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“You Have Got to Be Kidding Me, R.I.T.!”
Unfortunately, the 10 most common responses by many fire officers and firefighters alike, when assigned to a Rapid Intervention Team, are as follows:
“You have got to be kidding me, R.I.T.!”
“What, you want us to stand here?”
“If you let us get out of R.I.T., we’ll put this fire out!”
“Who’s idea was this?”
“You go, we go (nowhere).”
“Ya, sure, we’ll stand here and do R.I.T., or Rectal Insertion of Thumb.”
“We waited all year for a fire, and now we get to watch it from the front yard!”
“Leave the R.I.T. for the ‘outstanding firefighters’!”
“We can be the R.I.T. for rehab!”
“Wow, we get to herd sheep in the front lawn again!”
It is hoped that none of these statements will ever become an epitaph rather than just an immature response from an immature member of the fire service. In spite of the aggressive firefighter rescue and survival training nationally, the many articles written in fire-service trade journals, and the implementation of rapid intervention teams throughout the country, the understanding of the mission of the R.I.T. by many fire-service members has been lost.
The mission statement is simple: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
To be in a trained state of readiness in preparation for a catastrophic event that might endanger, injure, or cause death to our brothers and sisters who are committed to a firefight is an extremely noble cause. For those who do realize the responsibility of the rapid intervention team, the perseverance to fulfill the role is ongoing until ordered to “stand down.” They are company officers and firefighters who are mature and experienced, realizing that they have fought a number of fires and now must prove their courage and skill in another way.
Their aggressiveness is shown by their ability to communicate with the incident commander and team members concerning structural and fire conditions while preparing for “worst-case scenarios” and the immediate staging of tools in accordance with policy and the size-up of the fireground.
Most important is the concept of discipline, where the R.I.T. officer must keep focused. Keeping the team fully informed and involved in the R.I.T. operation is most important. It might involve the staging of additional tools, additional size-up, or an update of scene accountability. Even when there is “down time” on the fireground, the team must be kept informed and cohesive as a team. Realizing that complacency can be a killer, the R.I.T. officer, again, must stay focused.
The fact is, if there is a collapse or a “Mayday” is heard via radio, the “weight of the world” will be placed on the rapid intervention team in a split second. They must be mentally and physically prepared, and fully equipped. If any of the 10 quotes mentioned above were seriously recited when assuming the responsibility of the R.I.T., not only will they not be prepared, but they can become victims themselves. One of the most difficult orders for an incident commander will be to send an R.I.T. into a catastrophe to rescue firefighters.
They will be entering either an unstable structure, and/or an unstable fire condition with the emotion that one (or more) of our own is missing and/or trapped. That event is mixed with adrenaline, fear, emotion, and pure dependency upon one another as a team to get through it all. As written by John F. Kennedy in Profiles in Courage, “A man does what he must, in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures — and that is the basis of all human mortality.”
There comes a time when we must provide guardianship for those who are committed to saving of lives and property, and now is the time to realize the responsibility and importance of that guardianship.
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