did I intend it.
I'm not assuming truck work is simply the duties of a truck company, but the fact does remain the work needs to get done and even if the first due or second due engine (in our case) does any of the tasks and still further goes in, then there is just as equal, if not more, possibility they may exert themselves doing such work and find they are the one calling a MAYDAY. Meanwhile the RIT crew just sits around because one is afraid to use such folks for routine truck work, sorry, I disagree with such ideals.
Truck work can be done by anyone trained and equipped for it and assigned to it. I've done truck work as a member of engine, truck, rescue, and even medic companies.Same as me, yet the RIT team can still be proactive doing such routine work and still be ready to go if necessary.
As for who opens up, throws ladders, etc. it is indeed simply truck work. The only reason that RIT does it in many places is simply that many departments don't have the resources to staff both traditional truck work and RIT, so they dilute those two assignments by having one company do both.Very true, staffing can be an issue, but I really don't see those depts short, increasing anytime soon, nor do I see communities conforming to NFPA staffing guidelines, nor do I see elected officials really giving a rat's ass about public workers. In case you haven't noticed, we are the bad guys for us career folk and for many volly's, it is just hope to see who shows. Point being is that the incident priorities will still need to be accomplished and there is no harm in supplementing and expediting these priorities when you do have staff on scene, rather than having a crew standing idlely by watching everyone else work because they be RIT.
As for the time it takes to get RIT to the cache if they're not staged with it, are you kidding me? Are you really advocating for wasting time going to get your tools during a MAYDAY?Did you miss out on the part where I stated what we carry for a cache? A couple RIT packs, a SKED, rope and hand tools? Yep, it really doesn't take much to move such a cache from say the "A" side to the "C" side in most single family dwelling homes.
As I mentioned before, the cache would be staged by the main entry. The RIT team can still do some regular truck work, thus freeing other companies. It really does take a couple seconds to throw a ladder, most doors in the homes around here are easily forced, the officer will shut off the gas if not already done by the first in officer. There really isn't much to it, any job RIT does (outside their primary role) is a task which can easily be stopped if a MAYDAY is called.
When such fireground priorities are set up, the RIT crew will stand-by at the corners of the structure. You will always have eye contact with 2 other members, which means there will be someone close by the cache as well.
I am not advocating nor saying to run and grab tools when a MAYDAY is called, but I did mention what we carry. Yeah, we don't tote around a mini rescue with saws and jaws, etc etc. Yes we are limited in what equipment we do have on scene for one.....trust me, we would love to have more, but then again seems we are just a bunch of overpaid folks who keep wanting stuff despite less fires or need for equipment over the years.....and any time we make the case it can just be passed off as more scare tactics, because we are just govt employees and darn it, we just have to live in the means.
OK, got a bit away there, but tis a big factor we do face today, we know staffing and equipment is important, just seems there are many against any type of spending. So yes, we are limited in what we have on the fireground. So as such, the priority for a RIT operation is to get in and get air to the FF. From there the team can size up what may be needed.
To respond from the corners takes nothing if the main entry IS the one to use, however, it may not be. It also goes back to lessons learned from when we did have a MAYDAY. The floor gave way and the search team ended up in the basement, the main entry door was definately NOT an option in any way. It was found the best way in was from the "D" sire garage to basement steps. Given a similar event today, there would be a RIT member close by that may see a better access way that isn't the main entry. The other reason to use 4 sets of eyes on the structure (vs one chief) is numbers, there are 4 sets watching the structure from each point...not roaming around.
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Iwas trained the same way as Ben suggests that RIT stages at the A side of the structure and stays there while an appointed memmber does a 360 and reports back with his findings
OK, fine, then what? Why stage at the "A" side if crews are going in the "B" side? So one member does a 360, what happens if they find out there is a basement or back door that is locked and crews going towards that direction? Wait for another company to open it? How long do you wait?
The moment a member of the RIT team does any duty besides standing by at the RIT staging area they sease to be a memmber of the RIT team and must be replaced.
How so? Why does a RIT member have to physically sit idle in place in order to be a RIT member? Isn't the concept of RIT to be prepared to get a downed FF? So why limit the preparations? Why wait until the MAYDAY is called to find out you need to force a door? Why wait to find out the best access point? Sorry, not buying this concept that a member moving from staging ceases to be RIT, that is BS.
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