Online Training Available: Search and Rescue Tactics in Single-Family Single-Story Residential Structures
The new "Search and Rescue Tactics in Single-Family Single-Story Residential Structures" online course, developed with support from the Study of Fire Service Residential Home Size-up and Search & Rescue project technical panel, is designed to provide information and insights for firefighters conducting search and rescue. Available through the FSRI Fire Safety Academy, this course shares tactical considerations stemming from FSRI research that can be employed to minimize occupant and firefighter exposures during search and rescue operations in single-family, single-story residential structures.
In addition to this course, FSRI has developed supplemental materials to enable firefighters to continue the conversation at the station. Crews can utilize these resources to take a deeper dive into the research, discuss ways to integrate considerations into training and fireground operations and conduct their own time-to-task drills.
After taking this course, firefighters will be able to:
- Identify how isolation impacts firefighter and occupant survivability during various search and rescue operations.
- Describe how the timing of suppression impacts search and rescue operations and firefighter and occupant survivability.
- Explain how search and rescue operations may be influenced by differing occupant removal situations.
“In the decade prior to this study, fires in the United States were down 3% but fire deaths were up 24%. And while the fire service doesn't control all the factors that contribute to these deaths, we do own some of them. So from the arrival on scene of a fire and for the next 6 to 8 minutes, we go from controlling none of the factors to controlling almost all of them. And this course and the tactical considerations that are presented are aimed to maximize those 6 to 8 minutes of time that we have in order to improve the probability of survival for the public we serve.”
- Christopher Finelli, District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department
“Being a part of this study provided my agency with some great opportunities to learn about where we were effective, where we had room to improve and help steer our training programs to be more effective. I hope you'll take this course and use this information for your own agency and take this challenge to look at your own agency and address those gaps in training opportunities.”
- David Wolf, Estes Valley Fire Protection District, CO
Funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, this course has been developed as part of the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) Study of Fire Service Residential Home Size-up and Search & Rescue.
If your crew has recently performed a rescue/removal on the fireground, please fill out this survey from our fire service friends! Help us tie these tactical considerations to real data from the street by filling out the Firefighter Rescue Survey. Created for firefighters and created by firefighters, this data will help guide future research and training.
