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Tool #3 – Ground Ladders Remember, the RIT toolbox is built on situational awareness. This situational awareness gives us some insight into where and how firefighters are operating inside of a structure. Using this information gives us the opportunity to better understand...

Tool #2 – The Irons The irons are a combination of a flathead axe and a Halligan bar which are carried/married together. This combination has been around the fire service for nearly sixty years and is tried and true. (A sledge hammer or PIG tool can be carried with the...

Firefighter rescue teams (whether called RIT, RIC, FAST or one of a host of other acronyms) are essential and necessary to our survival on the fire ground. To be effective, firefighters assigned to a firefighter rescue team need to have the right tools. Let’s look at a few...

Why Convert The SCBA Waist Strap Into A Harness? One of the biggest challenges in the fire service is to drag an unconscious firefighter out of a fire.  Setting up the SCBA pack as a harness will allow us to drag, move or carry that downed firefighter much more effectively. ...

Dangerous Does Not Mean Unsafe Certainly, we all know the profession of firefighting is dangerous. However, that does not mean it is unsafe. On the surface, “dangerous” and “unsafe” are synonymous. If we dig a little deeper into the meanings, however, we...

Disclosure There are numerous acronyms associated with teams designated for the rescue of a firefighter in distress.  It doesn’t matter if we call it RIT, RIC, or FAST, there are some tools that are essential to the team’s operations.  In this series, we are going to discuss five...

Webbing is one of the most important tools we can have as a firefighter with it’s limitless uses. The ingenuity firefighters have always amazes me especially when it comes to webbing. We are going to discuss  only 7 of the ways firefighters use webbing.  The most common...

Every firefighter needs to know what is evolving around us so we can make proper decisions to positively influence the outcome of any situation. Some say that situational awareness is only for the fire ground or the incident scene. I believe situational awareness begins when we...

What is the worse possible day? What is the worst possible day you’ve had at work?  Boss made you mad?  Air conditioning didn’t work on a 100 degree day? We Deal With Death & Destruction Day In & Day Out. As firefighters, we know and accept the dangers of our...

This article is the third and final in a series of learning how to effectively manage a MAYDAY situation as seen from the Rapid Intervention Team. We have previously discussed Incident Commander and company officer responsibilities, now let’s move forward and talk about t...