The Top 5 Tools For The Truckie – Part 3

Disclaimer

There are many tools a firefighter needs on the modern fireground.  In this series, we review the five most important physical tools a truckie needs to do his or her job effectively.  (Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.)

Truckie Tool #1 – Rescue Ropes

Rounding out the list is the simplest tool in any firefighter’s toolbox: rope or webbing.  Although we truckies are less likely to get burned than our brothers on an engine, when it happens, our burns are often more severe.  We train to never have to “bail out” of a structure, but sometimes there is no choice.  Therefore, it is essential to have an escape system of some sort, a way to get out of a structure quickly if it becomes too dangerous.

2 Ways To Bail Out

#1 – The Ideal Escape System

Personal Safety System

Ideally, an escape system would be a hands-free system pre-connected to a seat or harness.  That way it is ready to go: all a firefighter needs is an anchor point and he or she is ready to exit the structure.  A descender that requires the firefighter to release it in order to descend makes it “hands free” because the firefighter cannot descend until he releases the descender.  This helps control the descent while rappelling to the ground.

If a truckie has to exit on a floor high enough that 50 feet of rope will not reach the ground and needs to stop a few floors below his exit point, he/she can release the descent control device – and have both hands and both feet free to get to a window, break it, and pull himself in.

#2 – 50 Feet of Solid Rope

However, in the end, it’s the rope that enables a firefighter’s escape.  Forty to fifty feet of solid rope will help ensure the firefighter has a way out when needed.  With all of the advanced technology in the world, it is easy to let rope proficiency slip.  The only way to prevent that is with practice: practice handling and carrying rope on exercises, practice tying knots.  These basic skills can make the difference in a life or death situation.

Fundamentals Save Lives: Black Sunday

No one trains more with rope and rope rescue than the FDNY and especially Rescue 3.  During the “Black Sunday” fire in the Bronx, Firefighter Jeff Cool had a rope but no place to anchor it.  Firefighter Joey “D” DiBernardo was at another window so Jeff threw the rope to Joey, who anchored it to the window gate.  Both slid down the rope.  Although they both received serious injuries after losing control of their decent, sliding down the rope slowed them down enough that they survived.  While the full harness is better, in the end the fundamentals do save lives.

I reached out to Jeff Cool about firefighter escape systems.  Here is what he had to say:

I firmly [believe] in the PSS [Personal Safety System] and I believe it should be part of all interior firefighters’ PPE.  It is a fail-safe, just like a bullet proof vest is to a police office.  You must know how to use it, hands down eyes closed. Just like stretching a line or throwing up a ladder. 

One thing I’m still not sure is if the rope broke or not.  It wasn’t used in an orthodox manner and was wrapped around us in a belay fashion.  The rope is in three pieces, I have seen pictures of it.  The city currently has it as evidence right now. 

Joey said to me, that he slid about 10 to 15 feet and there was no more rope.  It may have broken when I went out or I could have lost control.  Who can give you the facts, if I can’t? Just wanted to point that out. 

Buying or outfitting your department has to be well thought out.  The most expensive PSS out there may not be the best.  The PSS must be a complete system, pre-rigged, descent-control device and NFPA approved.  We have only scratched the surface with the PSS and it’s only going to get better. 

I do firmly believe that if we all had a PSS on that dreadful day, things would have been a whole lot different and 3 Brothers would still be here with us today. 

Please feel free to use my comments if you wish in your article.  Please give me credit and I hope it makes a difference in a Brother’s life.  – Jeff Cool, Tough Times Don’t Last Tough Men Do!

(For more on the Black Sunday fire, click here to watch an interview with Jeff Cool.)

Tools + Training = Success

There are many other tools that support a firefighter when on a call.  However, these five – the Portable Radio, the Thermal Imaging Camera, the Halligan Bar, the Pig/Maul, and the Rescue Rope –  are the core of our support equipment.  They illustrate the blend of modern technology and traditional skills required to fight fires and provide a firefighter with well-rounded capabilities.  These five items, coupled with training and experience, give the firefighter the greatest chance of success when responding to that most important but dangerous call.

As always, be safe and stay low, brothers!

Read the complete series here!

Part 1: The Portable Radio and the Thermal Imaging Camera
Part 2: The Halligan Bar, the Pig and the Maul
Part 3: Rescue Ropes