GROWING TRAINING FOR GROWING NEEDS: THE NORTH NET FIRE TRAINING CENTER

GROWING TRAINING FOR GROWING NEEDS: THE NORTH NET FIRE TRAINING CENTER

BY GUY BROWN

The need for training in urban search and rescue, or heavy rescue, became apparent on the West Coast after the 1989 San Francisco Loma Prieta Earthquake. Since this event, the Federal Emergency Manage-ment Agency (FEMA) has sanctioned 25 disaster teams (Urban Search And Rescue Task Forces ) throughout the United States, eight of which are in California. The techniques used during a building collapse, trench rescue, or a technical rope operation are physically and mentally demanding and highly specialized. Those offered at the North Net Fire Training Center (NNFTC)–a joint training center for the cities of Garden Grove, Anaheim, and Orange, California, located in Anaheim–and other approved technical rescue training centers in California are certified by the California State Fire Marshal`s Office, Office of Training.

CURRICULUM OFFERINGS

The NNFTC held its first Rescue Systems I course for career firefighters in 1994 and has recently completed its eighth Rescue System II class. Among the programs it offers are the following:

Rescue Systems I–a five-day, hands-on course that covers rope rescue, lifting and moving heavy objects, building collapse, and emergency building shoring.

Rescue Systems II (Advanced Rescue Training)–developed at NNFTC by Captain Bob Lee and Chief Mike McGroarty of the City of La Habra (CA) Fire Department. The project was presented to the Joint Powers Authority of NNFTC, the Orange County (CA) Fire Chiefs Association, the State Fire Marshal`s Office, and the State OES by North Net`s Director of Training Battalion Chief Jim Cox. Rescue Systems II is coordinated by Firefighter Bob Masonis, of the Newport Beach (CA) Fire Department.

the FEMA Task Force Technical Specialists Search Class–a five-day intensive class developed by Chuck Mills of FEMA and the National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR), which includes the search module of an urban search and rescue task force covering areas such as using the search camera, fiber optics, and listening devices.

the Technical Search Dog module–also developed by Lee, who designed and built the props. Dogs from across the country and the California Chapter of the Swiss Rescue Dog Association are trained here. Dogs trained here were used in the Ok-lahoma City Bombing search.

The California State Fire Marshal`s Office, in cooperation with CMC Rescue School Inc. and the San Diego Training Officers Association, has approved the plans for a new California-state confined-space course. NNFTC is offering the state-certified course year-round. North Net has purchased all the necessary equipment. The center will have a medium-to-heavy response capability and access to the La Habra Fire Department`s mobile cache of equipment.

SITE MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED

To earn certification as an urban search and rescue training center, NNFTC had to undergo many costly changes to meet the criteria established by FEMA and the California State Governor Office of Emerg-ency Services (OES). Among them were the following:

The gravel area was transformed into a major rubble pile collapse prop that offers training in concrete pancakes and V-shaped and lean-to collapses. This rubble pile was designed to recreate the conditions of the I-880 freeway collapse in the San Francisco Bay area during the Loma Prieta Earth-quake. This area of the training center is composed of many tons of concrete rubble. A series of scenarios was developed to tax the mind of the student rescuer and provide realism with an emphasis on safety. One of the rubble pile props includes a car with tons of concrete on top of it. Other areas include many layers of concrete in various pancakes and lean-to floor configurations.

Also in the gravel area is a new confined space electrical vault with 510 feet of connecting tunnels (see Figure 1). These tunnels, which vary from 24 to 60 inches in diameter, have been placed underground under the concrete collapse props. The reasons this prop was placed underground were to provide the realism of claustrophobia and the need for a location for the 510 feet of inner-connecting tunnels. With this new prop, underground confined-space rescues and lockout-tagout operations in the vault can be perfected with greater ease. The vault itself has been set up as a working vault with electrical panels, pipe valves, wiring, and even a full size transformer. With the rubble pile collapse prop on top, the rescuer can perfect breaching operations at many entrance points to the tunneling system for confined-space rescues.

After the rescuer makes entry to the prop, air-monitoring and retrieval systems can be set up for vertical tripod operations or horizontal retrievals. With the horizontal retrievals, anchors have been placed at all corners and curves to make rope-anchoring systems more challenging. In addition to the 510 feet of “human HabitrailTM,” we installed a 25-foot-deep, 60-inch vertical shaft for vertical rescues.

The next area of major change was to the tower itself. Prior to the changes, rope operations were executed by securing an anchor to the concrete structure or standpipes. The installation of 30 “eye-hook” bolts throughout the tower now allow for the skillful placement of anchors in high-angle and rappelling operations. On the south side of the tower, safety rails were modified to a gate that opens during high-angle telpher line operations. The modifications, located on Floors 3, 4, and 5 will help prevent rescuer injuries.

In July 1994, the NNFTC Joint Powers Authority approved the installation of a safety line prop, designed by Masonis and me. Installed on the south and west sides of the tower and extending up to the existing ventilation prop on the fourth floor, the prop is constructed of angle iron, for foot placement and rope attachment. Firefighter Tom Wooten, of the La Habra Fire Department, installed the prop. The prop is used for Rescue Systems I and is used to train in rope operations on the side of a simulated collapsed building when access by ground or aerial ladder is impossible. The prop helps to build confidence, making the training evolution similar to recreational rock climbing (recreational climbers set protection on a lead climb in case of a fall). US&R rescuers set protection on the side of a four-story collapsed building straight up to obtain access to a building to possibly save a life.

This scenario became very real during the Oklahoma City Bombing; rescuers from AZTF-1 (Phoenix, Arizona) had to scale the front of the Federal Building during rescue operations.

Another big addition to the North Net Tower is a three-section collapse prop in two basement rooms, which was also designed by Masonis and me (see Figure 2). Fire Apparatus Engineer Bruce Bailey [Orange County (CA) Fire Authority], Firefighter Alan Baker (Newport Beach Fire Department), and Kevin Southerland (City of Orange Fire), along with Masonis and me, built this basement wonder, which extends off the existing lean-to floor prop, over a two-month period. Twelve breach holes have been installed in the two rooms to challenge all the materials a rescuer might encounter during an actual rescue. This new prop contains all aspects of a building collapse, including a lean-to floor, pancakes, V-shaped collapses, natural gas, a collapsed bedroom, and a parking structure collapse with cars and working car lights. This collapse prop is a difficult but realistic prop; the objective is to give a new rescuer a better appreciation of what it is like to work in a confined space during an actual incident. Trainees will be working around breaching noise, other working teams, potential aftershocks, and the retrieving of a viable patient.

In addition to North Net, Camp Elliot in San Diego, Menlo Park Training Facility in the Bay areas of Northern California, and the California Specialized Training Institute (CSTI) in Sacramento County have been approved as sites for offering Rescue Systems II classes.

With the training received at North Net and similar facilities, firefighters can respond to disasters involving urban search and rescue with more professionalism and expertise. n

(Top left) Builing a raker shore during Resue System II class. (Middle left) Lifting and moving heavy objects–a nine-ton block. (Bottom left) The safety line prop at the side of the tower. (Top right) A trench rescue class. (Bottom right) The entrance to the three-section collapse prop. (Photos by Guy Brown.)

n GUY BROWN, a firefighter/paramedic with the Garden Grove (CA) Fire Department, has 14 years of experience in technical rescue. He is a member of the FEMA/OES California Task Force 5; a rescue coordinator at North Net Fire Training Center; a state fire marshal technical rescue senior instructor in Rescue Systems I, trench rescue, and low angle; an OES technical rescue instructor in Rescue Systems II; a lead instructor at Rancho Santiago Fire Technology; and a lead instructor for technical rescue, trench rescue, confined space rescue, emergency building collapse, and shoring at CMC Rescue School Inc.