Search and Rescue in Residential Structures - Essay Example

Search and Rescue in Residential Structures Number Introduction Dealing with fire makes firefighting a dangerous profession. Despite of that, firefighters when doing their work in an organized manner are able to save many lives and not risk losing theirs. Furthermore there is nothing more dangerous to any firefighter than going into a burning house with no skills of how to rescue the trapped people or more importantly oneself (Lum2004). There is a great difference between putting out fires in open places or deserted areas and residential places. Furthermore the presence of people in residential areas demands a lot of skill and attention to details both in the inside and outside of the residential area affected by fire. They have to make sure that anybody is rescued from the fire before they think of putting out the fire. To do this therefore, a certain methodology known as search and rescue, as discussed below has to be kept in mind. Methodology of Search and Rescue. There is a different perception of the term “search and rescue”. To many people, they assume it is a two task mission is actually a multitude of tasks put together. In reality, search and rescue are a two different jobs with specific functions(Lum2004). To start with, search is the act of finding something. In this context, the firefighters search for the fire location, the origin, the interior of the affected unit and the potential victims. It is performed by the search firefighters who have to report their findings to the Incident Commander (IC) on the outside. This is to say that the firefighters are performing a reconnaissance mission for the incident commander(Lum2004). Rescue in the other hand, is the act of removing victims away from the point of danger. In this context, the firefighters remove the victims from the place of fire and move them to a secure area where they can be helped. In a residential fire scenario, rescue is the end product of the skills of properly executed search mission (Wallington 2005). So as to perfect the skills of search and rescue, the firefighters have to rehearse and get to understand the full techniques of carrying out their duties. This techniques are obtained in the fire academy and every firefighter has to be fully equipped to carry out the tasks. Furthermore this skills are essential before any firefighter is allowed to go to the field on a search and rescue mission. When learning, firefighters are in the academy, the primary lesson is learning the basic right-hand or left-hand search pattern. This skill is essential in ensuring that a place is thoroughly searched and the firefighter remains oriented to the environment within. For rookie firefighters, this drill is one of the commonly used but due to it being time wasting, it is not encouraged in cases of urgency. This is because this drill relies on the concept of following the wall and in large residential areas with many corners and search patterns, the process is deemed very slow. In this case, it is a disadvantage since the faster the search mission is completed the greater the chances of rescuing people from the building. In addition to that, following the wall will obviously make searching firefighters to ignore major details of the room at large as they are pinned on the wall(Wallington 2005). When executing their work, it shouldn’t take the fire fighters more than 10 seconds to search a 1,400 square foot bedroom that is filled with smoke. In their take, 12*12 is a small room to search by 10 seconds. Ideally, since most bedrooms are there is little space to walk on since most of it is filled with very large pieces of furniture. Therefore, the technique of following the wall is limited in this instant. Due to this fact, more effective methods have been put in place for this to happen. So how would a firefighter search a bedroom? Typically, the firefighter is expected to enter the room while moving towards the bed. Search around the bed and moving towards the window while maintaining contact with the bed. All this is done while sweeping the hand across the bed. Move to the other side of the bed and sweeping the top of the bed while checking the closets. Time to time, the firefighter feels under the bed in all the directions and as long as the space is large enough for a person to fit in. Open the closet and move one’s hand across, top to bottom. Exit the room. All this process should take less than 10 seconds to complete under a moderate smoke conditions. To efficiently do this, the search should be thorough and of rapid pace and not haphazard(Norman 2005). In a search of a room like this one, one way of increasing speed is for only two firefighters to get in and let two on the door (assuming they are four). The two at the door concentrate solely on escape routes, radio traffic and the air conditions in the room. They can also use their flash lights or give directions to those inside. By doing this, the ones inside are able to concentrate on conducting the search only: since they are only two they do not get into each other’s way. Most importantly, each crew can monitor the partner with relative ease. When a firefighter locates a victim, the ones at the door contact the IC of the finding and location so that additional resources can be brought in. If the partners inside the room need help evacuating the victim, one at the door comes in and assist in the rescue. It is not the case that firefighters go into buildings blindly or in all locations when conducting a search operation. Tactically, there are those locations in the room where you expect people to be located as soon as they see their house on fire. This places include, the bedroom where maybe the victims were asleep or hiding. Another location is the bathroom since the presence of water makes it a good place to hide. Lastly, another common location is behind doors or directly towards the main entrance as people try to rush out of the building(Wallington 2005). The Anchor Point Method When searching a building, the firefighters are required to carry tools with them. Rookie firefighters are taught to use hand tools while carrying out a search; mostly gliding it across the room as they follow the wall. In a scenario where lives are to be saved, this method is very ineffective in areas filled with smoke and the personnel on full protective gear. Why? You may ask: Well, naturally when holding a steel metal, it is not possible to tell the difference between, let’s say a pile of clothes and a person. In other cases, one might even step onto a person and injure him further as they ironically look to rescue people. What about using an axe to probe the place and accidentally it gets to contact with an unconscious person? Firefighters have better chances of identifying people when using their hands. The Anchor Point method in this case uses the tool to hold the person so that they can feel using their hand. By anchoring oneself to an immovable object, the person is able to extend reach into the areas that might have been hard otherwise. For example, a fork end of a halligan can be anchored onto the door frame or window frame increasing the accessibility for about 40 inches. As one secures the building, he is sure of the escape route as he covers a wider region therefore buying him/her valuable time: common in vent-enter-search from a window. The Zero Visibility Method. It is advisable for any firefighters to not conduct a primary search operation in areas of zero visibility if possible. This is because by doing so, the firefighters will be neglecting the ventilation tactics and putting them in a position of danger. In addition to that, when the firefighters are in such a room, they may not see other hidden hazards in the smoke which might be dangerous to their own lives(Norman 2009). In conducting the search and ignoring the primary search, the victims’ lives is saved in time. It is important to know that the victims inside are exposed to the conditions of the fire and a faster approach is required in for the life of the victim to be saved. To emphasize on that, we insist that in this conditions of zero visibility the most important commodity is time Starting the search as Close to the Fire as Possible. When starting a primary search, it is important that the fire fighters start from a point as close to the fire as possible. As explained by John Norman the deputy of the Fire department in New York, “not starting the primary search from the point as close to the fire as possible may cause the firefighters to fail to teach the most severely threatened victims in time (Norman 2009).” This is not the only reason of starting the search from the point close to the fire source. Other advantages of this method is that the firefighters will be moving away from the point of danger towards safety. In addition to that, the firefighters are exposed to the greatest danger while still at their best mental and physical state ensuring appropriate and effective execution of duty. Lastly, as the search team completes the job, they are will be moving towards the suppression team and therefore informing them towards their objectives. This makes it easy for the teams to carry their duties to maximum perfection(Wallington 2005). Conclusion When doing their work, the firefighters keep in mind that saving lives is their primary objective. Just as the initials LIP, L stands for live safety first; I stands for incident stabilization second and P stands for Property conservation last (Norman 2009). In this manner, as the search team conducts their operation they need to keep in mind that they are also conducting a reconnaissance for the incident commander and hence giving them the primary responsibility in fighting fires. They should therefore be thorough, maintain their safety and most importantly be fast(Norman 2009). Reference 1. Norman, J. (2009). Fire department special operations. Tulsa, Okla.: Pen Well Corp. 2. Norman, J. (2005). Fire officers handbook of tactics (3rd ed.). Tulsa, Okla.: Penn Well. 3. Wallington, N. (2005). Firefighting. London: South water. 4. Wolf, D. (Director). (2013). Chicago fire [Motion picture]. U.S.A.: Universal Studios Home Entertainment. 5. Lum, D. H. (2004). Fighting fire ([1st electronic ed.). Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press. Read More