BY JAMES T. SWANICK
The Anytown Volunteer Fire Department responds to a working fire on the second floor of an older colonial-style, single-family dwelling. On arrival, the incident commander observes fire venting from the second-floor A side of the structure and heavy smoke issuing from the eaves and attic windows. Luckily, all occupants appear to be accounted for. The IC directs his three-member first engine crew to advance a 13/4-inch line into the residence and attack the fire. As the second-due apparatus arrives, the IC orders personnel to ladder the main roof and perform vertical ventilation. The IC then directs three other firefighters to advance a second 13/4-inch line to the attic to check for extension. As the last-due apparatus arrives, the IC sees that the remaining firefighters are either not qualified with SCBA or rookies who have yet to be in a working fire. The IC orders rookie firefighters to advance a 13/4-inch backup line to the doorway. The IC feels that the department is responding well but realizes that all his experienced firefighters are committed and questions whether to request a mutual-aid response when the incident begins to overtake the IC.
Within a minute, the first line reports that clutter in the hallway leading to the bedroom has delayed the fire attack, and the second line now reports that a firefighter is missing; the firefighter left the line to locate the attic stairway and has not returned. The attic then flashes over and fire vents from the attic window and parts of the plaster and lath ceiling are falling. The IC now must decide in milliseconds how he should proceed to find the missing firefighter and prevent the fire from spreading into any areas where the missing member might be. Since the fire is now larger than he anticipated, the IC must also request mutual aid and do so on radios on which firefighters are now shouting for instructions on what to do and where to go to search for the missing firefighter.
How would your volunteer fire department respond in the above scenario? Does it have an action plan in place to save fellow firefighters in distress? Does it assign a FAST (firefighter assistance and search team) from responding units or call mutual aid, or does it rely on always having enough extra firefighters on scene to act as a FAST to satisfy the two-in/two-out requirement? Is your department trained for response to a report of a missing or downed firefighter? Is it trained on the FAST concept so that if the team is ever needed, it does not interfere with or delay department response? If your department can’t answer these questions affirmatively, then the information below will assist in establishing and training for a FAST response.
A FAST (i.e., a RIT—rapid intervention team or a RIC—rapid intervention crew) is a group of firefighters whose sole fireground mission is to rescue missing, trapped, or injured firefighters. Team members should be proficient in search and rescue, firefighter safety and survival, and extricating and removing a firefighter who is in full turnout gear. These FAST firefighters must have a dedicated equipment cache immediately available and an action plan in place for immediate response. Although the information below does not specifically address FAST training, it does address how to accomplish that training and how to establish FAST response in a volunteer fire department.
FAST ORIENTATION
Many volunteer fire departments must train to provide other specialized emergency services to their communities (e.g., EMS, vehicle extrication) so they are prepared for such an emergency. In many states, departments must also take state-mandated courses on the incident command system (ICS), bloodborne pathogens, and haz-mat awareness. This extra training also applies in FAST response. How extensively your department needs to train depends on whether the department will provide a FAST response itself or request it through mutual aid.
All department members must be aware of how a FAST responds to an emergency, regardless of whether the department provides its own team or requests one from mutual aid. If a team is deployed at an incident, the other firefighters on-scene must know the FAST members’ duties and that certain FAST dedicated equipment (usually set up at the front of the structure) can’t be used by other firefighters to extinguish the fire. The team must have the necessary tools available when it is activated. Also, the designated FAST firefighters cannot be de-ployed for any other purpose unless other FAST-qualified firefighters replace them.
Many state, county, and city fire academies offer a one-night orientation course in FAST emergency operations, usually a lecture and slide show. It can be conducted during the winter so that it does not interfere with regular outdoor firefighting training that usually occurs during milder weather. Most training academies have outreach programs in which the course can be presented at your fire station so that all members can attend.
If funding is a problem, you could train with your mutual-aid departments to defray any costs. If no training academy is available or funding is limited, a department may consider sending a few experienced firefighters to a train-the-trainer course. They, in turn, can train the rest of the department. After being introduced to the FAST concept, the department needs to train in the required skills.
All volunteer departments are limited in what training they can require of their personnel. If, for example, a department has two required training drills every month and the department provides specialized services to a community, it must train in all these services so it is prepared to respond. The services your department delivers to your community and the availability of members for training may determine what training method you can use for a FAST.
Before selecting a training method, the chief should establish the qualifications for FAST members. FAST members should be experienced firefighters able to perform basic functions such as hose advancement, search and rescue, extrication techniques, and so forth.
FAST TRAINING
Departments use one of three common FAST training methods: training all department personnel; training only selected personnel; or training personnel who volunteer to serve on the team.
Equipment, Assignments
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All department personnel. Some volunteer departments train all personnel in FAST techniques, which usually guarantees sufficient personnel availability for a response. However, this requires the department to dedicate one of its regular required training drills to FAST skills or add an additional required training drill. Remember that in many volunteer departments, training or experience levels can vary widely from member to member. Some firefighters in your department may be able to complete any basic fireground task, but others may not be as highly trained or experienced in the fundamentals.
If the department uses a regular training session for FAST skills, inexperienced personnel or those not meeting the department’s FAST qualifications may not receive the firefighting basics they need. Moreover, the experienced firefighters will miss out on the vital refresher training in firefighting fundamentals. This inhibits achieving the goal of having a department that is well-trained and ready for any emergency. Adding an additional required monthly training drill in FAST may be a solution, but members may not be available.
Selected members. Training selected personnel as FAST members would guarantee that team members are experienced and knowledgeable in all fireground activities. However, since the designated FAST members would stand by on-scene for a possible firefighter rescue, they would not be available to assist at the incident. The team members could train exclusively in FAST skills at the department’s regular required training drills; but then, as noted, they would not receive the refresher training always needed in basic firefighting. Moreover, they would also be unavailable at the regular drills to assist the less experienced personnel training in fundamentals. Adding a required drill for FAST training is an option. Many experienced and aggressive firefighters yearn for the challenge that additional training offers.
Finally, this method may lower department morale since the chief determines who will be assigned to the team and some personnel may feel excluded.
Volunteers. If personnel volunteer for the FAST, any qualified personnel could join the team. This might limit the number of FAST members to just those who volunteer. Since the team members are volunteering to serve, an additional training drill in FAST techniques could be added. This would allow the volunteer FAST members to receive their refresher training in the basics and also participate in drills to assist the inexperienced firefighters in their training.
Regardless of how a department may train the FAST members, any personnel who do not meet the department’s FAST qualifications should be encouraged to attend the training drills. These personnel would receive additional training and thus be inspired to try to meet the department’s FAST qualifications. If a firefighter meets the qualification policy, that member can join the FAST and would already have some of the required training. Also, all volunteer departments have members who leave the department for many reasons; the team will always need an influx of qualified and trained personnel to fill those places.
REQUIRED EQUIPMENT
Some volunteer fire departments with limited budgets mistakenly fear that forming a team will impact the budget because of the special equipment or apparatus purchases required. This is false. Most of the FAST equipment needed should already be on your apparatus. Your department does not need to have all the required equipment on one dedicated apparatus. This equipment could be taken from three different apparatus and then transported to the scene by a single apparatus. Some departments label items that are exclusively reserved for FAST operations; these items would be carried in a specific FAST compartment. Either way, all apparatus that would respond as a FAST should have a written list that clearly identifies exactly what must be taken off the apparatus and to the FAST staging point.
There is some equipment on the market that makes a FAST response easier, such as SCBA packs and rope-hauling systems. However, this special equipment does not do anything more that a standard SCBA or length of rope would do.
FAST RESPONSE
After a volunteer fire department trains a FAST, the next step is to establish a FAST response policy on how the team will respond to emergencies. In many paid career departments, an extra truck company cross-trained in FAST is dispatched to the scene as a FAST. This option may not be available in volunteer departments because most volunteer departments do not have staffed apparatus at the fire station at all times. Also, smaller volunteer departments may not have the staffing available to extinguish the fire and staff a FAST. Remember, the same firefighters who are qualified and trained in FAST are usually the same firefighters who are committed to fireground duties and operations.
In larger volunteer departments with multiple companies available, one option would be to assign one of the nonfirst-due companies to respond as a FAST team. For example, Company 1 and Company 2 respond to a confirmed house fire. Company 3, which does not normally respond because the call is outside of its response area, could respond as a FAST with one apparatus and a minimum of four to six firefighters. The remainder of Company 3 remains in its district to provide fire protection. If, on arrival, the IC determines that additional assistance is needed, the remainder of Company 3 or mutual aid could respond. Company 3’s FAST members could be redeployed as regular firefighters or remain as the designated FAST.
However, an IC must consider that the original FAST members will be aware of how the incident has progressed—i.e., where firefighters may have entered the structure or where they have been unable to enter. This knowledge of the incident history is vital if the FAST is deployed for rescue.
If the FAST members are redeployed as firefighters, they must communicate their incident knowledge to the replacement team requested from other companies or mutual aid. In smaller departments, it would be almost impossible to provide your own FAST.
Some chiefs or firefighters try to assemble a FAST using firefighters exiting the structure to change air bottles or go to rehab. At a smoke drill in my department, as soon as I and other firefighters left the building, we removed our SCBA and opened our turnout gear to cool off. Just then a PASS device, which had fallen from a firefighter who had already exited the structure (which was unknown at the time), activated. The IC directed two firefighters who had just exited to reenter the structure to locate the possibly downed firefighter. It took a few minutes to reorganize and enter; those minutes could have made the difference between a successful rescue and a dreaded recovery at an actual incident.
This incident occurred as the department was discussing how to best implement a FAST. At the drill, as in the past, we relied on having enough firefighters available to form a FAST from those exiting and in rehab. But there were not enough firefighters available to stand by as a dedicated FAST. Personnel on-scene were changing air bottles, in rehab, or just exhausted. This training incident only reinforced that smaller departments cannot always supply their own FAST team because of limited personnel. Also, the FAST members should be fresh personnel for maximum safety and effectiveness.
Smaller department should contact one of their mutual-aid companies and reach an agreement that if there is a call for a working structure fire, the mutual-aid company will respond immediately and automatically as a FAST. If the team members are redeployed as firefighters, an additional FAST should be requested from the same department or another.
In many volunteer departments, firefighters respond directly to the fire station and staff the apparatus that responds first-due to the call. In other departments, firefighters respond directly to the scene. If the FAST members are to respond directly from the fire station on staffed apparatus, the team can organize itself en route as to what equipment each member will remove from the apparatus. However, the team must be able to respond quickly and not be delayed in responding from miles away. If the FAST members respond from a distance, it may be better for the team to respond directly to the scene with one member responding with the FAST apparatus and equipment. However, if responding directly to the scene, the team must have enough firefighters to equip a FAST. Any extra team members should be sent to a staging area to form a second FAST, if the IC requests it, or be released from duty.
Many volunteer departments have personnel shortages, especially during the daytime. If the FAST cannot respond with enough firefighters, the IC should be advised immediately so he can assign a qualified firefighter who is already on scene to the team or request another FAST from another department.
My department uses some of the above training methods and has successfully trained and maintained a team. When the department began implementing the FAST concept, members disagreed on how the team should respond and whether it was actually needed. On February 14, 2000, our FAST responded on mutual aid to an adjoining department for a basement fire. Within three minutes of the team’s arrival, a firefighter became lost in the basement when an adjacent workshop area flashed over and the hose team had to exit. The FAST entered the basement immediately and located the lost firefighter within two minutes. Luckily, the firefighter, whose SCBA low-air alarm was sounding when he was located, received only first- and second-degree burns to his hands, neck, and face. After this response, those who questioned the FAST training and its necessity acknowledged that the team’s presence at the scene prevented a tragedy that day.
Now is the time. Don’t wait until an incident overtakes your department. Train your department in FAST and have a team available at all structure fires. Hopefully, the team will never be needed, but it will be ready to respond at once if it is. After all, we are protecting our own.
JAMES T. SWANICK is a 20-year veteran of the Rockaway Borough (NJ) Fire Department and served as chief in 1995. He is a state certified Level II instructor and is currently a training officer and lieutenant with Truck 3. Swanick is a patrol sergeant with the Harding Township (NJ) Police Department.
