Aggressive or Misunderstood? Searching Without a TIC

1. TIC operators should always be thinking ahead. Position yourself in tactically beneficial areas that allow you to target high-priority areas like bedrooms first. Deploy crew members into those areas, leaving common areas like hallways, living spaces, and kitchens for yourself. Scan, communicate, deploy. (Photo courtesy of Insight Fire Training.)

Your Brain and Visibility

The brain processes data at a rate of 60 bits per second and gathers data from millions of receptors all over the body. The closest receptors to our brain are the ones related to sight. The faster we can get data to the brain, the faster our body responds to that data. When we take away our sight, we move more slowly and less methodically, and there’s absolutely no way we can be as efficient as we are when we can see what’s in front of us.

Firefighters have one tool on their fire apparatus that gives them the ability to create a mental image of the environment in zero visibility. This tool is the TIC. However, the TIC will never be the sole source of victim search in a fire environment. There is a dichotomy between fundamentally sound search skills combined with modern technology. When these two areas that have been opposed to one another come together as one, they allow firefighters to search faster and more efficiently and give them a markedly increased success rate, which can improve victim survivability.

When to Pick It Up, and When to Put It Down

As important as using a TIC during a search is, it’s equally important to recognize when to put the tool down and work. A lot of variables are a part of this decision, such as staffing, room size, layout, and the amount of content in the structure. Ultimately, an efficient search crew is more efficient when everyone has a role and understands it.

In my department, we operate where most of the search operations occur with a two- to three-member search team. This requires the TIC operator to be the company officer. For example, with a two-person crew, the most efficient way to search a single-family dwelling is for the TIC operator to scan a room or target area and give the searcher the most essential pieces of information (covered later). Once this information is communicated to the search crew members, they are then sent in to complete their task. These few seconds that are taken to scan and communicate save minutes in these scenarios. While they’re searching their target area, the TIC operator scans the next target area and searches it himself. This trend continues until the search is complete.

In a three-person crew, the most efficient method is very similar. The TIC operator’s role is more defined in a three-person search team. My preferred method is to scan the rooms and send the searchers into those rooms. I leave the common areas such as hallways, kitchen, living room, and stairwell for myself to scan then search. This allows firefighters to gain access into the bedrooms and highest value target areas first and faster. While the search members are completing their task, the TIC operator is monitoring fire conditions, staying situationally aware of egress pathways, and staying within proximity to assist with rescue/removal of victims. It is important for the TIC operator to be in a tactically advantageous position to direct crews to the fire, control doors, etc. Either of these methods will assist in maintaining the integrity of the search while dividing the workload across the crew.

In addition to this information, most single-family dwelling rooms don’t require more than a single firefighter to complete the search. It is recommended to default to split search in these types of buildings for efficiency purposes if your department protocols and training allow. Tactically using the TIC in this manner can increase efficiency, speed, and crew integrity.

2. In zero visibility, it’s almost impossible to determine what’s in a room or what type of room it is until you’re committed to entering the space. Here are two “typical” bedrooms—one converted into an office, the other a home gym. Knowing what type of room you’re encountering allows you to prioritize rooms based on occupancy and likelihood of victims being present, allowing you to potentially rescue victims faster. (Photo by author.)

What Do They Need to Know?

In many cases, the issue with using a TIC during a search operation comes down to communication. If the TIC operator/crew leader doesn’t communicate effectively, the efficiency of the TIC is diminished because the information isn’t shared in a concise and practical matter. What information should be shared? How does the TIC operator/crew leader paint a picture that search crew members can easily understand? What information do they need immediately and what information can wait? In our training, we provide three critical pieces of information to enhance search efforts: type of room, egress pathways, and direction of travel.

Type of room. We can all list types of furniture that should be present in most room types. For example, a bedroom may have a bed, a dresser, nightstands, and perhaps a couch. It could have additional doors leading to bathrooms or closets. A loft or bonus room may have a couch, a TV, gaming tables, an office, desks, chairs, and even file cabinets. This list could be extensive and will vary with each structure.

However, the way people use their space in the home today has changed. Bedrooms have become offices or home gyms. Bonus rooms are bedrooms. Even living rooms could house hospital beds or additional occupant living spaces. Knowing what type of room we are entering gives our brain a head start in processing vital data. For example, when firefighters locate a crib, they are aware that they need to pull the crib down to prevent placing the victim up and into the superheated environment with toxic gases. This method also lets the potential victim roll down toward the firefighter on the mattress, who can scoop up the potential victim from the crib and out of the building to safety.

If we aren’t aware of the type of room we are entering, it places us and the victim at a disadvantage. If no one told the search crew members that they were entering a nursery, every object they touch will take time for their brain to process what they are touching. They then must evaluate how to search it—all before they actually do it. This process happens quite quickly, and the speed at which this occurs is based on their level of training and readiness.

Now imagine if our brain had the ability to know that it was going to have to search a crib prior to entering the room. Could those seconds we save in data processing time be worth it for the victim? If a two- to five-second scan saves us 15 to 20 seconds on every room we enter, how can we afford not to? In an environment where every second lost equates to a decrease in survivability, firefighters should know before they go.

Egress pathways. Defining pathways through tactical TIC use also defines the egress pathways for the potential victim locations and removal. The overall objective of tactical TIC use in search is to locate and remove the victim from this environment as quickly as possible. In the most recent FSRI study, “Study of Fire Service Residential Home Size-Up and Search & Rescue Operations,” the hallways outside uncontrolled fire rooms prior to fire attack were extremely hostile and untenable for victims. Firefighters must remember that the victim isn’t wearing firefighter personal protective equipment, fire-rated pajamas, or self-contained breathing apparatus. A search crew who can quickly locate the victim and know the quickest and most thermally tenable egress point can improve victim survivability. For example, a search crew equipped with this information can control the door to the room, open/remove the window, and remove the victim through the window more quickly and in a more tenable environment for their unprotected airway. Firefighters should be aware that the way into the structure, through the toxic gases and heat, may not be the best way out for the unprotected victim.

Another benefit of identifying windows and egress points is the ability to vent as you go, as long as the room is isolated. This creates lift in the space, allowing for better visibility, and temperature drop in the room, making tenable space for the victim.

Direction of travel. Providing information on which direction to deploy our members in the room they’re searching can make all the difference in saving time for the victims. We know from research data that a great number of fire victims are located in bedrooms or egress pathways. However, egress pathways can even be broken down to the room the victim is in. For example, a fire that occurs where the victim was trying to escape from the bedroom will have a much higher chance of the victim being found between the bed and the door vs. being between the bathroom and the door.

Statistical data from the Firefighter Rescue Survey emphasizes the importance of providing the direction of travel to the search crew members. If firefighters can get to potential victims more quickly by going in the same direction they would be coming from, firefighters can reduce up to 50% of the time it would have taken to find that victim if they had gone in the other direction.

Putting the Pieces Together

Firefighters who use this methodology combined with the following information can improve their overall efficiency during search operations.

Scan each area/room by starting with the TIC down low with a decision-making TIC equipped with a minimum of at least 25 hertz refresh rate. By placing the TIC in the lower/cooler environment, the TIC will provide greater detail, which will allow for better clarity regarding potential victim locations and defining the room type. Once the TIC scans in the higher areas of the room, it will encounter more heat, which will decrease image clarity. Therefore, firefighters should scan low then high in each target area to gain as much detail as possible.

Communicate during the scan, not after it. As the TIC moves across the plane from wall to wall, the TIC operator should be calling out the information on the type of room, direction of travel, and egress pathways. There will always be other pertinent details to communicate, but it is important to be clear and concise in that communication. Specify items such as cribs, bunkbeds, and victim location directly.

Communication should be short and to the point but paint a clear picture such as, “Bedroom, go right (or to your 3 o’clock) and two windows are on the back wall.” The TIC operator then listens to hear if the search crew members locate a victim or need assistance.

TICs don’t perform searches, firefighters do. TICs save us time and save victims time, and time is always against us. Be intelligently aggressive.

Thomas Anderson has been in the fire service for 19 years and is a captain with the Charlotte (NC) Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from Garner-Webb University. He is a lead instructor for Insight Fire Training LLC and is the lead instructor of “Intelligently Aggressive Search Operations,” a class that has been delivered throughout the United States and internationally.