By: Lt. Pete Hageman
Part of the MCFRS Rookie Probationary training package
includes running simulated scenarios that involve following a hose line in
smoke, search and rescue, and different rescue drags. So at Rockville Station 3 today, crews
completed a Rapid Intervention Company (RIC) training evolution to meet these
objectives.
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A RIC is a crew of firefighters whose assignment at a fire
scene is to be on stand-by, and at the ready, to leap into action if a
firefighter (FF) or two become trapped inside a structure during a fire
incident.
The evolution involved crews entering into a “Mayday”
situation (firefighter trapped) with a RIC pack and Thermal imager going down
into the basement of Station 3 following the hose line. Face pieces (worn on a FF’s face to breath
air from an air pack) were blanked so zero visibility, which occurs in real
fires, was obtained. Once the crews
found the downed firefighter he was rescued first to the bottom of the stairs,
and then while running low on air, up a flight of steps to the outside in an
area of refuge.
The training drill was successful and all learned the
enormous exertion it takes to extract a downed firefighter from a structure
fire.
