Rapid Intervention: A
dreaded assignment or progressive task for the elite?
Years ago, I hated to hear the words “Engine 212, take Rapid
Intervention.” There was nothing worse than having to grab the assignment of
RIT (before the terminology changed to “RIC”). You don’t get to fight fire,
search, or get dirty and worst of all, you grab a RIT bag and stand in the
front yard for hours.
In 2005, Captain Chris Wilson of the City of Raleigh Fire
Department in Raleigh NC changed the world of Rapid Intervention for Engine 212
and many other companies in central NC. The concept of Progressive Rapid
Intervention was introduced. No longer were crews simply standing around
waiting for a firefighter to call a mayday while huffing and puffing because
they were bored.
Who should be the
Rapid Intervention Crew?
The most elite company you can find should be Rapid
Intervention. Unfortunately, based on many organization’s “fire ground
procedures”, this is not always possible. The solution? Train every crew in the
organization, region, and state to operate as a rapid intervention crew to
ensure everyone is the “elite” in this area.
* Disclaimer: Rapid
Intervention Crew training should not take precedence over training on the
basics of firefighting. It is the basics that will save your life and keep you
from entering into a mayday parameter.
It is recommended that the Rapid Intervention Crew be
established early in the incident progression to ensure protection for initial
crews operating within the IDLH atmosphere. Many “fire ground procedures” have
rapid intervention being established as early as the third due engine company
or squad company. I recommend this set up with the first due naturally taking
fire attack and the second due taking water supply if the first due doesn’t have
one prior to their arrival. At no time do I recommend having a truck company or
a rescue company establish rapid intervention. These special service companies
are required for search, ladders, ventilation, controlling utilities, etc. that
ensure incident stability and control.
What is a Progressive
Rapid Intervention Crew?
A Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew is simply a tactically
focused, driven company that operates in an accelerated manner to ensure the
safety of crews working within the IDLH atmosphere. The Progressive Rapid
Intervention Crew also maintains a state of readiness to respond to a
firefighter distress call. The only route to maintaining this level of
readiness is through a heightened state of situational awareness; a state which
derives from training and experience. It is suggested that that most educated
and experienced member of the company take the lead in Progressive Rapid
Intervention so this level of situational awareness is achieved and maintained.
What roles and
responsibilities is the Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew charged with?
Situational
Awareness:
The Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew must maintain
extreme focus at all times on the fire ground. It is not a time for chatting
with old friends, joking around, or taking the job lightly. You are the
tactical specialty unit that has the sole purpose of saving our own.
Situational awareness must be maintained at all times through monitoring of all
radio channels that are in use or may be placed into service, watching fire
ground conditions, keeping orientation of where interior crews are operating,
assessing any hazards that may exist on the fire ground and mitigating those
hazards, and preplanning your deployment should the situation arise.
Preplanning for a possible deployment is conducted by continuous crew briefings
face to face, and by a continuous scene size up and periodic 360 degree walk
arounds. Knowledge in fire behavior and building construction is required for
successful RIC.
Ladders:
Throwing ladders for secondary egress and access is a major
tool in the firefighter safety and survival toolbox. Any progressive truck
company outside team will already be throwing ladders. It is the job of the
Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew to ensure a sufficient number of ladders
are thrown and that their location is announced through the communications
system for all personnel on scene of the incident to hear and understand. The
Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew needs to throw ladders that are in addition
to those thrown by the truck company. Through incident situational awareness,
there should be an understanding of where crews are currently operating, where
they may be moving, and where they have been. This is achieved by assessing
radio communications, reading smoke and fire conditions, and tapping into the crewmember’s
experience from previous fire scenes and training.
Marking of windows
and doors:
The Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew must have access to
multiple flashlights and glow stick devices to mark doors and windows for
interior crew orientation and identification of points of egress. Flashlights
should be placed in any window or doorway that can be used as a point of
egress. A solid beam of light should be emitted from the flashlight signaling
the point of egress. It is not recommended to use a flashing light pattern as
this can be mistaken for a distress signal.
It is recommended that the Progressive Rapid Intervention
Crew use glow sticks to mark doors. There has been great success in using glow
sticks in a smoke filled atmosphere with limited visibility. It is suggested
that glow sticks be attached to the top of thrown ladders and to doors. Doors
that are not chosen to be opened based on the contraindication of a negative
effect on fire conditions, should have a glow stick placed around the door
handle on the inside of the door. Rapid intervention should ensure that any
door not opened is readily accessible and remains operational.
Glow sticks can be outfitted using
fishing line or small gauge rope to be easily placed on the top of a ladder,
over a doorknob, or in any other manner deemed appropriate.
(Photo from the
Sherborn FD Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SherbornFD)
As you see in the above sample photos, you simply tie the
fishing line or small gauge rope through the top of the glow stick and drop it
over door knobs and the top of the ladder at a window. Simple, cheap, and
effective. If the window is cleared out (with the sash gone, as it should be)
grab a nail, drive it into the window frame and hang the glow stick.
Removal of fences and
window/door obstructions:
The Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew should remove any
exterior fences, gates, or privacy walls that can obstruct access to the
structure, egress from the structure, or delay rapid deployment of RIC.
Removal of window security systems and bars is recommended
to allow for firefighter egress. In addition, removal of large bushes and
shrubs is recommended to remove possible obstructions to the structure and to
successful egress.
(Example Images
obtained by google images)
Staging of tools and
equipment:
A Rapid Intervention bag and assorted
hand tools should be the initial staged equipment. In addition to this
equipment, forcible entry tools, a dedicated hose line, and additional SCBA
bottles should be staged. RIC tool staging
should be a sacred cache of equipment that no other company operating on the
fire ground should touch or move.
Tactical set up:
The primary “Rapid Intervention Staging Area” should have a
RIC bag supplied with a replacement SCBA system, a spare SCBA mask, cutting
tools, various hand tools, rope, duct tape (for rapid mask repair) and
webbing. In addition, the staging area
should have forcible entry tools, additional ladders, spare SCBA bottles, and a
dedicated hose line.
During Progressive Rapid Intervention Crew Operations, there
should always be two personnel that are in a state of readiness. This two
person “Go Team” acts as the initial rapid response to a firefighter distress
call. The “Go Team” responds with the RIC Bag, forcible entry tools, and a rope
search bag for easy route identification by future RIC making access.
The members of RIC that are preforming “Progressive Rapid
Intervention Operations” respond immediately to the primary RIC staging area
when a distress call is transmitted. Once at the staging area, the other
members of RIC prepare to deploy with the appropriate assets and tools needed
as requested by the initial “Go Team” who has made access to the distressed
firefighter. The staged RIC personnel then make contact with the “Go Team” and
relieve them and continue to extricate the distressed firefighter from the
situation at hand.
* It is imperative
that the incident commander orders two additional RIC anytime a RIC deployment
is encountered. This is called the “rule of 3’s”. For every RIC deployed, there
must be two additional crews to replace that RIC.
Once Progressive Rapid Intervention Operations is concluded,
it is recommended that RIC personnel be placed on at least two sides of the
structure with appropriate tools to maintain incident awareness and rapid
deployment availability.
Aircraft Firefighting
RIC:
In the aircraft world, the same principles apply. Making any
interior fire attack or rescue on an aircraft is no different than entering any
structure that is an IDLH atmosphere. Ladders must be thrown to the aircraft
for egress and hatches and doors should be marked with flashlights or glow
sticks. Glow sticks are recommended over flashlights since the inside of an
aircraft is a confined space and the bright beam of light that a flashlight
emits may cause vision and orientation problems for interior firefighters.
Evidence preservation is of priority on scene of an aircraft
incident; however attempt to secure egress routes that do not interfere with
debris if at all possible. If the aircraft is in an area that has egress
obstruction due to natural plants, bushes, or trees, assess the situation and
prepare for a systematic and controlled removal of these obstructions for
firefighter safety.
Keep in mind that the use of power saws on any metal
surfaces may produce heat and sparks which may create a situation in which
hydrocarbon vapors ignite. Ensure that there is a hose line available for quick
suppression using AFFF foam anytime a cutting tool is in use.
Tool staging should include hydraulic power tools and crash
axes in addition to the above stated equipment. In addition, take into
consideration of the use of halon and dry powder extinguishers for Rapid
Intervention Operations; however keep in mind that any compromise to the
firefighter’s SCBA system may contraindicate use of these extinguishment
products as they can cause further respiratory compromise of the distressed
firefighter.
Rapid Intervention is
not just a formality. Treat it as the most important task you will ever
encounter. It is your own brothers and sisters you are there to protect. Be
safe and even more importantly, be smart.
