FINAL DRAFT FOR SUBMISSION SOP***-*.*: RAPID INTERVENTION TEAM PURPOSE: The Lexington Fire Department often responds to incidents that present a high safety risk to firefighters. This guideline identifies the requirements for, and the operation of, Rapid Intervention Teams (RIT).

SCOPE: This guideline will address both general and procedural aspects of Rapid Intervention Teams as it pertains to the Lexington Fire Department.

COMMAND AND CONTROL: Incident Commanders as well as Rapid Intervention Team members are responsible to comply with the guidelines set forth in this sop. Line firefighters are responsible to assist the RIT on scene as directed by their chain of command and participate in all training provided by the LFD.

CONTENT

DEFINITIONS

RIT- Rapid Intervention Team: A dedicated team of properly trained and equipped personnel, that will take the necessary aggressive & pro-active steps on the fire ground to prevent a “MAYDAY” from occurring; and if a MAYDAY has been issued to initiate procedures to rescue firefighters.

EDB- Emergency Declaration Button the red button found on all radio’s that must be held down for 2 seconds to declare an emergency.

RESCUE ENGINE- An engine company staffed primarily with trained members of the technical rescue team that provides the Rapid Intervention Team resource on the fire ground.

PRO-ACTIVE OPERATIONS- The pro-active actions taken by the RIT to prevent the Firefighter MAYDAY and render the fire scene safer for operating personnel.

GENERAL OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR THE RAPID INTERVENTION TEAM

RIT Objectives

1. In a proactive manner, to take measures on the fire ground to prevent the firefighter mayday and work towards improved safety of the fire ground. 2. To have a properly equipped crew on-site, in a ready state, to immediately react and respond to rescue injured or trapped Firefighters. 3. To locate and check the status of a firefighter that is unaccounted for after an initial accountability check and recheck. 4. To provide assistance to firefighters who request help of a non-mayday nature. (i.e. where a Firefighter may request minor assistance in order to egress from a building but is not in distress or danger)

RIT Staffing

Rapid interventions are manpower and labor intensive operations. As has been discovered many times, two individuals cannot effectively rescue a downed Firefighter. A four-person team will likely only be able to locate, assess, and changeover a downed fire fighters air supply. Because of this, and in compliance with NFPA 1710, it is recommended that the Rescue Engine should be manned with a minimum of FOUR (4) personnel.

RIT Dispatch A designated Rescue Engine shall be dispatched on all structure fires. Upon receipt of a call for a structure fire (FSTR) communications shall dispatch the closest Rescue Engine not already on the initial alarm. This engine company will be the last engine dispatched in the dispatch order. This Rescue Engine Company will be the fourth engine on the dispatch. All First alarm 1st, 2nd and 3rd due engine companies will perform tasks in accordance with current SOPS (ref sop572.21). Should the closest Rescue Engine be part of the initial alarm then the next closest Rescue Engine will be dispatched on the run.

If a rescue engine company is not available as a 4th engine the next due non-rescue Engine Company shall be dispatched.

ANY swapping of runs will follow standard radio procedures and SOP’s as published by LFD.

An additional designated Rescue Engine shall be dispatched on all second alarm fires. Upon receipt of a request for a second alarm communications shall dispatch the closest Rescue Engine that is not part of the second alarm assignment.

As an incident grows in size or complexity the incident commander may request additional companies for RIT assignments.

RIT Responsibilities

Upon arrival on scene the RIT should report directly to and notify the incident commander of their arrival.

RIT should establish a staging area for their equipment. The Rapid Intervention Team equipment is not to be disturbed by crews that are not actively involved in RIT assignments. At no time will crews involved in non-RIT activities remove any items from the RIT staging area.

RIT Deployment

The Rapid Intervention Team will serve 3 functions on the fire scene. These are:

 PRO-ACTIVE OPERATIONS

 ASSISTANCE / WELFARE CONFIRMATION CHECK

 MAYDAY

PRO-ACTIVE OPERATIONS

RIT should make it a priority soon after their arrival to perform a 360 degree size up of the structure and situation. It may be appropriate to make reports to command, either by radio or face to face, stating any significant findings from their size up.

The RIT should visually monitor ingress and egress of companies and ACT checks. It is appropriate to continually evaluate the situation, structure and activities on the scene and ascertain through observation and other methods the interior conditions and locations of ongoing operations.

The RIT should perform tasks on the fire ground that helps ensure firefighter safety. These tasks may include, but not be limited to, the following as appropriate: secure utilities, ladder building for means of egress, force doors etc. for means of egress, clear windows and doors of security devices, provide coordinated horizontal ventilation and perform continuous reconnaissance of the fire scene for the IC. ASSISTANCE / WELFARE CONFIRMATION CHECK

The WELFARE CONFIRMATION CHECK is typically a quick in and out performed by the RIT to confirm the status and location of a crew that does not answer an accountability check followed by a recheck.

After two (2) non-acknowledged checks (the initial check followed immediately by a recheck) on the radio the RIT should be activated. It will be at the discretion of the Incident Commander as to whether or not this situation will be treated as a MAYDAY or a welfare check.

For example: Engine 22 does not answer two(2) accountability checks on a structure fire in a single story 1000 sq foot residence without a basement that has been declared out and overhaul is under way. The IC may choose to simply send in the RIT to locate the crew and check their status (WELFARE) without the change to a MAYDAY level situation.

However the same occurrence on a structure fire in a home with a basement with an active fire fight would clearly warrant the escalation to a MAYDAY situation with all the actions listed below (see MAYDAY Procedures).

Additionally the RIT may be deployed for ASSISTANCE to fire fighters who may request help but whose situation does not qualify as a mayday. . Firefighters can now request assistance knowing that they will receive exactly what they ask for with minimal consequence BEFORE their situation escalates.

This level of response has been included because it is recognized that most firefighters will not ask for assistance if they feel this request will bring the whole “cavalry”. It has been determined that most firefighters will allow a minor situation to develop into one that is severe before asking for help if they believe that much will be made of their situation

Examples: “I am at a window and need assistance to exit the building. Bring a ladder to side three second floor” Or “I am at side three ground floor and the door is locked from outside. Come force the door so I can exit”.

MANAGING THE FIRE GROUND MAYDAY

Command response

Command will maintain an awareness of the location of fire fighters on the fire ground primarily through assignments and the accountability system. In the event that a firefighter is determined to be missing, the I.C. or any member should announce a " MAYDAY." The term " MAYDAY " will indicate a lost, trapped, or incapacitated fire fighter. Command shall respond to a " MAYDAY " by implementing a rescue plan for the firefighter(s).

The following is a list of actions to be taken by Command for a reported missing or trapped fire fighter. These are guidelines and do not necessarily need to be accomplished in the order listed. The first five must be accomplished very rapidly:  Acknowledge / announce the MAYDAY  Deploy RIT  Obtain ACT check (personnel accountability report)  Request additional alarm  Adjust action plan to rescue operation  Assign RIT Sector officer  Assign additional companies to RIT sector  Reinforce firefighting positions

Communications

RIT will communicate on the assigned fire ground channel. On the fire scene RIT companies will be identified by RIT followed by their unit number. (Engine Nine will identify as RIT NINE engine thirteen as RIT THIRTEEN).

In the event of a mayday that results in the activation of the EDB the recommended actions are that the RIT have 1 member switch to EMER while the remainder of the RIT crew remains on the fire ground channel. This allows the RIT to obtain valuable information from the distressed FF first hand and still maintain an awareness of other fire ground efforts and radio traffic, also on a first hand basis. The RIT Engine company officer will designate the crew member that will switch to EMER if this becomes necessary.

As continued fire ground activities are extremely important for the support of RIT and the downed FF it can not be expected that all fire ground radio communications will cease. However, during a MAYDAY situation it is paramount that all transmissions be brief and limited to essential communications only. In the event that the RIT Sector can not obtain radio air time that sector may be directed by Command to another channel.

Deployment of RIT

Upon deployment for a MAYDAY, RIT will abandon any other PROACTIVE OPERATIONS and quickly collect the appropriate tools from the RIT staging area. The team will quickly develop a locate/rescue plan and deploy into the structure.

Most MAYDAY-related Rapid Intervention plans are executed in two parts. Part one is the initial assignment and part two is the extrication/removal.

Part one: During the initial assignment the RIT company will be deployed into the structure and locate/capture the FF in distress. The initial RIT will then secure air and a defensible area.

Part two: At this point, provided a grab and go scenario cannot be performed; additional crews will be called to assist with the extrication / removal of the downed firefighter.

In the event of a MAYDAY it is strongly recommended that an additional alarm be requested by the IC. The IC will need to provide additional manpower to the rescue sector to assist with and complete the tasks started by the assigned RIT Company. The general guideline is that 12-16 additional personnel should be assigned. These personnel will form the second team of rescuers that will bring any specialized equipment needed as well as serve as manpower for the removal of the firefighter if a quick “grab and go” operation can not be performed by the initial RIT company. The second team should be formed immediately with the crew of Rescue one, if on scene, and on scene personnel or first arriving additional alarm crews. If the unit is on scene, Rescue one will take the lead in providing assistance to the initial RIT crew as they have the specialized equipment & training that may be needed for these tasks.

Fire ground accountability

Upon declaration of a MAYDAY a Personnel Accountability Report (ACT check) should be strongly considered from all companies operating on the fire ground. This is especially important in situations of structural collapse. Command cannot develop an effective rescue plan until accurate information is available on the number of missing firefighters, their identity, their last reported work area, and which companies are affected. This information should be relayed to the RIT crew as soon as it is available.

Expansion of the command structure

With additional resources en route, along with the critical rescue needs; the Command organization must expand ahead of the demand. The incident Commander must be proactive and aggressive in developing and expanding the Command organization.

RIT Sector Officer

In the event of a mayday one critical component of a successful rescue operation is the RIT sector officer. If this position is not already filled the incident commander should assign a RIT sector officer as part of the expansion of the command structure. The IC may assign these duties to any officer, other than the officer of the Rescue Engine, on scene.

Maintenance and reinforcement of fire ground operations

The fact is that, especially when rapid fire spread or building collapse occurs, the prompt application of water may be the only method of saving trapped fire fighters and protecting RIT crews.

Abandoning fire fighting positions during the rescue effort should be avoided. Command and crews should take aggressive measures to protect trapped or missing fire fighters from the effects of the fire. Efforts should be concentrated on reinforcing existing positions and keeping the fire out of the rescue area and providing appropriate ventilation and lighting. In some situations it may be appropriate to write off certain areas of the building in order to relocate companies to better protect the rescue effort.

Termination of RIT

In order to maintain the availability of this resource for other incidents, the RIT should be returned to service when the incident is under control and the situation and structure do not pose a threat to operating crews.

TRAINING AND PREPARATION

Physical fitness

Physical fitness, wellness, and mental/emotional stability are paramount requirements for regularly assigned RIT members. Therefore a physical fitness standard will be developed for Special Operations personnel assigned to a Rapid Intervention Team company and must be met in order to remain a member of the RIT companies. A suggested physical fitness standard has been attached.

TRAINING

To insure all firefighters of all ranks operate in an optimized manner in the event of a RIT activation of any kind, all sworn fire department personnel shall receive RIT training.