Technical Rescue and Water Rescue Notes

Flashcards about Technical Rescue Incident and related topics

Firefighter Roles At Technical Rescue Incidents

Recognizing hazards, operating rescue tools, and mitigating hazards.

Incident Perimeter

Provides controlled workspace, protects responders and bystanders, ensures accountability, protects evidence, and prevents further collapse.

Hot Zone Access

Personnel directly involved, signed into accountability, wearing PPE, and trained.

Warm Zone Access

Personnel supporting hot zone work, in full PPE, and ready to enter the hot zone; decontamination area for hazmat.

Cold Zone Access

Emergency personnel only; outer boundary forms crowd control line.

Assisting with Rescue

Setting up equipment, providing victim care, charged hoseline standby, security barrier.

Stabilization

Ensure vehicle, object, structural component, or trench wall cannot move.

Jacks & Wheel Chocks

Stabilizing or lifting on a flat surface with a solid base if needed; resist corrosion.

Cribbing Materials

Stabilizes vehicle or structural collapse debris; wooden or plastic blocks.

Spreaders

Pushing and pulling with chains and adapters; tips spread up to 32 inches.

Cutters (Shears)

Cutting metal, plastics, wood, etc.; blades have approximately 7 inch opening.

Combination Spreader/Cutters (Shears)

Cutting and spreading; for small rapid intervention or limited resources.

Extension Rams

Designed for pushing, sometimes pulling; used when objects must be pushed farther; opening force stronger than closing.

Cutting Tools (Power Saws)

Faster and easier than shears; gasoline, electric, or battery powered.

Vehicle components

Hinges, latches/locks, fenders, quarter panels, firewall, kick panels, rocker panels

Controlling Hazards

Traffic, fire, bloodborne pathogens, sharp objects, environmental conditions, roadway incidents.

Controlling Hazards—Roadway Incidents

Apparatus as protective barrier, signs and cones for detours, law enforcement for traffic control, retroreflective vests.

Controlling Hazards—Other Hazards

Bodily fluids, broken glass/metal, environmental conditions.

Vehicle Electrical Systems

12- or 24-volt systems; high voltage in electric/hybrid batteries; emergency response guides from car manufacturers.

Technical Rescue

Each discipline requires training to develop unique skill sets. Specialized tools and skills for rescue from hazardous locations

Technical Rescue incidents NEVER perform rescue tasks if you are not..

Trained, qualified, equipped

Types of Rescue

• Confined space 

• Trench 

• Structural collapse 

• Vehicle 

• Surface water, swiftwater, surf, and dive 

• Ice 

• Wilderness 

• Cave, mine, and tunnel 

• Specialty rescue 

Size-Up Considerations

What has happened, what is happening, what is likely to happen, what resources will be needed.

Retrieving Rescue Tools and Equipment

Tool/equipment locations, how to carry safely, how to start/set-up; only qualified personnel attempt.

Power-operated and Manual Rescue Tool Uses

Stabilizing, cutting, lifting, pulling, securing materials, breaking materials.

Rescuers May Need Outside Expertise For

Plant personnel, off-site experts.

Electric Power Sources

Battery, apparatus electrical system, portable generator.

Hydraulic Pumps

Hand held, electric motor, battery, or gasoline engine; inspect regularly, maintenance to qualified personnel.

Types of Elevators

Passenger, freight, construction

Reasons Elevators May Become Inoperative

Physical damage, loss of power, overheated circuits, jammed cables, emergency stop, short circuit, door ajar.

Elevator Rescue Approach

Assess, determine tasks, choose best options; sometimes wait for trained personnel.

Escalators

Linked steps that ride a track with machinery & controls, drive units under upper landing plate.

Manual Stop Switches

Located near wall or handrail; stops stairs and sets emergency brake; key restart.

Escalator Rescue Technique

Remove other passengers, use hand pressure to move treads, extricate victim.

Assistance at Technical Rescue Incidents

• Size-up the situation

• Communicate information

• Stabilize the situation

• Stabilize the victim

• Establish Scene security

Sustainable technology Solar panels

Live electrical current, rooftop ventilation complications, added weight, disconnecting power.

Electrical vehicles

High-voltage systems (400-800V), battery thermal runaway, difficult extinguishment, re-ignition risk, limited battery access.

Fire Service Expectations

Municipal by-laws; rescue operations(in house or mutual aid agreement). Technical rescue skills and training (OH&S)

Ice and Water Rescue falls under

NFPA 1006: Standard for Technical Rescue Personnel Professional Qualifications.

Locations where water rescue may be required include.

Swimming pools, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, coastal shorelines, swamps, canals, low-head dams, water treatment facilities.

Types of Water Rescue

Swift, flood, ice, surface, dive

Water Rescue Techniques

Reach (Awareness), Throw (Awareness), Row, Go

L.A.S.T Search & Rescue

Locate victim, Access the victim, Stabilize the victim, Transport the victim

Rescue Versus Recovery

Incidents where victim may be saved, typically stranded or floundering. Recover a body, victim has been submerged for a long period of time and has died

Recognize Hazards

Undercurrents, unstable/ slippery soil, Debris, Sinkholes, Quicksand, Sharp Rocks, Extreme temperatures, Chemical or Biological contamination

Undertow

Pulls you under water.

Rip current

Pulls you away from shore. Can occur at any beach with breaking waves, including the Great Lakes

Low Head Dam

Extremely dangerous, hydraulic action of this dam is difficult to escape Victims are repeatedly pulled into the downwash

 Personal Floatation Devices (PFDs)

Includes life jackets, vests, or other devices that provide buoyancy to the wearer. Must be approved by Transport Canada or the U.S. Coastguard

Sustainable technology- list

• Solar panels 

• Lithium Ion batteries 

• Wind turbine 

• ev’s

Sustainable technology Solar panels