Topic: Rescue-Lift Airbags Reference #: DG 16-12 Level of Instruction: In service personnel Time Required: 3 hours

Instructor Preparation: This drill requires very basic preparation in order for it to be successfully conducted. Preparation: Look over your department’s rescue equipment and consider how well you are equipped to handle a structural collapse or vehicle lift off of a victim. Goals: The goals of this drill are:  Familiarize your crews with your rescue equipment and its capabilities  Evaluate your department’s readiness for a lift requiring rescue-lift airbags  Using the ICS, lift a simulated vehicle, or structural member off of a victim  Coordinate a rescue effort using your department’s cribbing and rescue-lift airbags Materials:  Two folding tables, 8’ works best  30+ Styrofoam cups-regular 8 oz. coffee cups work well. Plastic cups do not. (You can re-use these cups for the different shifts if needed)  Your department’s rescue-lift airbag lifting equipment  Cribbing, cribbing, and more cribbing  Assorted hand tools for prying, Halligan bar, pry bar, etc.

References:  Jones & Bartlett Fundamentals of Fire Fighter Skills 3rd edition, Chapter 26  Jones & Bartlett Vehicle Extrication, Principles and Practices  NFPA 1006, Chapters 4 and 5

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Instructor Set-up: The practical portion of this drill is easy to set up. Place one of the folding tables top side down on your apparatus bay floor, and set the second table up on top of the face-down table. Using the Styrofoam cups, make a pyramid, cups upside down, with the base 16 cups, four across, and continue until you have one cup on top. Fill a cup with water three fourths full, and place it on top of the top, upside down cup. Stage your rescue-lift airbags, cribbing, and pry tools near the tables.

Student Motivation: Firefighters are called on to perform various tasks for the public in their time of need. We also take care of each other in our time of need. Being proficient in rescue is one of the things the public expects of us. Consider the few times we have used the rescue-lift airbags on an actual emergency, and think about how familiar our crews are with the use and limitations. Being able to rapidly deploy and use our rescue-lift airbags can make the difference in the outcome of the emergency.

Drill: Assemble the crew in the apparatus bay, and explain that the tables represent a component of structural collapse, or a vehicle on a patient. Have the crew don at a minimum, helmet, gloves and bunker coat to simulate an actual scene. The table needs to be lifted approximately 24” in order to get the victim out for transport. Allow your crews to come up with a game plan on how to lift the simulated weight off of the victim, and remind them to “lift an inch, crib an inch.” Explain to your crews that the lift must be level, and if the cup containing the water spills or falls, the drill must be done again, until successfully lifting the table 24” or until your supply of cribbing becomes exhausted. The table needs to be lifted off of the floor high enough to slide your rescue-lift airbag under it, so allow them to use the pry tools first. Remind your crews that this drill is not a race, but “remember the Golden Hour.”(con’t next page)

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Review: This drill is an excellent opportunity to discuss the dynamics of a rescue utilizing your rescue-lift airbags in an actual emergency. You might find that your department lacks enough cribbing or other limitations that may need addressing. This drill is also a great time to go over ICS, and stress the importance of safety officers, incident commander, and operations. After completing the drill, get your equipment back in service, i.e. refill SCBA cylinder, and place back on the rig. Assemble the crews and discuss what went well, as well as what the challenges they faced, and how we can improve firefighter readiness and safety, as well as provide excellent rescue service to our citizens in their time of need.

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ATTENDANCE ROSTER FOR FETI DRILL GUIDE Topic: Rescue-Lift Airbags Reference #: DG 16-12 Level of Instruction: In service personnel Time Required: 3 hours

Fire Department: ______FDID ______Parish: ______Instructor: ______Number of Students: ______

Attendance Roster (Identify personnel from other fire depts.) Printed name Signature

Maintain this record for your department FETI Drill Guide 16-12 Page 4 of 4 Gray Young