NEVER CREATE A RESCUE-THE-RESCUER SITUATION
The most important thing for every firefighter to remember is “Never Create a Rescue-the-Rescuer Situation.” Essentially, this means that any act or decision that changes incident priorities from their original focus to a rescue of a firefighter will prevent the completion of the original assignment.
The focus must necessarily switch to “saving our own.” This creates a new, unanticipated priority. The manpower that had been assigned to the original priorities must be reallocated to this new one. However, some of the original priorities cannot be abandoned. It will be difficult to find immediately available resources and maintain the other operations as well.
Some may ask the question, “Why is this a responsibility of all firefighters? Why should it not rest with the incident commander? After all, it is the IC that sets incident priorities and must consider changes to them.
I believe the responsibility rests at the very foundation of the incident management team, the firefighter. It is ultimately the responsibility of the firefighter to make sure that his actions in response to a particular activity at the incident do not alter the established priorities. Most firefighters recognize incidents that they don't belong in: too much fire, not enough manpower for the assignment, a building designed for disaster. But still we read about their deaths and the tragic search for them in national magazines and newspapers.
When a firefighter is lost in a simple incident — that routine house fire or car fire, the question “why?” becomes more dramatic. Could it be that we are becoming over zealous? In the old days (very old), a search was rarely made without ventilation. Opening-up allowed smoke and heat to escape, making fire attack and search and rescue a little easier. Now we carry the air on our backs. Do we always vent when we search? Do we lay one line for fire attack and one to protect the egress? Do we consider two ways out of every building before we enter? Are we familiar with all the buildings we are expected to protect? Do we always lay a hose line at serious vehicle accidents and entrapments? Is the engine allowed a place for easy hose line entry into the building while blocking the truck out of the incident? Do the firefighters get off the rig with the tools they will need to perform their assignment?
Truckies will need at least one ax, one 6-foot pike, one halligan, a maul (I prefer a splitting maul), door wedges and a personal lifeline per man. Engines will need the appropriate hose line and nozzle, two wedges per man, one halligan and a splitting maul.
We may see ourselves as America's Heroes and want to live up to the title, but we must make good judgments. We must recognize our limitations in all incidents, even the ones we attend to over and over.
If I could offer one other reminder: You did not cause the incident; do the best you can to deal with the situation someone else started. Consider all the options and never risk your life for property that will be replaced. In short, Never Create a Rescue-the-Rescuer Situation! Think before you act.
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