Technical Rescue and Water Rescue Operations

Flashcards covering firefighter roles, scene security, rescue tools, vehicle components, hazard control, technical rescue skills, elevator rescue, escalator rescue, sustainable technology, water rescue, and flood risks.

Firefighter Roles at Technical Rescue Incidents

Recognize hazards, operate rescue tools, and understand methods for mitigating hazards.

Incident Perimeter

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

Assisting with Rescue

Setting up equipment, providing victim care, standing by with charged hoseline, and providing a security barrier.

Stabilization Definition

Vehicle, object, structural component, or trench wall must not be able to move.

Jacks

Used for stabilizing or lifting; must be on a flat, level surface.

Wheel Chocks

Prevent vehicles from moving when parked and can stabilize vehicles in an accident.

Cribbing Materials

Stabilizes vehicle during extrication or structural collapse debris.

Spreaders

Used for pushing and pulling when combined with chains and adapters.

Cutters (Shears)

Can cut almost any metal object that fits between the blades.

Combination Spreader/Cutters (Shears)

Can perform cutting and spreading operations; excellent for small rapid-intervention vehicles.

Extension Rams

Designed for pushing, but can pull; used when objects must be pushed farther than spreaders can open.

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 should be parked to form a protective barrier.

Assistance at Technical Rescue Incidents

Each discipline requires advanced training to develop unique skill sets for rescue.

Technical Rescue

The use of specialized tools and skills for rescue in hazardous or inaccessible locations.

Types of Rescue

Confined space, trench, structural collapse, vehicle, water, ice, wilderness, cave, mine, and tunnel rescue.

Ongoing Evaluation

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

Incident Perimeter

Provides controlled workspace, protects responders and bystanders, ensures personnel accountability.

Fire Fighter II Responsibilities

Tool and equipment locations, how to carry them safely, and how to set up equipment.

Rescue Tool Uses

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

Electric Power Sources

Battery, apparatus electrical system, portable generator.

Hydraulic Pumps

Hand held, electric motor, battery, or gasoline engine.

Types of Elevators

Passenger, freight, and construction elevators.

Elevator Types

Cable, hydraulic.

Reasons Elevators Stop

Physical damage, loss of power, overheated circuits, activation of emergency stop button.

Elevator Rescue Steps

Assess situation, determine tasks, and choose best options for safe rescue.

Escalator Rescue

Manual stop switches located near wall or handrail support.

Escalator Rescue

Use hand pressure, crank, or wheel to move treads backward to extricate victim

Sustainable Technology

Solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines, EVs.

Solar Panels Hazards

Live electrical current, complicates rooftop ventilation, added weight, trip hazards.

Electrical Vehicles Hazards

High-voltage systems, battery thermal runaway, difficult extinguishment, risk of re-ignition.

Conditions for Water Rescue

Ice, surface, dive, swiftwater, surf.

Locations for Water Rescue

Swimming pools, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, shorelines, swamps, canals, dams.

Rescue Sequence

Arrival, size up, stabilize scene, gain access, disentanglement, removal, care, transport, termination.

Rescue Operations

Incidents where victim may be saved; typically stranded or floundering.

Recovery Operations

Incidents where victim has been submerged for a long period; objective is to recover a body.

Recognize Hazards

Undercurrents, unstable soil, debris, sinkholes, sharp rocks, extreme temperatures, contamination.

Undertow

Pulls you under water.

Rip Current

Pulls you away from shore.

PPE near water

PFDs approved by Transport Canada or U.S. Coastguard are mandatory within 10ft of water.

Climate Change Impacts

Rising sea levels, heavier precipitation, increased natural disasters.

Increased Rainfall

Increased rainfall increases the likelihood of flash floods.

Flood Risks

Increased flood fatalities, more injuries, risk of hypothermia.

Types of Water Rescue

Swift, flood, ice, surface, dive.

Water Rescue Techniques

Reach, throw, row, go.

Search & Rescue Acronym L.A.S.T

Locate, access, stabilize, transport.