A long-term drought broke in a big way when a series of weather systems descended upon Texas and Oklahoma for most of May and June. The result was thousands of water-rescue calls across the states, as rivers and lakes filled beyond capacity. In Texas, the areas hardest hit were aided by the State, which coordinated an array of assets, including Coast Guard helicopters, military high-profile vehicles and boat teams from Texas Task Force 1 and 2. In all, thousands were forced from their homes and 13 people died, including a Texas Parks and Wildlife officer who was searching for a missing teen presumed drowned.

Water rescues create a unique set of challenges for the fire service because safe operating practices from other rescue disciplines can create hazardous situations, especially in moving water. The most common errors with water rescue: personnel entering the water and becoming part of the problem, personnel using rope restraints and personnel wearing turnouts. A comprehensive water-rescue program, complemented by timely refresher training, can help ensure safe operations. Consider the following about water rescues:

• They are dangerous, infrequent activities for the fire service.
• Calls for aid can occur in clusters and quickly overwhelm resources.
• Individual incidents can be simple, or they may require a great deal of specialized equipment and training.
• Proper management requires coordination with multiple agencies.

Thus, it is important to preplan our response. Fortunately, water calls are generally seasonal events, and we’re routinely cued by weather forecasts in advance of a major incident. This allows us an opportunity to talk about the basics, dust off our throwbags and personal flotation devices (PFDs), review our procedures and ensure other agencies are ready to help. Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), good situational awareness and logical risk/benefit assessments are key to ensuring safe operations.

 

Procedures

All rescue disciplines require knowledge of the hazards. Standing or “flat” water poses the least risk, with the most common hazards being curbside gutters and displaced manhole covers. Whenever possible, we should avoid entering the water. But if we must enter the water, use a pike pole or paddle to feel the bottom, and avoid walking along the curb. As a general rule, do not wade in water more than waist deep.

Unfortunately, because most water-rescue incidents involve standing water, we sometimes carry over these techniques to swift-water incidents. Most firefighters are aware of the dangers of wearing bunker gear at swiftwater incidents, but it continues to be a problem. Key to eliminating turnouts is ensuring we have a duty uniform, including footwear, on the apparatus. Fires and automatic alarms often precede water rescue calls, and we can find ourselves on scene without options if we don’t plan ahead.

Moving water creates hazards, as well as havens, for rescue work. The area behind objects is an area of refuge known as an eddy and rescue work can often be performed here. The front side of a stationary object is dangerous because the force of the water can hold you against the object.

Currents created by low-head dams are especially dangerous. Known as a hydraulic, the circulating current created by low-head dams is very difficult to escape and has claimed the lives of many would-be rescuers. Be aware of low-head dams in your area and recognize that these are no-entry areas for boats and/or personnel, even for rescue. Incidents that occur around low-head dams are usually recovery operations, unless units happen to be on scene when they occur. Reach, throw and simple rope systems often work best at low head dams.

Keep in mind that urban storm runoff will contain hydrocarbons, pesticides and fecal contaminants. When possible, rescuers and victims should be walked through a simple, one-stage decontamination station. This practice sets the stage for a more formal decontamination procedure if hazardous materials are later found to be present.

Remember: Communications are difficult at water rescue scenes because of noise, and wet radios don’t always work well. Simple hand, whistle and horn signals are a good backup. However, it is important to recognize these signals may not be consistent with other technical rescue disciplines in the fire service (see table Whistle & Horn Signals at end of article).

Before you’re faced with a water-rescue incident, preplan locations where rain events create consistent calls for aid. This allows rescuers to inspect hazards in dry conditions, evaluate the reach of aerial ladders and identify anchor points for rope systems. Prevention in the form of public information, barricades, capital improvements and complete road closures should also be considered. In Fort Worth, for example, we eliminated several perennial water rescue sites by permanently closing two low-water crossings in the 1990s.

 

Procedures

The first-arriving officer to water-rescue incidents should direct initial operations commensurate with the training and experience of on-scene personnel. These initial efforts should be directed at:

1. Defining the problem;
2. Requesting resources to match the problem;
3. Controlling the scene;
4. Placing personnel downstream with throwbags;
5. Safely delivering PFDs to victim(s);
6. Accessing maps to direct resources to both sides of the water; and
7. Updating responding units with new information.

Before starting rescue operations, the incident commander should create an incident action plan (IAP) consistent with problem, risk and benefit. The IAP should:

1. Measure rescue efforts against waiting for the water to subside;
2. Be communicated to all members;
3. Contain a contingency component;
4. Be approved by the safety officer;
5. Include downstream safety personnel and upstream spotters; and
6. Reflect the knowledge, skills and abilities of the rescuers.

These procedures were used in July to manage a recovery operation in the Trinity River in Fort Worth when two men in an inflatable raft capsized at a low-head dam site. Initial on-scene companies had been trained on the hazards of low-head dams. Their IAP included searching survivable areas and assisting one of the men who was washed downstream, calling for resources, establishing control of the scene and limiting their actions to throwbags and pike poles at the low-head dam.

Without any signs of the second victim, the incident then transitioned to a recovery operation and specialty teams used a boat/rope system to remotely perform a cursory search of the circulating current and remove the victim’s raft. Operations were then suspended until daylight and limited to observation patrols at a probable distance from the accident site. Days later, the body was found some 40 miles downstream. These procedures ensured that we protected our firefighters, while still managing the incident.

Two NFPA standards provide a good guide for departments evaluating their water rescue capability. Chapter 7 of Standard 1006: Standard for Rescue Technician Professional Qualifications outlines the knowledge, skills and abilities required to various levels of response. Instead of training all members to the same level, many departments choose to train only a select group to the technician level and the bulk of the department to the awareness or operations level. This enables everyone to assist when water-rescue calls start to overwhelm the system. Each resource can respond, evaluate conditions, call for assistance if needed and operate within the limits of their training. In Fort Worth, for example, all personnel are trained at the swiftwater operations level and can perform reach and throw rescues independently, or fulfill support assignments for technicians using more advanced techniques.

Chapter 9 of NFPA Standard 1670: Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents provides a framework for managing personnel, equipment and procedures for water rescue. This includes continuing education and annual skills testing that can be coordinated with the arrival of the storm season. Note: Equipment should be evaluated early enough that items can be replaced before the waters rise. Additionally, written procedures in the form of standard operating procedures (SOPs) should emphasize the use of the “rescue hierarchy”-a prioritized list of water-rescue options (see table below). This allows for consistent evaluations of risk at all water incidents.

 

Outside Help

Haltom City, Texas, was the scene of heavy rainfall in June that flooded an entire mobile home community, claiming the life of a young girl who was swept from the arms of her mother outside their home. Hours later, Gainesville, Texas, experienced an even larger rain event that claimed the lives of four people. Fortunately, both of these events were localized enough that other cities could lend resources to assist with the overwhelming calls for aid.

However, because flooding events can affect a large geographical area, everyone could potentially experience water-rescue incidents in their own backyard at the same time. During these events, we can increase staffing by calling in off-duty personnel and outfitting them with reserve equipment. The San Antonio Fire Department, which regularly experiences wide area flooding, uses this procedure.

Additionally, assistance at the state level can often respond or even be pre-staged when and where extreme flood events are expected. In Texas, the state will assist with rescue assets coordinated through the State Operations Center.

This was the case on June 27 when 18 inches of rain fell in the rural community of Marble Falls, Texas. Five state-sponsored boat teams were dispatched to assist. These highly capable teams are most effective when partnered with a liaison that can assist with routing and local information. Requests should be initiated by the proper local authority through formal procedures. Therefore, contact information and resource capability should be verified well in advance of its need.

The fire service is typically better versed in incident management than other local agencies. It is for this reason, as well as in our own best interest, that we take a lead role in the management of flooding events to ensure that everyone is working from the same plan from a unified position. Assembling these parties for practice before the event ensures that everyone sees where they fit on the organizational chart.

Field operating guides, such as California’s “Firescope,” provide excellent aides for organizing the various agencies, decoding acronyms, resource typing and planning activities. Law enforcement may initially assist with rescues and road closures and later provide security for the incident perimeter and mass-care locations. Public works personnel will be needed to place barricades and for debris removal. The Logistics section is crucial for managing long-term events where public transit or school buses may be needed for evacuation to mass-care facilities that can provide food, water, shelter and relief.

 

The Final Word

Water rescue is no different from any other discipline in the fire service. Knowledge of the hazards ensures better problem definition and IAPs. Simple hands-on training and established SOPs improve safety and effectiveness. Preplanning and ICS allow us to organize our efforts, coordinate with other agencies and seek assistance when local resources are outmatched by the size of the event.

At the time of this writing, remnants of Tropical Storm Erin have caused flooding and deaths across Texas and Oklahoma. Hurricane Dean is churning in the Caribbean, prompting South Texas fire departments and the State to once again coordinate its efforts. No doubt 2007 will be one for the books, and the lessons learned at the local regional and state levels will shape procedures for years to come.

 

 

Basic Water-Rescue Equipment

PFDs

Personal flotation devices (PFDs) are the foundation of water-rescue equipment, and all personnel working around moving water must wear one. Extra PFDs also will be needed for victims, including at least one fitted for a small child. Before you’re called to a rescue, review the PDF’s adjustment straps beneath the arms. This will ensure quick donning. Key to pediatric PFDs: the crotch strap that prevents it from sliding over the child’s head. Note: PFDs are bulky, so if compartment space is scarce, the majority can be kept at the station and placed on the rigs when flooding is likely.

 

Throwbags

Throwbags are inexpensive, simple and save lives. They are made with floating rope and it only takes a little practice to become proficient. Standing 40 feet apart, crews can practice tossing the throwbags to each other. Later, crews can graduate to a moving target. Every apparatus should have at least one throwbag on board.

 

 

The Rescue Hierarchy

One of the best ways to manage water incidents is the “rescue hierarchy.” This provides a prioritized list of actions from a risk-vs.-benefit perspective. These are:

1. Reach: Aerial ladders, pike poles and inflated fire hose;
2. Throw: Throwbags, other ropes and rope systems;
3. Row: Boat/rope systems, boats and hovercraft;
4. Go: Wading and swimming; and
5. Helo: Helicopter operations with crews trained in water rescue.

 

 

Whistle & Horn Signals

Fire Service Horn Signals

Evacuate: short, short, short
Quiet/Stop: long
Resume: long, short

 

Water Rescue Horn or Whistle Signals

Attention: 1 blast
Upstream/Move Upstream: 2 blasts
Downstream/Move Downstream: 3 blasts
Emergency/Help: 3 blasts repeated