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Burlington County Fire Chiefs Association Rapid Intervention Team( R.I.T.)
Purpose : To address the minimum requirements and guidelines for the Rapid Intervention Team. To have a team prepared to assist Firefighter(s) who become lost, trapped, disoriented or down due to injury at an emergency incident. The following are recommendations for the Chief Officer to utilize in setting up a system in the Municipality he or she operates. Individual department S.O.G.s for R.I.T. operations may be more detailed or expansive than the guidelines in this document.
Scope : The Incident Commander shall establish a R.I.T. at any working structure fire or any special operation incident where firefighters are subject to immediate danger of injury in the event of equipment failure or other sudden event (Ex. - Confined Space, Haz-Mat, Wildland Urban Interface, Trench Collapse, Terrorism etc.)
The R.I.T. shall be comprised of a minimum of four (4) Interior Structural Firefighters (ISFF) [(1) Team Leader and (3) Team Members] or more. The Apparatus driver may be utilized if not an ISFF for exterior operations and support as long as this does not place that Member in imminent danger. It is optional and encouraged that at least one member of the Team be a Firefighter / E.M.T. and that each member have a minimum of one (1) year experience as a certified ISFF. Each Team falls under the Command of the Team Officer.
The number of R.I.T. will be flexible based on the type, size and complexity of the incident. The IC shall provide one or more R.I.T. based on the needs of the incident.
TrainingRecommended training for members operating as a part of R.I.T.; ØCompleted the Burlington County Fire Academy R.I.T. Orientation and Operations courses or their equivalent. This would include courses offered at other Fire Training Academies and or Nationally recognized Fire Service training conferences.
ØAfter completion of the above, R.I.T. members should become familiar with the Burlington County Fire Chiefs R.I.T. Guideline as well as their Department R.I.T. Guideline.
ØMembers of R.I.T. should participate in annual and on going training in Rapid Intervention Team techniques at the Fire Department level.
Guidelines for R.I.T. Operations: During suppression operations, if not already specified in grid assignments with Burlington County Central Communications for “ All Hands in Service”, it shall be the responsibility of the Incident Commander to establish a R.I.T. as soon as resources have been committed.
The Incident Commander shall utilize one of the Companies arriving on the incident grounds, if there was not a specific Company dispatched as the R.I.T. If there are insufficient members and apparatus for this, the Incident Commander shall call for Mutual Aid to handle this detail. When utilizing Mutual Aid for R.I.T., it is recommended that the R.I.T. be pre-determined in the grids at Burlington County Central Communications.
In the event that a Firefighter(s) becomes lost, disoriented or trapped the Incident Commander shall be notified immediately. Once it has been determined that a Firefighter(s) is in distress, the Team shall be deployed into the last known area of the Firefighter(s). The search shall expand from that location in a most expeditious manner.
The Incident Commander shall then order the next alarm for additional resources. These resources are to be utilized as support for the Team on location. Another Team shall be assembled on location. This Team maybe deployed at the discretion of the Incident Commander for the following:
A. No progress has been made by the original Team B. To enhance the rescue effort C. Larger scale incidents
This Team may come from the Personnel Staging area or additional alarm companies.
The Incident Commander shall advise Burlington County Central Communications that there is a Firefighter “MAYDAY” on the Incident grounds. The Communications operator shall transmit an alert tone over Fire Dispatch Channel #1, the appropriate Fire Ground Channel and the Fire Command Channel #7, EMS Channel #1 and make the following announcement, “The R.I.T. is now in operation. All Companies standby unless you have an Emergency.“ This shall be repeated. Central Communications will dispatch a Paramedic unit to the incident location and place a helicopter on stand by. Consideration should be given to adding additional BLS units to the incident.
At the report of a “MAYDAY”, R.I.T. shall operate on the Fire Ground frequency. Fire Ground Operations frequency shall be changed to another frequency. Companies directly involved in the “MAYDAY” shall remain on the Fire Ground frequency.
The R.I.T. shall report to and be given their orders by the Incident Commander or designee. In the event of larger scale operations the Team may report to the Operations / Division Officer assigned to that area.
The Team Officer and Team shall remain in visual and or verbal contact with the Incident Commander or their designee at all times during the Incident unless activated. They should remain near the Command Post or assigned Division.
It is recommended that the Incident Commander have Companies already on the Fire ground place ladders for Members operating on the interior. This practice should be utilized when activities are in progress on the second floor or greater. R.I.T. may be utilized to place ground ladders, only in the event no other companies are available for this assignment. Two (2) members of the R.I.T. may be detailed to this assignment and will remain in the line of sight of the rest of the R.I.T. members.
Common terminology for Firefighter(s) in distress should be “ MAYDAY “ followed by your location and report if possible.
After the announcement of a Firefighter “MAYDAY”, all Fire Ground Officers/Team Officer are to conduct an Personnel Accountability Report of the members in their command. Report any members missing to Command immediately. This should be completed in compliance with State and local regulations.
The Incident Commander or designee shall request frequent progress reports from the Team Officer or at a minimum of every Ten- (10) minutes. This provides the Incident Commander with an assessment of the Teams progress. It is recommended that a Chief Officer, other than the Incident Commander, handle R.I.T. operations. This will enable the Incident Commander to maintain focus on the original Incident.
In the event that the Team is making poor progress, it is recommended that the Incident Commander or designee deploy the next Team.
It is recommended that the Incident Commander prompt the Division & Sector Commanders for an Accountability check whenever the Communications Center advises the need for the Twenty (20) minute progress reports.
For Large scale Operations there may be more than one Team. The R.I.T. leader, after the initial size-up, may request additional resources. In this event it is recommended that the Team be assigned by Division.
Example: For large facilities such as Malls, Warehouses, Nursing homes, Factories, High rise buildings etc. The Team maybe called Division 2 R.I.T. for the Division 2 search. For exterior Division B R.I.T. on the Division B side.
In the event of a High-rise Incident, the Team should be assigned one floor below the incident. More than one Team is recommended for this type of incident.
The Team Officer shall be the only member reporting to the Incident Commander upon arrival. The Teams Accountability tags are to be placed at the Command Post. These tags should be kept separate from other member’s tags.
The Team should listen to the Fire ground communications to stay familiar with incident progress.
Each Departments response grids at Burlington County Central Communications, should include a pre-determined R.I.T. for each alarm level up to the Fifth (5th) alarm assignment. It is recommended that there be an increase in the amount of apparatus and members assigned to the R.I.T. as each alarm is dispatched.
Example : First Alarm : Engine or Ladder Company Second Alarm : Opposite piece of Apparatus from first/or same Third Alarm : Rescue Company and Squad Fourth Alarm : Engine and Ladder
When the R.I.T. has completed their assignment and the distressed Firefighter (s) have been delivered the appropriate level of care; the team members are to report back to the Incident Commander for accountability.
R.I.T. members are to report to Rehab on the Fire grounds after one (1) hour’s work or usage of two SCBA bottles. The R.I.T. Officer is to be aware of his members’ condition while in a ready position. After one (1) hour of being in stand by, it is recommended that the R.I.T. members be relieved.
The R.I.T. Officer shall request a replacement Team from the Incident Commander in the event his/her members become fatigued due to extended periods of stand by mode and or adverse weather conditions.
Restrictions:
The R.I.T. shall not be used to provide relief for operational units until the Incident has been declared “ Under Control “ by the Incident Commander and the risk to firefighters who may still be operating on the incident scene has been assessed. The assessment process shall include the Incident Commander, Division Commanders, Operations Officer, R.I.T. Officer (s) and the Safety Officer. The operations must be deemed safe by the above for the R.I.T. to be dismissed from their duties.
Once R.I.T. has been dismissed from their duties, the R.I.T. Officer shall assess the condition of the team members. The R.I.T. Officer can report the condition of the crew to the Incident Commander for use at the incident scene. The R.I.T. Officer will advise the Incident Commander whether or not the team is available for other duties on the incident scene.
If the Incident Commander determines that the immediate use of the R.I.T. in a capacity other than that of the R.I.T., is an absolute necessity, they may be utilized. This should only be done as a LAST RESORT. A second R.I.T. must be placed into service immediately.
Reporting:
In the event that the R.I.T. is deployed for any reason, a written or typed report should be completed. This is to be used as a learning tool and critique for the Fire Department. The Incident Commander, R.I.T. Officer, Division Commander, Operation Commander, Safety Officer should file this report. This report should be forwarded to the Incident Commander within forty-eight ( 48 ) hours of the completion of the incident. This information is for the education of those involved and other interested parties for educational purposes. These reports should be attached to a report covering the incident from the start to finish.
A. The report should include, but not be limited to, the following:
1. Date, Time, address and Incident Number of the incident. 2. Name of Firefighter (s) in distress and their location 3. Conditions encountered prior to deployment. 4. Conditions during rescue. 5. Actions taken to perform the rescue. 6. Approximate time involved to perform the rescue. 7. Number of Teams used to perform the rescue. 8. Building design / area layout of the incident. 9. R.I.T. number and names of members.
B. Each R.I.T. Officer will be responsible for their incident report.
Recommended Tools for R.I.T.:
The tools for the Team are to placed in an easily accessible location close to the Command Post or R.I.T. staging area determined by the IC The Team should not block the entrance / exit to the Command Post. These tools should be placed on a Tarp designated for the Team.
The Tools are not to be used by any other members on the Fire grounds.
1. Full turnout gear including SCBA, PASS devices and hoods. 2. (2) - 100 foot lengths of rope in rope bag. The ends of each rope to have caribeners permanently attached to hook to fixed object before entry. Rope to be marked every twenty ( 20 ) feet for distance. The mark shall be smaller for entry, larger for exit. 3. (4) - 15 foot sections of webbing or rope with caribeners attached at each end for crew work off the Main line. 4. (2) Portable radios capable of County Mutual Aid frequency, Channel 6. One radio for the Officer / Leader and one radio for an additional Firefighter. Crew maybe split in special situations. 5. (2) sets of Flathead axes and Halligan tool. 6. Pike Pole 7. Flashlight for every member ( Litebox preferred ) 8. Power tool, preferably a K-12 or equivalent with appropriate blade for the job. 9. A minimum of Four (4) - Door chocks for each member. Can be placed in members Turnout pocket. 10. Spare SCBA bottle for each member. 11. Device to mark doors that have been checked. Example; Street crayon, door marker etc. 12. One (1) complete SCBA for downed Firefighter with mask 13. Thermal Imaging device
Each member should be assigned tools prior to arrival at the Incident. Team Officer responsible for the assignments.
R.I.T. CREW CHECKLIST
____REPORT TO INCIDENT COMMANDER ____TURN IN ACCOUNTABILITY TAGS ____CHECK FOLLOWING EQUIPMENT BEFORE ENTRY
____ FULL TURNOUT GEAR W/SCBA & PASS DEVICES and HOODS ____ 2 - 100 FT ROPE IN BAG. WITH 20FT APART KNOTS AND CARIBENER FOR ANCHOR ON OUTSIDE OBJECT ____4 - 15 FT SECTIONS OF WEBBING WITH CARIBENERS ATTACHED AT ENDS. ____ 2 PORTABLE RADIOS ____ 2 sets of FLATHEAD AXES & HALLIGAN TOOL ____ PIKE POLE ____ FLASHLIGHTS for every member ____ POWER SAW (PREFERABLY K-12 W/APPROPRIATE BLADE ____ DEVISE FOR MARKING DOORS; EXAMPLE DOOR MARKERS, STREET CRAYON ____ 4 DOOR CHOCKS FOR EACH MEMBER ____ SPARE SCBA CYLINDER FOR EACH MEMBER ____ 1 COMPLETE SCBA FOR DOWNED FIREFIGHTER WITH MASK ____ THERMAL IMAGING DEVICE
SCENE SIZE-UP
____ ENTRY & EGRESS POINTS ____ FIRE/HOT ZONE LOCATION ____ FIRE/RESCUE OPERATIONS LOCATIONS ____ HAZARDS IN & AROUND AREA ____ NOTE AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT RESOURCES (NOTE PLACEMENT OF GROUND LADDERS AND AERIAL DEVICES)
STAY TOGETHER AND BE READY AT ALL TIMES DO NOT LEAVE INCIDENT UNTIL RELEASED OR RE-ASSIGNED
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