Chapter 23
Firefighter Survival
Introduction
• Survival dependent on:
– Prevention through readiness
– Training on firefighter emergency procedures
• Factors that help prevent emergencies:
– PPE; task accountability; fitness for duty
– At an incident: deliberate actions (or inaction);
attention to hazards
– Attention to team continuity, orders,
communication, rapid intervention planning,
rehabilitation
• Must have a planned systematic process
for self-rescue or rapid intervention in
emergencies
23.2
Incident Readiness
• Incident readiness is a mental process that
answers a few questions:
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Am I in a position to respond?
Is my personal protective equipment available?
What is my relationship to the response?
Physically can I respond?
Mentally, can I check out my current thoughts and
focus on response?
• Ensure the “system” is assembled and
ready for response
23.3
Personal Protective Equipment
• PPE is the first thing to put on for protection
– Last thing to use for protection
• In many departments, firefighters check all
ensembles at beginning of every shift
• Time spent donning gear before arriving at
incident is well spent
– If seatbelts cannot be worn, better to don PPE at
incident
• Following an incident, gear may need to be
decontaminated
23.4
Preparing PPE for Readiness
• All clothing materials are dry.
• All PPE is present and positioned so that it
may be donned rapidly.
• Essential pocket tools are available and in
working order.
• Alternative PPE items are appropriately
packed and ready for use.
• Additionally, firefighters should check
protective equipment assigned to their riding
position
23.5
Personal Accountability
• Three types of accountability:
– Passport
– Tag
– Company officer
• No freelancing
• Relationship to response:
assignments and personal size-ups
• Perform as trained
• Know your strengths and weaknesses
23.6
Figure 23-2 Accountability systems take on many
forms—firefighters must know how to check in.
23.7
Figure 23-3 Firefighters achieve mastery of
tasks through repeated training. Mastery
reduces the chance of injury.
23.8
Fitness for Duty
• Mental fitness
– “Check out” of the environment,
“check in” to size-up
• Physical fitness and wellness
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Cardiovascular conditioning
Core strengthening
Flexibility improvement
Resistance training
Nutritional balance
Hydration maintenance
23.9
Energy and Rest
• Safety directly affected by energy
potential and rest a firefighter has
stored
• Be attentive to energy and rest levels
• Communicate rehabilitation needs to
an officer
23.10
Safety at Incidents
• Roughly half of all duty-related injuries and
deaths happen at incident scene
• Individual injured failed to “see” events
that lead to injury
• Injuries and death occur when firefighters
allow urgency to override judgment
• Firefighters can prevent injury and death
through mental and physical actions
• Team continuity
– Team must exercise guarded judgment when
completing a task
23.11
Figure 23-6 Team continuity reduces the
chance for injuries.
23.12
Team Procedures for Incidents
• Utilize an incident command system
(ICS)
• Work together and remain intact
• Look after each other
• Prevent freelancing
23.13
Figure 23-5 Freelancing is eliminated and incident
success is gained when specific tasks are assigned
to teams of two or more firefighters operating from a
single incident action plan.
23.14
Orders/Communication
• Incident commander responsible for
assembling incident action plan (IAP)
– Implemented by teams performing tasks
– Tasks assigned to organized teams in the form of
orders
– Team responsible for carrying out the order
• Providing updates on a regular basis
• Relay information about hazards
• First arriving teams perform prescribed
tasks
– They must know tasks, tools required, and safety
considerations
23.15
Figure 23-8 Practicing good reporting habits enhances
communications.
23.16
Risk/Benefit
• Risk/benefit: an evaluation of the potential
benefit of a task in relationship to hazards
• Basic guidelines:
– Take significant risk to save a known life
– Take calculated risk, and provide additional
safety, to save valuable property or reduce
potential for injuries
– Take no risk to save what is already lost
– Retreat to defensive position when conditions are
deteriorating quickly
23.17
Figure 23-9 Solid risk/benefit analysis means taking
no risk for that which is already lost. (Courtesy of
Richard W. Davis)
23.18
Personal Size-Up
• Size-up: continuous situational
awareness and mental evaluation
process
• Stay aware of:
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Established work areas
Hazardous energy
Smoke conditions
Escape routes
Air management
23.19
Rehabilitation
• Stress and overexertion are leading causes
of injury and death
– Key concern is controlling heat stress
• Rest achieved during crew rotation
– Sit down; allow medical personnel to do vital sign
check; mentally disengage from the event
• Active cooling reduces core body
temperature
• Water vital to peak operation of body
systems
• Best nutrition: 30/30/40 balance
23.20
Figure 23-11 Rehabilitation should start well
before a firefighter is thirsty or tired. Failure to
rehabilitate “early and often” opens the door to
injury.
23.21
Rapid Intervention Teams
• Rapid intervention team (RIT) rescues
firefighters in an emergency
– Goal is to avoid need for rapid intervention
• Two-in/two-out rule provides for immediate
intervention if needed
• RIT should have no other assignment
– Consists of well-trained, experienced firefighters
• Other firefighters should not abandon
previous assignments until reassigned
23.22
Table 23-1 RIT Responsibilities Checklist
23.23
Firefighter Emergencies
• When emergency presented,
firefighter must rely on instincts and
training
• Study procedures for rapid escape
– For declaring a Mayday for lost and
trapped situations
• Survival includes processes for
rescue of trapped and lost firefighters
– Also long-term mental survival
23.24
Declaring a Mayday
• Specific procedures for declaring any
mayday developed at local fire department
level
• Declaring a mayday:
– Transmit over radio “Mayday” three times
followed by ICS assignment
– Wait for an acknowledgement
– Once acknowledgement made, report nature of
mayday, current location or last known location
– Manually activate PASS device
23.25
Rapid Escape
• Evacuation signals: repeated air horn blasts;
special radio tone followed by evacuation
order
• Rapid escape steps:
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Preplan the escape
Immediately report need for rapid evacuation
Acknowledge rapid evacuation or escape signals
Rapidly escape
Report successful escape
23.26
Figure 23-12 Rapid fire spread and partial collapse
are likely to trigger the need for rapid escape.
23.27
Figure 23-13 A PAR is a personnel accountability report
organized to check the status of all crews working an
incident. PARs should take place every half-hour or after
an evacuation or any firefighter emergency.
23.28
Lost, Trapped, and Injured
Firefighters
• When firefighting, crews may be placed
in environments they have never been in
before
– Potential to be trapped or lost during
assignment
• Low-air situations:
– Good SCBA air management provides margin
of safety
• Enter, work, and egress before warning
device activates
– Low-air warning while in IDLH environment
warrants immediate communication
23.29
Lost, Trapped, and Injured
Firefighters (cont’d.)
• Entrapment:
– First step is to get assistance
– Activate PASS device and declare
“Mayday”
– Follow up with other noise-making
activities
• Be careful not to use up excess energy
– Size up and develop a plan
– Attempt self-extrication
• Planned and systematic
23.30
Lost, Trapped, and Injured
Firefighters (cont’d.)
• Lost/disoriented firefighters:
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Firefighter or team must report that they are lost
Mayday should be transmitted over the radio
Manually activate PASS devices
Take deep breaths and calm down
Take inventory of surroundings
• Establish direction, door and window
locations, potential paths
– Maintain radio contact with RIT members
23.31
Lost, Trapped, and Injured
Firefighters (cont’d.)
• Injured firefighters:
– Firefighters must trust RITs
– RIT activated when firefighter found to be
trapped or injured
– If team in proximity aides firefighter,
communicate this
– Firefighters not on the RIT or in the
vicinity should resist the urge to rush in
and help
23.32
Figure 23-14 A serious firefighter injury or fatality will
cause significant incident stress. Focus and use of RITs
will minimize unnecessary risk during firefighter rescue
and help maintain incident control.
23.33
Post-Incident Survival
• Post-incident thought patterns:
firefighter’s mind relaxes as
adrenaline fades
– Responsible for many injuries and deaths
• Critical incident stress (CIS): incidents
that lead to long-term mental and
health issues
23.34
Post-Incident Survival (cont’d.)
• Post-incident thought patterns
– Inattentiveness as soon as order given to
“pick up”
– Take a time-out and have everyone
gather for incident summary and safety
reminder
– Fatigue and mental drain unavoidable
chemical imbalance
– Important to stay alert and pick up signs
of potential injury
• Take steps to “survive” without injury
23.35
Post-Incident Survival (cont’d.)
• Critical incident stress
– Firefighters expected to tolerate incident stress
– Some events trigger significant emotional
response
• May not always be external
• Many firefighters harbor the reaction internally
– CIS exhibited in many ways
– “Survive” CIS by critical incident stress
management (CISM)
• Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD)
• “Defusing” in a peer environment
23.36
Figure 23-16 Signs of critical incident stress are
natural following “trigger” incidents.
23.37
(A)
(B)
Figure 23-17 Critical incident stress management sessions
can be (A) informal such as a “defusing” or (B) formal such as
a process that includes peer support and mental health
professionals.
23.38
Lessons Learned
• Firefighter survival dependent on:
– Incident readiness and safe operations
– Appropriate preparation and response to
emergencies
• Safe operations dependent on team
continuity
• Emergencies require firefighter to practice
clear and concise approach
• Survive long term through understanding of
post-incident thought patterns and stress
23.39