By Eric Dreiman
Dozens if not hundreds of articles have been written about vent-enter-search (VES) over the years. Each article strove to better educate firefighters on how to perform VES for the benefit of the victim. As time has passed, many firefighters and institutions have put their own twist and nuance into how to properly train and perform this tactic. As a result, some aspects of VES have been over- or underemphasized. This has resulted in confusion and a blurring of the lines between what is necessary and what is “fluff” or “the new flavor of the month.”
- Vent-Enter-Search: Window and Ladder Selection
- Ladder Placement for VES
- Training Minutes: VES: Making Entry
VES began on the East Coast with the advent of the outside vent firefighter (OV). As truck companies were pressed to accomplish several different tasks at the same time, truck crews were assigned multiple tasks to accomplish simultaneously. As a result, the OV was born. In the early days of VES, the OV would climb a fire escape or portable ladder and access the areas closest to the fire origin from the exterior of the building. This was taking place at the same time the interior search crew was working their way into the fire building to search for savable victims. In the early days, there was no reference to VES. Entering from the exterior was just one more way to find and save the most savable civilians trapped in a fire. As time progressed, the acronym VES was attached to this exterior entry to search for victims. The original idea was to give a name to the routine task performed by East Coast firefighters. Originally, the idea was, “this task is pretty effective at getting to victims at the greatest risk of death in an efficient method.” Subsequently, the moniker VES was attached to this tactic to give it meaning and credibility. All of this was good and pushed the idea of VES into the forefront of the U.S. fire service.
- Search Mission Prep: Size-Up, Methods, and Tools
- Civilian Rescue: The Reason We Exist
- Rhodes: We Go to Fires to Search
- Schwalbe: Civilian Victim Removal
VES is a tactic that is widely performed by many fire departments. As a result, departments started talking about how to improve survivability for victims trapped in burning structures. As VES began to create a buzz in the U.S. fire service, department administrations began to question how safe this tactic was for the average fire department. Traditionally, departments had taught search in coordination with the attack line or while carrying an attack line with the search team. Most of us know this is impractical and not in the best interest of the civilians we are trying to save. Unfortunately, in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, this was the mindset of much of the U.S. fire service. Many department administrations banned the use of VES because they deemed it too dangerous or only for “big city departments.”
For many years, the debate about whether to allow VES for victim search continued with no clear direction of whether the typical firefighter could accomplish it. As time passed, some departments began to train on VES and allow their members to use it at fires. The overall adoption of VES slowed in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. This plateau remained for many years and the acceptance of VES was at a standstill. After the experiments done by Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) and the National Institute for Standards and Testing (NIST) took place, a greater emphasis was placed on fire isolation and suppressing the fire from an exterior position prior to entering the structure. This caused the U.S. fire service to question whether they had been operating correctly on the modern fireground. In this author’s opinion, the fire service took a step backwards and stopped doing so many of the things they had been doing successfully for centuries. This reevaluation caused many departments to question how safe VES was for their members, and many agencies halted the use of VES as a viable search option for firefighters. Eventually, departments again began to allow VES to take place at fires. This reimplementation came after the need to rename or reclassify VES as vent-enter-isolate-search (VEIS). Most recently, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) redesignated VES as “window-initiated search” (WIS). Some organizations felt the U. S. fire service needed more direction on how to properly perform VES. Firefighters who are properly trained to perform VES don’t gain anything by the addition of an additional letter or total renaming of this effective tactic.
- Training Minutes: VES: Room Search
- Training Minutes: Door Control and VES
- Training Minutes: Roles of Firefighters in VES
The performance of VES is simple and direct. The process starts with a size-up of the structure and locating the area with the greatest potential for victims. Compare this area with the location of the greatest fire hazard and implement a plan to clear the areas in the greatest danger. This plan will involve selecting the proper ladder and hand tools to make access and search quick and efficient. Many victims are alive today because firefighters successfully performed VES. In the history of the U. S. fire service keeping line-of-duty death records, no firefighter has ever died while conducting VES. VES is effective and applicable to nearly every structure fire occurring in the United States. Every fire department should train its firefighters on when and how to perform VES. VES is a tactic that is widely performed by many fire departments. Many leaders in the fire service today advocate VES tactics. The late Battalion Commander Harry R. Carter, PhD of the Newark (NJ) Fire Department stated, “I always tried to use the vent, enter, and search tactics….” Fire Department of New York Lieutenant (Ret.) Bob Pressler states, “VES is a tremendous way to put firefighters where the victim may be—especially at night.” Our primary responsibility is to the civilian victims who are trapped inside a burning structure. Limiting the search options available for the firefighters working at the scene of a structure fire will result in fewer lives saved.
Eric Dreiman has been a career firefighter for 30 years and is a battalion chief at the Indianapolis (IN) Fire Department. He is the host of the Hooks & Hoses podcast for Fire Engineering and a contributor to Fire Engineering magazine. Eric is an FDIC hands-on training instructor and enjoys traveling across the United States to train with other fire departments.
