Pastorinthewoods's Weblog: Can You Handle The Truth?

Rapid Intervention, Risk Management, and Rural Residential Tactics

      The concept of RIT is something that is slowly seeping into the mindset of smaller departments everywhere. After studying and training in this area, I believe that this must be a top shelf priority for rural fire department’s everywhere. It is going to require discipline and the humility to call more help more often in order to get this done. It will also require more training and cooperation with neighboring departments. However, just training personnel and spending a few thousand dollars to equip engine companies to be able to do RIT really is not enough. Not enough attention is being given to risk management in the rural fire service. The rural fire department fighting only a few structure fires in the course of a year must stop and think about the inherent dangers they are exposed to when seeking to save lives, stabilize a scene, and conserve property. Here are some things that we must consider when responding to structure fires:

1.     Fires are typically more advanced in rural residences because of response times

1. Personnel face more danger responding in vehicles in rural areas
2. Manpower is stretched thin during rural structure fires
3. Water supply is inconsistent in rural areas
4. The training and capabilities of personnel are inconsistent in residential structure fires
5. Personnel are at a higher risk of catastrophic health issues because of fatigue, stress, and general lack of attention to health
6. Initial decisions are not always made by officers trained to recognize the situation and initiate sound tactical priorities
7. Mutual aid departments typically do not train enough together to know what to expect from each other

All of these things coupled with the dangers of new construction and aggressive fire attacks can be a recipe for disaster. As we initiate RIT policies, we must make sure that the tip of the spear is sharp. Do we approach residential structure fires with our eyes wide open? Here are some things that I would consider as necessary considerations for all officers and administrators in rural fire departments:

1.     HEALTH AND SAFETY: Do I have a standard health policy that mandates minimal health levels for my firefighters? Do they receive a physical once per year?

1. TRAINING: Do I have a minimum standard of training in my fire department and do we communicate that expectation to everyone including mutual aid departments?

1. OFFICERS: Do I have a minimum level of training that exceeds the above stated levels for department officers? Are those officers capable of making sound and safe decisions based upon the risk management considerations? What training must we develop to reach these standards?

1. DRIVING: Do I have policies in place regulating POV response? How much risk do our firefighters put themselves in just coming to the station? How can I lower that risk?

1. AUTOMATIC AND MUTUAL AID: Do I have an appropriate understanding of my automatic aid and mutual aid departments so that I can recognize when I need more help and what I can expect from them?

1. STRATEGY AND TACTICS: Do we employ tactics based upon adrenaline, pride, tradition, or sound and safe practices? Do we discuss strategy and tactics as a department enough or do we assume people will know what to do?

1. MANPOWER AND INITIAL OPERATIONS: Do I typically have enough personnel on a fire scene to safely initiate an aggressive offensive fire attack right out of the gate? If not, are we placing  firefighters at risk because they are on their own if something happens to them in the first 5 minutes of operations? What can I do to recruit and train new firefighters? Except for life safety issues, what can I do to lower the risk for the initial company as they begin firefighting operations? 

If we do not answer the above issues while we are answering the RIT question in the rural fire service then we will continue to see firefighters dying yearly in our rural volunteer fire departments.