Structural Search & Rescue (IFSTA) Flashcards
To ensure your survival and that of your fellow firefighters, you must learn to ___
- Recognize and avoid potential hazards
- Escape unavoidable hazards
- Rescue lost or trapped firefighters
Conditions specific to SAR operations that should be observed and communicated to crew members and your supervisor
- Location and extent of the fire
- Changes in heat level
- Changes to fire behavior, spread, and growth, including signs of rapid fire development
- Visibility level and changes to visibility
- Changes to the neutral plane in the structure
- Smoke color or change of smoke color
- Volume and behavior of smoke
- Known locations of victims or occupants
- Number of known victims or occupants
- You and your team’s starting and available air supply
- Locations of safe havens and alternate exit routes
- Indications of ceiling/floor collapse
To survive an unavoidable hazardous situation, you must ___
- Practice sound firefighting techniques
- Practice situational awareness
- Anticipate the types of survival situations you may face
- Practice MAYDAY and self-rescue techniques
- Check your own and your team member’s air supply
The extreme stress of an emergency makes ___ thought difficult
Conscious
___ will warn of of rapid fire development or structural collapse
Situational awareness
To overcome the psychological effects of obscured vision conditions you should ___
- Remain calm
- Control your breathing
- Maintain your situational awareness
- Stay in contact with your partner
- Focus on your assigned task
- Rely on your other senses
Personnel who experience emotional difficulties when operating in obscured vision conditions should ___
Seek professional assistance
MAYDAY situations
- Air emergencies
- Lost/disoriented
- Entanglement
- Rapid fire development
- Collapse/trapped
An ___ environment is not necessarily dangerous to life and health if the proper level of PPE is provided
Untenable
The environment of a structure fire or damaged structure can change swiftly due to ___
- Sudden or unexpected fire spread and temperature increase within the structure
- Loss of structural stability and possible collapse
- Buildup of smoke and products of combustion
If conditions within the structure become untenable, personnel should ___
Evacuate the structure or take shelter in a safe haven
During search and rescue, firefighters should identify possible ___ within the structure
Safe Havens
If you seek shelter in a safe haven, you must ___
Notify the IC of your situation
You must regulate ___ so that you can exit the IDLH safely
Air consumption
Three key principles of air management
- Always know how much air you have left
- Know your point of no return
- Inform the IC if you must exit the structure
Times in which you must check your air supply
- Check regularly
- Before entering an IDLH atmosphere
- When moving from one area to another
- After periods of heavy work
- A specific intervals, based on SOPs
- When resting
- Before beginning on a new assignment
- When the assigned area is reached
Your point of no return is based on ___
- How much air is required to exit the IDLH
- The lowest cylinder gauge reading of any member of the team
- Your department’s SOPs
- Environmental conditions
- Your team’s physical and mental condition
___ personnel on the exterior of the structure should have some idea of the time you have been in the structure and can help to guide your decision making process regarding air management
Accountability
Air management is ___ responsibility
Your
30-minute cylinder working airflow
103 L/min
30-minute cylinder resting airflow
40 L/min
30-minute cylinder air volume at 25% capacity
400 L
30-minute cylinder air volume at 33% capacity
About 530 L
30-minute cylinder remaining air time at rest at 33% and 25% capacity
- 15 min
- 10 min