By Stephen Marsar
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday: These are words no one ever wants to hear – words that could change your life, your career, and your department forever. It could happen at a residential structure fire, a commercial building fire, a motor vehicle crash, a wildland/brush fire, an emergency medical services run, a public service call – at just about every emergency to which we respond. Although the trend is going progressively downward, firefighters are killed in each of these incident types every year. As a company officer or chief, you must consider what would happen if this unthinkable tragedy were to strike one of the members under your command.
Thinking About It
Let me be clear: Obviously, I do not wish this horrific circumstance on any fire officer, fire department, or community. The scary reality is that neither do those who find themselves in this extremely stressful and emotional situation. No firefighter or fire officer thinks that he or a member of his crew is going to be injured or killed on the very next call. You do not hear firefighters unfortunate enough to be on a call where a line-of-duty death (LODD) or serious injury occurred say they knew it was going to happen. Therefore, we need to think about it, we need to keep our minds open to the possibility that it can happen to us, and we need to have a mental personal plan that coincides with our department’s plan that we play over and over in our minds. We hope it never happens. We train to prevent it from happening; we train on how to remove a firefighter in case it does happen. Yet, sadly, it does happen statistically more than 80 times a year in this country.
Consider one such review of nonaccidental Maydays reported by the Fire Department of New York over a recent 13-month period:
- 21 Maydays were transmitted – 17 during fires/emergencies; four were transmitted by chiefs for reasons other than members’ needing assistance (i.e., to gain control of the portable radio, to evacuate the structure, to warn members about changing conditions, to remind members of present hazards, and so on).
- A rapid intervention team/firefighter assist and search team was deployed in seven of the 17 Maydays.
- The portable radio emergency alert button was used eight of the 17 times.
- Officers transmitted eight of the 17 Maydays.
- Firefighters transmitted nine of the 17 Maydays.
- Most often, a member in the same company as the member needing assistance made the transmission. Ten of the 17 Maydays were transmitted for another member; seven of the 17 were from the firefighter needing assistance (six of those seven were members working in ladder companies).
- Time of day: Eight of the 17 Maydays occurred between 1801 and 2400 hours.
- Alarm level: Eight of the 17 occurred on the first-alarm assignment, mostly within the first 20 minutes of operations.
- Structure type: Eight of the 17 were in single-family residences. The building use was reported as under “normal use” at the time of the fire in 11 of the 17 occurrences.
The numbers represent just one department’s reported Mayday occurrences over one particular 13-month period; however, the following national statistics appear to fall within the same parameters for Maydays:
- Time of day: 2100-0300 hours (48 percent).
- Alarm level: first-arriving units within the first 20 minutes (78 percent).
- Structure type: residential (63 percent).
- Extricated by: self (22 percent), same crew (25 percent), adjacent crew (30 percent).
- RIT/FAST: (10 percent).
First Things First: The Big Picture
The following considerations are not offered as an all-inclusive standard operating procedure (SOP) on the subject. They represent a starting point or a blueprint for some of the things you would have to consider if an LODD or a serious life-threatening injury/illness should occur to one (or more) of your members. It may be a starting point in the process of developing your department’s policy.
When a Mayday situation occurs, several things must be done immediately and simultaneously. The incident commander (IC) must hear, acknowledge, and confirm the Mayday. Radio discipline at that point is critical! Stay off the radio unless you have first-hand information pertaining directly to the Mayday.
The IC should obtain a LUNAR report (if possible, from the member giving the Mayday): Location of the emergency; Unit(s) involved; Number of members affected and, if possible and when available, the Name(s) of the member(s) involved; Actions being taken; and Resources needed.
A shorter and more succinct message might be a CAN report: Conditions, Actions, Needs. A roll call or Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) should be undertaken as soon as possible. Members and officers alike should anticipate this eventuality and should start to account for their partners, team members, officers, and officers – all while staying off the radio.
When a Mayday is given, assume the worst. Doing anything less may be blindly disastrous.
Tasks To Be Completed
While the above immediate steps are being taken, other tasks must also be accomplished at the same time:
- Members on fire attack must still perform this vital function. Abandoning the fire attack can complicate and hamper an already serious situation. Getting water on the fire will make everything that follows better to some degree or another. Just watch the abundance of real-life Mayday videos. I am always amazed that once a Mayday is given, there is almost, without exception, an all-out effort of extinguishment by practically any means possible. I always wonder why that effort wasn’t made earlier. Perhaps the all-too-simplified “put water on the fire ’til there’s no more fire” could have prevented the Mayday in the first place!
- Rapid intervention must be employed: If a dedicated team has not arrived, establish one from members already on scene (hopefully, in keeping with the National Fire Protection Association two-in/two-out rule, which means the team has been established ahead of time and is ready to go). If the RIT is not properly trained and equipped and ready to deploy, by the time that team is assembled and hastily runs around obtaining the necessary equipment, the need for the RIT may be moot.
- Request additional resources. Whether they are needed for firefighting duties, RIT, technical rescue, or EMS/transport, call for them early and often; consider setting up a staging area so the IC/command post is not overwhelmed. Consider the emotional toll on the forces on scene and the possibility that they may need to be relieved as soon as practicable.
- A chief or company officer (in that priority order) should be assigned to the Mayday and oversee all of those efforts. The IC must focus on the overall incident at hand. The IC will immediately and easily become overburdened once a Mayday is given, and something WILL suffer. Handling an “emergency within an emergency” needs to be sectored off and delegated to another equally or more highly trained officer to act as the “Mayday IC” (Mayday Sector/Branch). This could be a technical rescue specialist if it is a confined space or collapse rescue scenario.
- The IC must be at/establish/return to the command post. For mobile ICs, this is a must. We’re not going to get into the debate of mobile vs. stationary command in this article. However, once a Mayday is given, the IC needs to establish a visible and obvious command post for the following reasons: (1) to gain control and focus without being distracted; (2) to establish a command presence – this is a time when your members need to know that someone is in charge, and this move will bring about confidence, stability, and unity of command; (3) so other responding units know to whom and where to report; (4) to maintain accountability; and (5) to integrate the Mayday with the ongoing incident.
The Role of Company Officers and Firefighters
What if the Mayday is given for or by one of your members? If the member is in your immediate supervision (within sight, touch, or voice without the use of a radio), strive to maintain crew integrity. This now becomes your number-one objective. If you have more than one member with you, fight the urge to freelance and go off to try and find/save the Mayday member yourself. Doing so will cause you to abandon the other members of the crew you are there to supervise. Rather, gain a quick accountability of those under your immediate supervision, then gather information and listen to what is being said on the radio. Have all your members regain and maintain crew integrity and, unless you are an engine company putting water on the fire, attempt to locate the member in need while staying off the radio. If the Mayday member is within your functional supervision (operating remotely from you and in contact only by radio), once again, regroup with the members under your immediate supervision; have confidence that the IC will handle the Mayday unless the Mayday is not being acknowledged by the IC. In that case, consider giving a Mayday transmission for the affected member to get the IC’s attention.
If the IC has acknowledged your member’s Mayday and is in the process of organizing a rescue plan, gather the remainder of your crew and ensure accountability for them. Next – and this is the most difficult part – remember to consider how critical your initial task is to the overall operation. The initial operations may become more crucial to the IC’s rescue plan. If you are searching for the seat of the fire with a hoseline, abandoning that position prior to being relieved may make things considerably worse for the members in trouble. If you’re conducting a primary search ahead of a hoseline with an intact crew, finding the seat of the fire may be the most important function at that time. Once these initial and critical tasks have been accomplished, you can call for relief; communicate what has been accomplished and what still needs to be completed.
Then, and only then, should you attempt to establish yourself and your crew as part of the rescue effort. Keep in mind, however, because of the emotional and physical stresses you and your crew may be under at this difficult time, the IC may decide to take you out of the incident at this point and have you stand fast or stand down. Do not take this personally. Remember to account for your remaining crew and monitor the rescue effort. You may be able to supply information to the IC or Mayday officer that will prove more valuable to the members in trouble (name, position, last message received, last known location, and so on).
The Unthinkable
This is the most dreaded part. Although I have never had this happen to me directly as an officer, I have had it happen as a firefighter and have been involved in many others on the periphery since. Attempt to put yourself in the most unfathomable of situations. If it has never happened to you, consider yourself fortunate. Try to imagine that one of your members has been involved in a Mayday and suffered a severe injury or, worse, made the ultimate sacrifice. What would you do first?
- In the absence of an SOP, take care of the member first. Set in motion a rescue plan, including a medical and transportation plan, and adjust the plan as necessary.
- Switch out the rescuers at regular intervals. You will need to ensure that the freshest and most trained personnel available are working. Arguably, the most difficult task for chiefs and company officers at this time is to hold members back from immediately getting involved.
- Continue to handle the emergency that brought you to the scene. Call for assistance and replacements for your members. This could be at the company, department, or battalion level.
- Gather those directly affected by the incident, relieve them as soon as possible, and give them a place to go. Ensure their security, medical monitoring, privacy, and opportunity to receive updates. Remind members not to make any notifications from the scene; doing this could seriously disrupt official notifications. In some cases, it will prevent false information from being sent to off-duty company members, department members, the media, and especially family members.
Once the member who is the subject of the Mayday has been removed, ensure his privacy and the care needed based on the situation. If there is a potential for an investigation, assign an officer to safeguard evidence – all that firefighter’s equipment, tools, and gear. These items may be looked at, tested, or examined later. Remind the evidence officer to document in writing the exact conditions: Was the portable radio on or off? On what channel was it set? Was the self-contained breathing apparatus on or off? How much air was in the cylinder? What were the condition and location of articles removed (face piece, hood, helmet, gloves, bunker gear, and so on) during the rescue effort? If these items are not obtainable or available for recording, document that information. The documentation report should also include the names of the members involved in the removal and statements from these members that will be shared with trained safety officers or official investigators.
You may adapt a generic form used for civilian fatalities. It would be completed by each officer on the scene and include the names and positions of all members assigned, duties performed (in detail), delays or difficulties encountered, and so on. If the potential for a crime exists, the entire area may be deemed a crime scene. Victim removal, overhaul, and cleanup procedures may need to be modified, delayed, or suspended. Do not move vehicles and equipment unless their exact locations and positions have been captured in photos or sketches.
Members’ emotional support is a high priority; request critical incident stress management teams. Relieve members affected by the event and transport them as soon as possible to the appropriate location (firehouse, hospital) where they will be safe, out of the elements, and away from the scene. Consider using fire marshals or police to secure the location.
Following official notifications, assign a liaison to the family to ensure the family’s needs are met (accurate information, transportation, security of home, childcare needs, additional notifications to relatives/friends, meals, accommodations, and so on). This liaison should have 24-hour communications and reliable transportation. It might be helpful to use a composition-style notebook for notes, documenting questions and concerns and listing tasks that have been done and those that need to be done.
It may be helpful to call in “experts,” such as adjoining departments that have been through similar situations; the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation; and county or state resources.
In the case of an LODD, the viewing, services, and funeral arrangements are monumental undertakings; a single department may have difficulty handling them. The outpouring of support is overwhelming. Consider asking for help from organizations that have been through similar situations. Keep in mind that the wishes of the family are paramount; offer help and guidance, but also allow the family space and time if they are requested.
This article is offered as a brief overview of things to consider in advance and to prepare for the worst as we train and strive to avoid it.
Author’s note: This article is dedicated to the memory of Captain Vincent G. Fowler, Fire Department of New York.
STEPHEN MARSAR is a 26-year veteran of and a battalion chief in the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). He is a former chief and fire commissioner of the Bellmore (NY) Volunteer Fire Department. He teaches extensively at the FDNY and Nassau County (NY) Fire and EMS academies. An adjunct professor at the Nassau County Community College, he has a master’s degree in homeland defense and security from the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School and a bachelor’s degree in fire science and emergency services administration from the S.U.N.Y Empire State College and is a graduate, with honors, and a Roll of Honor Inductee of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program. Marsar is an advisory board member of Fire Enginering and FireRescue magazines.
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