Urban Search and Rescue training ended today for 20 students who participated in a real-time collapse scenario at the Florida State Fire College in Ocala, FL.
The training scenario involved the collapse of an occupied four story parking garage. This included an actual concrete building, vehicles, props, rescue equipment, tools and supplies. All activity was carried out in real time with mannequins used as victims.
As the students arrived, it was immediately obvious that the structure was unstable and unsafe. Crews quickly set to work bracing the outside of the building with shoring. This required lumber, saws, nails and the knowledge of how to stabilize the building to ensure against further collapse and endangerment to victims and rescuers. The crews needed to support and strengthen an already weakened building.
Simultaneously, assessment was being made of the entire area to determine if there were survivors inside and how they might safely be reached.
Firefighters rapidly gained access to the top level of the garage. They drilled holes through the cement and used a “snake-eye” observation camera to look below the floor to determine what was there, how to reach it, and what hazards they might face.
Smoke and dust were everywhere. Crews could hear and see water running from broken water pipes. The sound of hydraulic drills, chisels and saws hummed. Communications were complicated with the sound of the equipment. PASS devices were alerting, and in the distance music was playing from a car radio somewhere deep in the garage.
This real-time scenario began at 9:30 am on a cloudy morning. “We try to make this as realistic as possible”, said Captain Scott Abston, one of the lead instructors.
Rescuers worked quickly to cut through the cement accessing the floor below. They located the roof of a passenger vehicle just inches below the surface. The only way to gain entrance into the passenger compartment was to cut into and remove the roof of the car. Firefighters had to use great care to ensure the safety of possible victims inside the vehicle while working in a very tight area. Smoke and dust continued to linger around them as they reached the trapped victims. First, they removed a toddler from the back seat. Secured onto a board, the child was lifted through the hole in the roof, then through the hole in the concrete. He was placed into a stokes basket and lowered to medical care on the ground.
In this one evolution, these students had used their training in not only structural collapse, but also confined space, vehicle and mechanical rescue and ropes. These four areas, as well as trench rescue, make up the five phases of the total Urban Search and Rescue training. Each phase includes both operations and technician level instruction
As the shoring of the outside of the building continued, two adult victims were located and removed from the vehicle and lowered to further medical care.
All work was done in teams which were rotated throughout the scenario. Firefighters were rehabbed or refreshed at 15 – 20 minute intervals. “It’s better to keep people fresh than to try to restore them once they are completely depleted”, said lead instructor Chief Nick DeVita. History has proven this method allows for better performance for a longer period of time.
As teams were rotated and rehabbed, information was passed between crews and command personnel. Strategies and tactics were discussed. Diagrams were drawn on whatever surfaces were available.
True to life, tools broke down or malfunctioned. More tools, more equipment, replacement tools or more lumber was called for. Crew members would grab a bottle of water and a snack; an orange, a banana, a packet of nuts or a protein bar. They were all anxious to get back to work. All the while the dust and smoke remained, the noise and sounds continued, and the water ran from broken pipes.
The outside wall was soon stabilized. The rescuers then cut a hole into a wall and made entry to the inside of the garage on the ground level. They quickly found a child entrapped in debris and rebar. Their immediate efforts were to extricate the youngster. Once the child had been safely removed, they began shoring up the space inside the garage. Rapidly they would measure. Measurements and materials were communicated to outside team members who would cut and build exactly what was needed to further secure the building.
Meanwhile, the roof team learned their only access to the next lower floor required them to remove the front of the vehicle they had been working in. This was accomplished and every piece and part was removed to allow them to go further in their quest.
During this nearly six hour exercise, students dealt with sun, heat, humidity and rain. They were dirty, sweaty and tired. Their clothes and shoes were wet and heavy, but they never stopped until the job was done and their training ended. They now had the knowledge and skills, and would own the experience forever.
The Structural Collapse Technician training is a coordinated effort between the Florida State Fire College, Marion County School Board, and Safety Solutions, Inc. According to Milton Selimos of Safety Solutions, Inc. (a Boynton Beach company which trains search and rescue personnel throughout the United States), “Florida State Fire College probably has the best facility in the nation for this type of training.”
This class had 20 students representing Hillsboro, Escambia, Marion, Charlotte and Hernando counties, as well as Miami Beach and Gainesville fire departments. “This is the last and highest level course in the series for collapse training” said Tom Quinn, Florida Urban Search and Rescue Coordinator. “These folks will take this knowledge and rejoin their particular task force teams across the state.”
article by: Janie Gunnell, Training Consultant
