In early October 2015, I was lucky enough to take part in a full-scale joint disaster exercise with the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) incident management team (IMT) and special operations task force. Joined by technical rescue groups and IMTs from 10 other states, we descended on the Guardian Centers in Perry, Georgia, a state-of-the-art Disney World for emergency responders, for what was planned to be a multioperational period, scenario-based, 24-hour, three-day exercise with extraordinary realism and challenges.
Ultimately, the FDNY IMT ended up going to work almost immediately on arrival, much like a response to a real disaster. Although we were not supposed to take over management of the incident for an additional 24 hours, we needed to adapt and overcome the obstacles thrown our way-and much earlier than expected.
Based on a lack of control on their part and the delay of teams in the order of their planned arrival, the exercise simulation team was forced to adjust year-long prepared scenarios to meet the current situation. It was a learning curve for all involved that ultimately made for an even better exercise with built-in stressors on top of those planned as scenario injects. Throughout the now-extended exercise, several items struck me that can be applied to the company officer riding in the front seat during disaster response and emergency management practices.
Rescuing the Rescuers
As company officers, most of us are good at watching out for our people. During the relatively short work durations of most of our calls, we can readily read our people and remember that they have basic needs that should be addressed when opportunity presents itself.
As an officer (and those times when I work as an acting battalion chief), I consciously dress in the same level of protective gear as the responding members do, especially if the call sounds more serious or likely to be a working fire or significant emergency and particularly in extreme hot or cold weather. Even during routine tasks such as hydrant inspections and hose testing, not only is it important to show your members how they’re expected to be geared up and dressed to protect themselves but, perhaps more importantly, you can use it as a tool to help gauge how the members might be holding up physically. In the summer months, it doesn’t do any good to sit in station wear in an air-conditioned cab while your members are geared up outside in the heat performing their duties. Besides being disrespectful to the members, you cannot accurately gauge what they’re going through or how well they’re holding up. “When in Rome ….”
Lunch Is Ready; Are They?
What if your members are heavily engaged in an extended incident or training exercise? We need to remain cognizant that they will need to eat, use the bathroom, rest, and rehydrate. During large-scale exercises, there may be operational periods where, because of some minor lack of communication or coordination, the members performing search and rescue or disentanglement scenarios may have to eat Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) rather than box lunches or dinners that may have had been provided for them.
Although the planning team and the site staff may have scheduled meal times to coincide with the changing shifts of rescuers, the fact that the engaged members may not stop and, in a real world emergency, may not get a break to eat may have to be anticipated.
The lack of scheduled meal periods in training scenarios (especially large-scale/multiunit/multiagency drills) is where I find myself conflicted. I find myself torn between letting the life-like scenarios go on as they unfold and allowing for eating and rehab when they can be squeezed in or treating the drill for what it is, a large-scale disaster training exercise, and scheduling meal times as we do with any other academy class, allowing for regular breaks in the action.
Taking into account the triple Type-A-plus-plus personalities of our members, and the extreme realism of some of the props and scenarios we use, having members become submerged in the realism is readily predicable and a priceless learning experience. However, in these cases, is the care of the operating members really being taken into account? On one hand, they are, with scenarios heavily supervised and MREs supplied ahead of time and made available to them close to the seat of the operation. But, on the other hand, they may not be, and a vast amount of ordered and prepared food sitting in a lunch area may be wasted.
If your company/department was involved in such a drill or incident, would you be able to stop your members who are in the rescue mode and provide them time for their personal needs? Will you be able to keep track of operating times and work-to-rest ratios? You may, but only if you practice and remain aware of both the operational requirements and the needs of your team.
The Meat in the Sandwich
Besides large-scale incidents and exercises, it is the daily company training/drills and routine responses that offer the company officer a learning opportunity. Knowing that most of the time we are supervising our members and they are doing the majority of the firefighting tasks (and carrying the majority of tools and equipment), we must remain aware of the fact that we may be able to move faster, climb stairs quicker, and jump off the apparatus sooner than our members may be able to. Our members may need to retrieve tools and equipment, finish donning their gear, make it to the opposite side of the apparatus, and then try to keep up with us. We must remember to work as a team. As an officer, we must avoid the “Us vs. Them” mentality.
Storytelling at the Table
I can remember being a relatively young ladder company firefighter at a first-due, second-alarm fire where the officer jumped off the fire truck before it even came to a complete stop and charged into the fire building on the driver’s side of the apparatus. I was in the jump seat behind this lieutenant, facing the rear. By the time the apparatus jerked to a stop and the airbrake was engaged, my boots were on the ground. I had to pull up my three-quarter length boots (obviously this was before bunker gear) and, as I retrieved my hook and water extinguisher, I ran around the front of the apparatus only to find that the officer was gone.
Because of the heavy smoke condition in the street, it took me a second or two to even realize which building was the fire building. If I had seen the officer go into the building, it would’ve made those few seconds of that part of my size-up unnecessary. As I and the “irons” firefighter made our way to the third-floor fire area, the officer angrily yelled to us, “Where the hell were you?” We went to work, completed our tasks, and were taking a break when the officer came to us to discuss this major infraction. When we explained that we had to pull up our boots and retrieve our assigned tools the officer scoffed, clearly disappointed-no, angry-at our response. He proceeded to scold us on speeding up and the importance of staying up with the officer. Now, this well-respected and talented fire officer I am sure never questioned his role in this scenario. Could he have maybe slowed down a few seconds, completed his size-up, and proceeded with his interior team intact? Perhaps. But not in those days; after all, it was our job to keep up with him.
Another time, I was working in an engine company responding first on the second alarm at a high-rise commercial building fire. The incident commander ordered us up to the fire floor to stretch an additional attack line. It was a hot summer day, and it was almost 100 degrees at around 10:00 in the morning. As we entered the lobby, the negative stack effect made it necessary to done our self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) (did I mention we were 11 stories below the fire floor?) and, of course, the two elevators were out of service affected by the heat, smoke, and water. The officer immediately ordered us to head up the stairs. Around the fifth or sixth floor, the smoke condition got a little better and we paused to remove our face pieces as we would surely need the remaining air on the fire floor.
As we continued ascending, the officer (who was also an avid long-distance runner) was nowhere in sight. Carrying only a flashlight and small officer’s tool (on top of his physical prowess), he was taking steps two at a time the entire way up as we lumbered as fast as we could carrying 2½-inch rolled up hoses, a nozzle, a standpipe kit, and a spare SCBA cylinder each. At around the eighth floor, the smoke condition became worse and we had to stop an additional time to redon our SCBAs (and catch our breath). As we reached the operations post on the 10th floor, the officer had met the operations chief and been given orders on stretching the line. This officer was barely out of breath as we arrived. We, on the other hand, were all breathing like freight trains.
Adrenaline kicked in when, just as we arrived on the 10th floor, several Maydays were given from the fire floor. After the Maydays were addressed and two civilians were saved, the main body of fire was extinguished and we were relieved and started making our way back down to the street. On the way down, the officer critiqued our operations and acknowledged that he was climbing much faster than us. He mentioned that he was trying to save time by getting our orders and completing his size-up while we followed up behind him. It worked out. However, he never stopped to don or doff his SCBA, and he was in triathlete shape. But he was aware of the conditions and punishment his crew members were enduring. He computed that we would probably need a minute or two to catch our breaths on arrival at the operations post, and he planned for it.
All in all, this officer consciously calculated the difficulties encountered by his crew and he made an action plan based on those calculations. Additionally, he knew that we would need to rehab as soon as we reached the street. He didn’t remove his gear and helped carry some of the equipment we had brought up. Once he started to feel the effects of the strenuous job completed, he knew we had to be feeling worse. He once again calculated this inevitability and stopped us several times on the walk down to catch our breaths, open our gear, and attempt to start to cool down.
Leftovers
A helpful hint in trying to gauge the physical limitations of our crews may be to stay in the same level of personal protective equipment as them. Remain cognizant that we may be exerting far less energy than they are in far less physically strenuous activities. We should strive to hone the ability to balance the need to push our members ahead while at the same time allowing them to work hard enough and long enough to complete the task at hand. In most instances, stamina, pacing, and calling for relief prior to the point of exhaustion are the keys to success.
