Large Area Search with RIC

When I was on probation on of my captain's gave me the advice to keep a journal after every call of all the lessons learned on the call. Since this blog is pretty much a record of learning for me, this seemed like as good a place as any to write some of these lessons. Hopefully others will be able to benefit from the shared info, and feel free to post their lessons learned as well.

Last shift, first thing in the morning my crew participated in a large area/rapid intervention company (RIC) drill. This drill simulated a fire in a large commercial public storage warehouse building. My company's job was to rescue a downed firefighter. The crew putting on the drill did a great job having set up a smoke machine so that we couldn't readily see into the building, as well as playing recordings of sirens, chainsaws, and radio traffic to add to the disorienting environment.

When performing large area searches we tie one end of a rope bag outside of the building and then take the bag into the building with us as we search. This allows other crews to follow us in and quickly find their way to the victim once we find them, and also for us to quickly find our way out of the building if need be. One engineer was first in line and carried the rope bag. Behind him was the captain with the thermal imaging camera (TIC) that allowed him to see through the smoke. The other firefighter and I brought up the rear. The second engineer stayed outside at the door and acted as a timekeeper to make sure we had enough air left to make it out of the building safely.

As we entered the building we were told to simulate high heat conditions and crawl our way through the building. There were two PASS alarms going off inside the buildings. This, plus the sounds bouncing off the walls of the open warehouse, made it extremely difficult to determine which direction the sound was coming from. I was dragging the RIC bag containing an extra SCBA bottle and some other equipment in case the downed firefighter was out of air. The bag weighed approximately 45 lbs. There was no real easy way to drag this thing. My left hand stayed on the search rope the entire time to maintain my orientation. This left only my right hand to drag and slide the bag in front of me as I crawled.

Lessons learned from the drill

As we entered the building half my crew thought they heard the sound coming from one direction, and the other half from another. Next time we'll send the two firefighters laterally off from the rope on their own tag lines to determine if the sound gets louder or fainter for them.

Communication through our masks and in the noisy environment was very difficult. The only time I could really hear what was being said was to put my ear right next to my captain's mask. Otherwise, as the last person in line, I missed a great deal of the communication between the first two firefighters.

The RIC bag was pretty awkward to drag through the building. Next time we'll take the bottle out of the bag, shove the strobe lights in our pockets, and leave any items non-essential to the rescue outside.

Normally, since my lungs are smaller than the guys, I use less air, and my air bottle lasts longer. This time, since I was dragging the bag, I burned through my air quicker than they did. Therefore, it's important that when figuring out how much time to stay in the building that that time is calculated from the firefighter's air bottle who's carrying the RIC bag.

All in all a good drill and good learning experience.