Structural Search and Rescue Flashcards
What are the seven skills required in search and rescue operations?
- Primary and secondary search
- Use of standardized markings to indicate searched areas
- Working as a team
- Best methods for removing victims
- Emergency servival techniques
- MAYDAY protocol
- Removal of incapacitated firefighters
What three skills are critical for firefighter survival in search and rescue operations?
- Recognizing and avoiding hazards
- Escaping unavoidable hazards
- Rescue lost or trapped firefighters
What conditions of the incident should be reported to your supervisor?
- Location
- Changes in heat levels
- Changes in behaviour
- Visibility changes
- Changes to the structure
- Smoke colour
- Volume of fire
- Locations of victims
- Number of victims
- Your and your team’s starting air levels
- Locations of safe havens and exits
- Indicators of ceiling collapse
What can you do to increase your chances of survival in firefighting?
- Practice sound firefighting techniques
- Practice situational awareness
- Anticipate the survival techniques you might need
- Practice MAYDAY and self rescue
- Check your air supply and those of your team
What is air management?
The conscious conservation of air for increased work length and for more time to escape a hazardous situation. It is important to know how much air will be required to exit a particular building. Do not wait until the low-pressure alarm is activated if you are in a large, complex structure.
What psychological effects does impared vision have on firefighters and what are the best ways to prevent them?
- Disorientation
- Fear
- Claustrophobia
- Panic
The best way to prevent them is to practice in these conditions. During practice, firefighters must try to remain calm by controlling breathing, maintain situational awareness, keep in contact with team, focus on task, and rely on senses other than your vision.
What are some MAYDAY situations?
- Air emergencies
- Disorentation
- Entanglement
- Rapid fire development
- Collapse/entrapment
True or false, environmental tenability is whether or not a person is able to evacuate the structure without the help of a firefighter.
False. tenability is whether or not an environment is safe for a person to be in. Untenable environments for unprotected civilians is different from that of protected firefighters.
What is a safe haven?
A room away from the main fire that is protected by a door. Victims may hide in these areas, so it is important to look inside them. If the environment becomes untenable and you must seek shelter in a safe haven, be sure to notify the IC.
What are the three principles of air management?
- Always know your air levels
- Know the point of no return
- Inform IC if you need to leave the structure.
When do you need to check your pressure gauge during an incident?
- Before entering IDLH
- Moving from one area to another
- After heavy work
- Specific intervals
- Resting
- Before new assignment
How do you determine your point of no return?
- Know how much air is required to exit the IDLH
- Go by the lowest gauge reading of any firefighter on the team
- Department SOP
- Environmental conditions
- Physical and mental condition of the team.
True or false. It is always better to try to make it out of the IDLH if your air is low and you are uncertain if you will make it out in time.
False. Based on your judgment of the situation, it could be better to find a safe haven and control your breathing while awaiting rescue than to exhaust your air trying to get out in a panic.
Is air management solely your responsibility?
Yes, however there are accountability personel on scene that should be keeping track of how long you have been in the structure. They can advise you on when to get out of the IDLH.
If you have 25% air left in your tank, how many minutes of air do you have left if you are moving vs at rest?
4 minutes moving and 10 minutes at rest.
How do you determine your air consumption rate?
Test your consuption rate at rest and at while working during training.
What is the most important thing to do when an air emergency occurs?
Stay calm and look for the problem
If your SCBA is malfunctioning, what can you do to breathe as a last resort ?
Breathe the outside air as little as possible. Create a small gap in the face mask and keep the protective hood in place to filter some of the air.
What steps do you take if your only option is to stay in place and await a rescue?
- Slow your breathing
- Activate your MAYDAY procedures
- Get low to the ground where air is cooler
- Get to a safe haven
- Shine flashlight through a window to get the attention of firefighters outside.
- communicate your condition and your location to the IC
- Activate PASS
What is the difference between air management and air monitoring?
Air management involves keeping track of your SCBA air pressure, while air monitoring is evaluating the condition of the air for toxic gases with and air monitor.
Who’s responsibility is air management?
The firefighter’s
Why is air monitoring important?
- Identifies hazards in the air
- which determines appropriate PPE, tools and equipment.
- It determines the perimeter of the IDLH
- determines if SCBA is required
What are the three types of atmospheric hazards?
- Low or high oxygen
- Flammability
- Toxicity
What are the maximum and minimun oxygen levels that a firefighter can experience without a SCBA?
23.5% and 19.5%
Why are high oxygen levels dangerous?
It increases the fire activity and poses a potential for explosions.
Why is a low oxygen atmosphere dangerous?
Firefighters become at risk of collaps and it suggests that the oxygen in the air is being displaced by something else that could be toxic.
When can a firefighter know that the airborn combustible grain dust has reached the ELE (Lower explosive limit)?
When you cannot see more than five feet in front of you.
In what three ways can we measure combustible gases?
They measure the amount of flammable gas in the air by:
- percentage of the LEL
- parts per million
- percentage of gas per volume of air.
Can you use a methane calibrated CGI to measure the amont of propane that is in the air?
yes, but it needs to be converted to be accurate
True of false, toxic gases and vapors automatically dissipate once the fire and smouldering is extinguished.
False, toxic gases and vapors can linger for a long time after extinguishment.
Where can toxic gas and vapor exposure limits be found?
- Safety Data Sheets
- Emergency Response Guidebook
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
If there is no CGI available for a certain gas, what other indicator can be used to determine if there is combustible gas, toxic gas or vapor in the atmophere?
If there is a low oxygen concentration it is usually because it is being displsced by another gas. Call Hazadous material unit if this happens.
What is a bump test?
A test of the air monitors before placing it in on the apparatus.