Station 77 Administrative SOG’s
SCOPE
This procedure applies to all Friendship Fire Company personnel responsible for
technical search, rescue and recovery response and operations while functioning under
the auspices of The Friendship Diving-Rescue Unit / Phoenixville, Pa. and/or Friendship
Fire Company (Station 77).
PURPOSE
These standard operating guidelines (SOG’s) have been developed to be used as a
reference for technical search, rescue and recovery-related procedures, regulations and
operations as well as to set forth the expected behavior of individual members of the
Friendship Diving-Rescue Unit / Phoenixville, Pa. and/or Friendship Fire Company
(Station 77).
Regardless of the situation or setting, all personnel are expected to conduct themselves in
a manner which will project an image of professionalism while in the public view. This
includes not only when responding to, operating at, and returning from the scene of an
emergency or other activity, but also at any time when the individual would normally be
considered to be ‘off duty’. The usage of loud or obscene language, improper gestures, or
an obvious display of intoxication will not be tolerated and will be subject to disciplinary
action. All personnel are to keep in mind that whenever anything is worn that identifies
them as a member of the Diving-Rescue Unit or the Friendship Fire Company; they are
expected to consistently act in a manner which would instill a sense of confidence and
pride in that individual by any member of the community who may observe them.
TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
I. OPERATIONAL AUTHORITY
A. The ranking Unit member on the scene shall be considered the Officer-In-Charge
(OIC) if no Unit officer is present. As such he/she is to fit into the Incident
Command system (or the ICS) under which the event is being managed as
designated by the IC (or acting as the IC if so designated). It must be remembered
at all times that a safe and successful operation is best accomplished by the
running of ONE operation commanded by ONE IC. Any disagreement, other than
that based upon a life threatening issue, will be resolved after the operation is
completed. ANY willful deviation by a Unit member from the orders of the IC
will result in the immediate ejection of that Unit member from the incident scene.
II. UNIT CHAIN OF COMMAND
NOTE: It must be remembered at all times that as the Friendship Diving-Rescue Unit
always functions under NIMS all Unit officers are subservient to the authority of the
Incident Commander (IC) designated by the local police and/or fire department who
called us to assist them. At a scene where a technical search, rescue, recovery specialty is
required, or is in operation, Unit officers shall work under the ICS / NIMS system and
shall cooperate with, but not necessarily be subservient to, any and all other police, fire
and EMS officers they may encounter.
A. Diving-Rescue Unit Officer’s Chain of Command
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
COMMANDER
DIVE CAPTAIN
DIVE LIEUTENANT
SUPPORT LIEUTENANT
STAFF OFFICERS
SENIOR UNIT MEMBER
B. A Safety Officer, Training Officer, Equipment Officer and Quartermaster (all
appointed by the Captain with concurrence from the Commander) will serve as
Staff Officers. Unit Staff Officers have operational command authority at an
incident scene per Section A. above.
C. The duties and authority of the Unit Officers listed in ‘A’ above shall be:
1. COMMANDER: Act as the liaison between the Unit and all other
organizations, both at an incident scene and administratively. Represent
the Unit at the Command Post (CP). Maintain final say on issues regarding
all aspects of the Unit. Be directly accountable to the Board of Directors of
the Friendship Fire Company for all aspects of the Unit. Be responsible for
strategic planning for the Unit.
2. DIVE CAPTAIN: Be responsible to the Commander for Unit readiness
and deployment. Keep Unit records and provide monthly reports as
required. Coordinate with Training Officer, Equipment Officer, Safety
Officer and Quartermaster to address needs and deficiencies. Be solely
responsible for the day-to-day management of the Unit.
3. DIVE LIEUTENANT: Represent the Unit in the absence of the Captain.
Be solely responsible for training and operational function of divers.
4. SUPPORT LIEUTENANT: Represent the Unit in the absence of superior
officers. Be solely responsible for the training and operational function of
Shore, Boat and Water Rescue crews.
II. SAFETY AND CONDUCT
A. ALL Unit members directly involved in any technical search, rescue, recovery
operation or training exercise shall wear proper and approved Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) at ALL TIMES. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS!
B. No firefighting gear (coats, bunker pants, boots, etc.) will be worn by any Unit
member at any water incident scene.
C. Only proven and practiced methods are to be employed at any incident scene.
Untested or unfamiliar methods, equipment or ideas are to be fully evaluated at
controlled practice sessions before being employed operationally.
D. Back up personnel and systems will be employed at all times practicable. Always
remember that you are your own best back up, so learn to depend upon yourself
first in the event of a personal emergency.
E. All operations are to be handled as a Unit effort. No freelancing or careless
heroics will be tolerated. Individual Unit member names and/or interviews are not
permitted to be given to the press. The IC, the ranking Unit officer, or a
designated PIO, are the only individuals authorized to talk to the press at an
incident scene.
F. Always remember: NEVER GIVE A LIFE TO SAVE A LIFE!
III. EQUIPMENT
A. Even the smallest piece of equipment has value to the Unit, and therefore should
be handled as if the handler had purchased it personally.
B. Every piece of equipment is assigned a specific place on a specific piece of
apparatus. It is to be returned to that place, or an interim staging area,
immediately after the completion of its usage, preferably by the Unit member who
removed it originally. It should be clearly understood that someone’s life may
well depend on a specific piece of equipment being fully operational and readily
available. Any willful misuse, abuse or neglect of equipment will be considered a
serious offense, and as such will be subject to disciplinary action.
C. All use of personally or privately owned equipment by any Unit member, at any
time, must be pre-approved by the applicable Unit OIC on a case by case basis,
unless prior blanket approval has been obtained from the Captain by the Unit
member.
IV. DISPATCH
A. Emergency dispatch will be via Chester County Fire Radio ONLY.
B. Practice sessions and non-emergency dispatches will be handled via a telephone
call list.
C. All responses are to be listed on the status board (at Station 77) prior to the
response of any apparatus and/or equipment from the Station.
V. EMERGENCY RESPONSE
A. All Unit members are to respond directly to Station 77 upon emergency dispatch,
unless directed otherwise by the wording of the dispatch, direction of a Unit
Officer or if a direct-to-the-scene response is faster. The two immediate
exceptions to this are as provided in item ‘C’ below and an individual Unit
member who must drive past the scene enroute to the Station. All state and local
traffic laws shall be strictly obeyed during any response via private vehicle.
B. No Unit members will respond to any incident scene on board any other
responding emergency apparatus from any Station other than 77 if it is his/her
intent to function as a member of the Unit at the scene. When responding on
apparatus other than that of the Unit you will be considered to be committed to
that apparatus for the duration of the incident. This rule must be strictly enforced
in order to assure the proper apparatus staffing and timely response of Station 77
apparatus to the scene.
C. The ranking OIC of the Unit may respond directly to the scene for initial survey
and information gathering purposes. The Radio Room is to be advised of such
response and radio contact is to be maintained with the Radio Room and with
Station 77 at all times. When multiple Officers are available for response it must
always be remembered that only one Officer is required to make a direct response
while it remains the responsibility of the remaining Officers to insure proper
staffing and timely response of the designated apparatus from the Station.
D. Unit personnel arriving on Station shall update the status board, ascertain the
initiation of the telephone call list for those Unit members without pagers via
radio (Station 77 high band) contact with either ’77 Dispatch’ or an on-air officer,
and shall ensure that all equipment is loaded and all apparatus is ready for
response.
E. Upon reaching minimum staffing levels on Water Rescue dispatches, the
apparatus shall respond immediately. Upon reaching minimum staffing levels on
all other dispatches, apparatus may respond per vehicle response protocol, or the
OIC on Station (or on radio) may delay response for a reasonable period of time
to await additional personnel enroute to station, or for other just cause. For
responses outside the geographic ring of our immediate mutual aid response area
consideration should be given towards all apparatus responding as a convoy in
order to minimize impact on traffic flow and thus reduce travel time.
F. Prior to response, radio communication is to be maintained between the Station,
and the Radio Room (on the CCFR 800 system) and other units/officers
responding directly to the scene (on the Station 77 high-band system) by the
highest-ranking member at the Station at the time.
G. Those Unit members arriving on Station after the response of all first-due
apparatus shall:
1. Report to the incident scene via private vehicle (POV), if the dispatch is local.
2. Remain on Station and contact the Unit OIC for further instructions, if the
dispatch is an assist outside of our first-due area.
H. Upon arrival at the incident scene all Unit members shall remain on or about the
apparatus and await assignment and/or instructions from the Unit OIC.
I. Upon completion of an operation all Unit members shall return to Station 77
unless released by the OIC after a personal request for such has been made and
granted. All Unit members are expected to actively participate in clean-up and
critique after an operation or practice session.
J. At no time prior to, during or after an operation will an individual Unit member
contact any other person or agency, other than the Unit OIC, regarding
availability, assignment, operations, status, information release, or the like.
VI. PRACTICE SESSIONS
A. Equipment and procedures can only be mastered by practice. It is expected that all
Unit members will show individual initiative regarding attendance at, and
participation in, practice sessions.
B. All practice sessions where divers are used MUST be supervised by the
Commander, Captain, or Dive Lieutenant. The only exception shall be dives made
by at least 2 active SCUBA Team members and previously authorized by one of
the aforementioned Officers. All non-dive practice sessions must be pre-approved
by an applicable Unit OIC.
VII. OPERATIONAL STAFFING
A. Minimum staffing levels are listed by type of dispatch herein and also on the
response protocol chart located next to the apparatus status board in Station 77.
No apparatus will respond under-staffed unless so ordered by the Unit OIC. A call
will be ‘scratched’ instead of the first-out vehicle responding under-manned. The
expected ETA of Unit members who have reported that they are en-route to the
Station should be factored in to all responses by the individual apparatus driver
and/or Unit OIC at the Station as to placing the apparatus as ‘responding’ or
‘scratching the call’.
B. There will be no maximum staffing limits set; however, safety, number of seatbelted seats on each piece of apparatus and the requirements of the operation are
to be kept in mind at all times.
C. Staffing for response to an emergency dispatch should normally be comprised of
ACTIVE Unit members ONLY. The Unit OIC can refuse response to any person
who is not considered to be active based upon training level and/or attendance, or
to any Unit member based upon just cause. Staffing by non-active Unit members
will be governed by 0IC discretion based upon manpower availability, operational
requirements, etc.
D. ALL persons responding to an emergency dispatch upon apparatus utilized by this
Unit, or using any equipment to which oversight by this Unit has been assigned at
an emergency incident or practice scene, must be a member in good standing of
Station 77. ANY deviation from this rule MUST be approved by the Unit OIC.
E. Apparatus response order and staffing shall be as follows
:

Water Rescue or Water Search (verified as an actual rescue or search with the
victim being reported ‘above the surface of the water’ and no immediate
underwater recovery potential existing)
 First out = Dive-Rescue 77-1 with Boat 77-1 staffed with 2 water rescue and
boat operator certified crew members (1 must be a certified driver).
 Next out = Squad with Boat 77-2 staffed with 2 water rescue and boat
operator certified crew members (1 must be a certified driver) or confirmed
knowledge that an appropriate number of trained personnel are responding
direct to the scene or are already on location.
 Next out = Dive-Rescue 77-2 and Utility 77 staffed with 2 water rescue
certified crew members (1 must be a certified driver) or confirmed knowledge
that an appropriate number of trained personnel are responding direct to the
scene or are already on location.
 Last out = Dive-Rescue 77-3 – Advise Unit OIC of manpower available and
verify that response is requested before responding.
.

Underwater Recovery (verified that victim is below the surface of the water)
 First out = Dive-Rescue 77-1 with Boat 77-1 staffed with 2 water rescue
certified and boat operator certified crew members with basic working
knowledge of dive operations (1 must be a certified driver). Upon arrival that
crew should locate and interview witnesses, establish and mark the PLS (Point
Last Seen) and then begin a search of the PLS area with the underwater video
camera.
 Next out = Dive-Rescue 77-2 with Utility 77 staffed with 4 certified divers, 2
certified tenders (1 must be a certified driver) or confirmed knowledge that an
appropriate number of trained personnel are responding direct to the scene or
are already on location.
 Next out = Dive-Rescue 77-3 with Boat 77-2 staffed with 2 certified divers, 1
certified Surface Supplied tender (1 must be a certified driver) or confirmed
knowledge that an appropriate number of trained personnel are responding
direct to the scene or are already on location.
 Last out = Squad 77 - Advise Unit OIC of manpower available and verify that
response is requested before responding.
Note: In all cases above all apparatus should respond as soon as minimum staffing levels
are met. No apparatus should be held on Station by other than a Unit Officer for any
reason such as waiting for someone known to be enroute to arrive unless the call is of
sufficient travel time where ‘a few extra minutes’ added to that response is a moot point.
In that case each piece of apparatus shall status as ‘responding’ via the SMU as soon as it
is properly staffed even though it is momentarily waiting on the apron. Communications
must be maintained at all times with the County Radio Room on the 800 MHz radio and
with all other Unit apparatus and Officers (and the Station after the response is made) on
the Station 77 high band radio (Channel #1 if the call is within 20 miles of the Station;
Channel 2 if convoying and/or responding a distance more than 20 miles; and Channel #3
once arriving on scene with a repeater running ( the repeater is on Dive-Rescue 77-2).
VIII. ACTIVE STATUS
A. A schedule of planned practice sessions, Company meetings and work details will
be posted quarterly on the Unit calendar. Additionally, all events that are non-preplanned will be communicated in the best manner possible, with as much advance
notice as possible, to all concerned.
B. In order to maintain ACTIVE status, a Unit member shall be required to attend a
set minimum of any combination of “A” above per quarter. For example, for the
Diving-Rescue Unit that number currently is 50%.
C. Attendance at additional practice sessions, meetings, and work details over the
minimum requirement set forth is highly encouraged and will be noted. However,
it will not accumulate towards fulfilling the obligation of item “B” in subsequent
quarters.
D. The work schedule and/or personal obligations of a unit member will only be
considered in the event that conclusive evidence can be shown that such
DIRECTLY AND REPEATEDLY prevented compliance with item “B” above.
E. The active status of all Unit members will be updated quarterly. An active and
non-active listing of all Unit members will be maintained on the status board.
F. Any Unit member who fails to maintain active status for a period of four
consecutive quarters will automatically be dropped from Unit membership and
will be reinstated only upon recommendation by a majority of the Unit’s officers
after a meeting with the individual involved.
G. A Unit member may be granted a leave of absence from the Unit by contacting
the Captain personally. Each such request will be handled on a case by case basis.
IX. UNIT MEMBER QUALIFICATIONS AND CERTIFCATIONS
A. It is expected that each and every member of the Unit will contribute to the
overall operational efficiency of the Unit as a whole. To do so it will be required
that within one year of initial membership every Unit member shall meet the
minimum qualification standards of the Unit. For example, the minimum
certification for the Diving-Rescue Unit currently is Basic Water Rescue.
B. Attainment of additional certifications and/or qualifications for the Unit, such as
Driver, Boat Crew, SCUBA diver and Surface-Supplied Diver within the DivingRescue Unit is encouraged of all Unit members, but is not required to maintain
ACTIVE status.
C. Upon meeting the minimum qualification standards for any specialized area, the
Unit member shall be deemed as certified for that area of operations. The meeting
of annual minimum standards will be required in order for that Unit member to
maintain certification.
D. No member of the Unit shall knowingly and willingly operate as a part of a crew
in an area for which he/she is not certified unless directly ordered to do so (after
making their non-qualification known) by a Unit Officer on a case by case basis.
A non-Unit IC or other non-Unit officer MAY NOT direct a Unit member to
operate outside of his/her training level and/or ‘comfort zone’. This is applicable
to both emergency incidents and practice sessions.
X.
DIVING-RESCUE UNIT MINIMUM CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
A. Shore Crew
1. Certified completion of THE Pennsylvania Fish Commission Phase I Water
Rescue program, NASAR water rescue program, Dive-Rescue International
water rescue course or similar training from a nationally-recognized
organization.
2. Certification from a Unit Officer that the individual has in fact successfully
demonstrated a sufficient working knowledge and awareness of the following
listed criteria:
a. Unit purpose
b. Chain of command
c. Applicable SOG’s
d. Unit equipment
e. General nature of operations
3. Annual recertification shall be automatic contingent upon maintaining active
crew status.
E. Water Rescue Crew
1. Certified completion of an approved course of instruction by a recognized
agency, or;
2. Documented completion of in-house instruction based upon the “Water
Rescue Training Standards” adopted by the Unit.
3. Annual recertification shall be automatic contingent upon demonstration of
maintenance of skills.
C. Boat Crew
1. Certified completion of an approved course of instruction by a recognized
agency, or;
2. Documented completion of in-house instruction based upon the “Boat
Operators Training Standards” adopted by the Unit.
3. Annual recertification - Logging a minimum of 3 boat operations in that year
with a minimum of one operation per year of each boat is required. Practice
sessions do qualify as operations.
D. SCUBA Team
1. Qualification for certification:
a. Tender
(1) Certification to Shore Crew Status
(2) Documented completion of in-house instruction based on the “SCUBA
Unit Training Standards” adopted by the Unit.
b. SCUBA Diver
(1) Basic certification (open water) by a recognized training agency, and;
(2) “Check out” approval by the Commander, Captain or Dive Lieutenant.
2. Annual recertification
a. Tender
(1) Documented demonstration of skill maintenance
b. SCUBA Diver
(1) Log a minimum of four (4) open water dives per year, based upon the
following criteria:
* 5 foot minimum depth
* 10 minute minimum bottom time
* 1 of the 4 dives must be in “cold water”
* Non-Unit associated dives or sport dives DO NOT count
E. Surface Supplied Team
1. Qualification for certification
a. Tender
(1) Certification to Shore Crew status
(2) Documented completion of in-house instruction based on the “Surface
Supplied Unit Training Standards” adopted by the Unit
b. Surface-Supplied Diver
(1) Certification to SCUBA Team status
(2) Recommendation of Dive Lieutenant, Captain, or Commander
(3) Documented completion of in-house instruction based on the “Surface
Supplied Unit Training Standards” adopted by the Unit
(4) “Check out” approval by an officer other than the recommending officer
2. Annual recertification
a. Tender
(1) Documented demonstration of skill maintenance
b. Surface-Supplied Diver
(1) Revised and posted annually
F. Apparatus Driver
1. Standards and qualifications for apparatus drivers for all vehicles used by the
Unit will be established by the Dive Captain in conjunction with the
Apparatus Committee. They shall be reinforced by Company SOG’s.
F. Officers – Note: Operational officers MUST have these qualifications prior to
being elected/appointed to their respective office. Staff officers MUST attain
these qualifications within one year of their appointment to office.
1. Certification as Open Water Diver by a nationally recognized training
organization or a recognized Diver Awareness Course.
2. PA Fish & Boat Commission Phase I water rescue certification or water
rescue certification from a Nationally or State recognized water rescue course.
3. NIMS 100, 200, 700, 800.
4. Emergency Vehicle Operators Course or equivalent.
5. AHA CPR with AED or equivalent.
XI. APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT
A. All drivers of Unit-assigned apparatus must complete an approved Emergency
Vehicle Operators Class (EVOC) within one year of appointment as a driver.
Failure to do so shall result in the removal of the individual from the drivers list.
B. Unit-assigned apparatus and/or equipment will leave Station 77 for the following
reasons ONLY:
1. Response to any emergency or routine radio or telephone dispatch
2. Authorized practice sessions
3. Authorized training sessions or schooling
4. Authorized maintenance
5. Authorized Company business
6. Authorized public service
7. Upon direction of any Unit Officer
C. The term ‘authorized’ as used above shall be defined as any non-emergency usage
of any apparatus or equipment for which prior approval has been given by an
applicable Unit Officer. Any authorization given is for an individual case by case
usage and does not constitute authorization for continued future usage for the
same purpose. Usage of apparatus and/or equipment for items 2 through 7, above,
without proper authorization will subject the individual user to disciplinary action.
D. Whenever any piece of apparatus leaves the Station for any authorized nonemergency purpose, the Status Board must be updated as to what apparatus is
leaving, for what purpose, where it will be, and how the driver may be contacted.
It is the sole responsibility of the driver taking the apparatus to ensure that this is
done. The status board in the Station should also be marked to show this
information.
E. Apparatus drivers and/or boat operators SHALL NOT operate ANY Station or
Unit-assigned apparatus or watercraft within four (4) hours of consuming ANY
AMOUNT of alcoholic beverage or spirit. While obviously, one beer does not
render most individuals incapable of safe vehicle operation, Officers should not
and will not be placed in a position of having to ascertain how much an individual
has had to drink, and then deciding if he/she is capable of safe vehicle operation.
Therefore, to fully comply with the legal, civil and insurance regulations
governing the Station and this Unit, the rule is simple: IF YOU HAVE
CONSUMED ANY ALCOHOL WITHIN THE PAST 4 HOURS, YOU DO NOT
DRIVE VEHICLES OR OPERATE BOATS!!!
F. All drivers are further reminded that a number of years ago, the Friendship Fire
Company #2 Board of Directors approved a stipulation that ALL drivers involved
in ANY accident causing damage to Company-owned or operated apparatus OR
any driver whom an Officer reasonably believes has operated apparatus while
intoxicated WILL be immediately tested for same. Refusal to submit to testing
will automatically cause the individual to be removed from the driver’s list and be
subject to all applicable legal and/or disciplinary actions.