FIRE AND RESCUE SWIFT WATER RESCUE PREPAREDNESS. Executive Development

Transcription

1 Swift Water Preparedness 1 FIRE AND RESCUE SWIFT WATER RESCUE PREPAREDNESS Executive Development Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services Swift Water Rescue Preparedness George L. Thomas IV Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Frederick, MD December 2007

2 Swift Water Preparedness 2 CERTIFICATION STATEMENT I hereby certify that this paper constitutes my own product, that where the language of others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given where I have used the language, ideas, expressions, or writings of another. Signed:

3 Swift Water Preparedness 3 ABSTRACT The problem was the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services (FCDFRS) lack of preparedness for swift water rescues. The purpose of the research was to identify the components needed to prepare the FCDFRS for swift water rescues. Descriptive methodology used to guide the study in answering four research questions related to the standards and criteria for swift water rescue preparedness. The literature stressed the necessity of fire departments being prepared for mitigation of swift water rescues and the questionnaires results, along with interviews confirmed this. The recommendation resulting from the research for the FCDFRS are development of standard operating guidelines, establishment of a budget for training and equipment, and mandatory awareness level training for all career firefighters.

4 Swift Water Preparedness 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Certification Statement..2 Abstract..3 Table of Contents.. 4 Introduction 6 Background and Significance.7 Literature Review..9 Procedures 18 Results..20 Discussion 29 Recommendations 31 Reference List APPENDICES Appendix A: NFPA 1006 Chapter 5 Surface Water Rescue Certification.35 Appendix B: Swift Water Rescue Standard Operation Guidelines 37 Appendix C: Groups for Swift Water Rescue Operations..38 Appendix D: General Rule to Determine the Average Survivable Time in Cold Water...39 Appendix E: Cover letter for Questionnaire..40 Appendix F: Swift Water Rescue Questionnaire..41 Appendix G: Fire Departments where Questionnaire was sent.44 Appendix H: Questionnaire results.49

5 Swift Water Preparedness 5 TABLES Table A: General Rule to Determine the Average Survivable Time in Cold Water..14 Table B: Swift Water Boat Assignments 14

6 Swift Water Preparedness 6 Improving the Swift Water Rescue Preparedness of the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services INTRODUCTION The fire service has taken on more than suppression activities in order to keep up with the demands from the customers it serves. Progressive departments take care of Hazardous Materials, Trench Collapse, Confined Space Rescue, Terrorism threats and Swift Water Rescue incidents (Collins, 2005). The fire service is expected by the community to be prepared to serve them during any emergency that may arise (Collins, 2005). Departments must be prepared and committed to total customer quality of service that provides trained personnel with the proper equipment whom can mitigate the emergencies that jurisdiction are responsible for. This leads to the research problem that will be addressed in this applied research project. The research problem is that the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Service lacks preparedness for swift water rescues. This problem is based on the fact that personnel are dispatched to mitigate swift water rescues without proper equipment and training (personal communication, September 8, 2006) Frederick County has one river that runs through the county, plus another river to the south and several creeks throughout the city and county. There have been 54 flood events reported in Frederick County, Maryland between January 1950 and December 2003 (Greenhorne & O Mara, 2004). The purpose of this research project is to identify the criteria needed to prepare the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue for swift water rescues. Descriptive research will be conducted to answer the following questions: l. What are the established standards and criteria needed to respond to swift water rescues?

7 Swift Water Preparedness 7 2. What are the criteria for swift water responses used by other fire departments? 3. What are the resources that are currently available in the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services for a swift water rescue response? 4. What are the potential outcomes of not being prepared for swift water rescue responses? BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE The Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services (FCDFRS) is comprised of 234 career staff, that provide fire and emergency medical services, along with hazmat, confined space rescue, trench rescue, and swift water rescue. Frederick County encompasses 664 square miles and is the largest county landmass in the state of Maryland. According to the 2005 census Frederick County s population was195,277 (United States Census Bureau, 2001). The career staff supplements the volunteers in 21 stations throughout the county. Frederick County has the Carroll Creek running through the city of Frederick. The Monocacy River runs north to south in Frederick County, also with a portion running through the city of Frederick. On the southern portion of the county is the Potomac River. There are several other creeks that run throughout the county, which include Catoctin, Hunting, Owens and Toms. Frederick County ranks as high risk for flash flooding (Maryland Emergency Management Agency, [MEMA], 2005). Frederick County is at risk for the thunderstorms and hurricanes. Due to this large amount of water and atmospheric hazards Frederick County is in an area that is prone to swift water rescues. The career firefighters are dispatched, along with the volunteers, to mitigate these emergencies. There is not an official swift water career station and the career staff is not required to have swift water rescue awareness, operations, technician or boat operation certifications.

8 Swift Water Preparedness 8 Some career staff has taken classes on their own to be prepared for swift water incidents. Frederick County has a Swift Water and Flood Task Force Standard Operating Guideline Manual (personal communication, September 7, 2006). The manual, issued by the authority of the Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association, is utilized as a reference document. There is reference in the manual that allows for the FCDFRS personnel with operations or technician level training to assist the volunteers advanced technical rescue team. There is also a volunteer dive team, no career staff are dive trained by the FCDFRS. The Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services computer staffing program Telestaf, which tracks career staff skills, does not have anyone listed as having swift water rescue training of any kind. The Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Administration needs to find a solution to this lack of preparedness. A well trained career staff that can perform in a proactive manner to the swift water incidents, following the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1670 Standard (National Fire Protection Agency [NFPA] 1670, 2000) on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents, of the citizens of Frederick County is imperative. The Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services should consider the liability of sending personnel to swift water incidents without proper training and equipment. It is only a matter of time that a rescuer will lose his/her life trying to save someone. A major goal of the Executive Development (National Fire Academy [NFA], 2005) course is to focus attention of the executive fire officers as leaders in their departments to not walk by problems, but to find a solution. A swift water rescue program would be one approach for the FCDFRS to solve a lack of preparedness for swift water rescue responses. This directly relates to the United States Fire Administration (NFA, 2005) Operational Objective number four, to promote within communities a comprehensive, multi-hazard risk-reduction plan led by the fire service organization (p.3). This

9 Swift Water Preparedness 9 it will take a tremendous effort from all the stakeholders to get the program going, however it will give the public what it expects for the taxes (personal communication, September 8, 2006) they are spending on career staff, an emergency service that can mitigate swift water rescue incidents. In the following section literature related to the study was reviewed as a foundation for the study. LITERATURE REVIEW The literature review for this applied research project began during the researcher s participation in the Executive Development course and introduction to the learning research center at the National Fire Academy in Emittsburg, Maryland. The on-line card catalog was useful in locating books, journals and videos on the subject of swift water rescue. The internet was used to do additional searches for swift water rescue (SWR). During the mid 1970 s many United States public service agencies experienced river and flood related drownings (Segerstrom, 2006). The large number of victims caught the attention of many public safety personnel. In Binghamton, New York three firefighters died and two other firefighters along with two police officers almost perished (Segerstrom, 2006). A video (Segerstrom, 2006) taken of the rescue showed the rescuers and their boats being tossed around in the flooded dam. As a result, many departments began to seek information on river rescue. The Tuolumne County, California, Sheriff s Search and Rescue Team developed a river rescue syllabus (Segerstrom, 2006). This came about by combining skills of the team members which included, rope rescue, mountaineering, whitewater rafting, life guarding and SCUBA. They were able to mitigate whitewater rescue calls. During their initial year calls for mutual aid assistance from all over California were received for river rescues and recoveries. That was the start of the Swift Water Rescue Technician program.

10 Swift Water Preparedness 10 In 1983 the International Rescue Instructors Association was formed (Segerstrom, 2006). This group is responsible for international development of competency standards. It also acts as an independent third party to maintain quality control of swift water rescue instructors. The Swift water training quality is dependent on the fire departments willingness to spend the time and money necessary, and a willingness of the department to work in a cooperative manner with similar teams elsewhere (Segerstrom, 2006). Departments are required to be prepared for flood rescues, even if they occur only occasionally. All personnel are required to be trained in the basic course Awareness, in which basic safety knowledge of the swift water rescue principals are taught. It has been found that chief officers do not attend these classes, and they are the ones who will be in charge (Segerstrom, 2006). Operations personnel, the next level of training, act in a support role on land setting up rigging or throwing throw ropes, however they do not have skill competencies to go into the water to make rescues. Technician is the highest level and is the one that can make rescues in the water by swimming out to the victim if needed. The technicians have had comprehensive training and were tested by an independent third party. In 2001 a Swift Water/Flood Rescue Technician program was put into place. The requirements for this level of training are to include that the rescuer is an above average swimmer whom is capable of swimming 300 meters in 10 minutes (Segerstrom, 2006, p. 10). Also, the instructors are required to make the swim in 7 minutes or less. The rescuer must be a rope rescue technician first. The SFRT program assumes those skills going in and very little time is spent on rope rescue instruction. NFPA 1006 (NFPA 1006, 2004) delineates that rope skills are a core requirement for all rescue technicians. The course is long and it requires operations training as a prerequisite. Recurrent skills practice is rigorous, demanding, and frequently exhausting. On the final day of the course, assessors operating under the auspices of IRIA conduct testing in seven key skills

11 Swift Water Preparedness 11 areas, and who did not provide the instructional delivery. Testing students can fail one station, one time, and re-test. Failure at more than one station means failure for the entire course. The SRFT course is the required prerequisite for the Swift Water/Flood Boat Operators course. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1670 (NFPA 1670, 2000) suggests that the authority having jurisdiction meet certain skills and have the right equipment to have personnel whom are trained to awareness, operations and technician. Individual skills for the technician level are identified in NFPA 1006 (NFPA 1006, 2004). The NFPA standards do not imply certification do to compliance. NFPA does not endorse or certify the contents of the documents. These documents are recognized for following the American National Standards Institute (Segerstrom, 2006) procedures for facilitation and direction. Some of the main requirements for NFPA 1006 can be found in Appendix A (NFPA 1006, 2004). The NFPA 1670 requirements for the jurisdiction having authority for Awareness level operations (NFPA 1670, 2000) include the following; recognizing the need for water search and rescue, identify the resources necessary for safe and effective water operations, implement the emergency response system for water incidents, implement site control and management, recognize general hazards associated with water incidents and the procedures necessary to mitigate these hazards and determine rescue versus body recovery. Slim Ray and Les Bechel, whom were kayaking instructors with the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina, brought together their skills from teaching to write a book entitled River Rescue (personal communication, September 7, 2006). Charley Walbridge, from the American Canoe Association, pushed for river rescue training. He published the River Safety Task Force Newsletter (Segerstrom, 2006), which listed the water accident investigations.

12 Swift Water Preparedness 12 Nancy Rigg,(personal communication, September 7,2006) a SWR advocate, stated that after the citizens of Los Angeles viewed a fifteen year old die in a swift water incident in 1992, no one could argue any more that swift water preparedness was not as important as hazmat and urban search and rescue. Mrs. Rigg believes that firefighters can do a better job of planning for water emergencies which involves leadership, organization and a commitment to save lives. Rescuers within ten feet of the swift water incident should have on a United States Coast Guard approved Type III or Type V high floatation device (personal communication, September 6, 2006). In a number of instances rescuers have been videotaped in situations involving a possible swim with their life jackets lying nearby on the bank, this situation is foolhardy and should not be tolerated (personal communication, September 6, 2006). Type I personal flotation device is not intended for swift water rescue and can prevent a rescuer from being able to swim on their stomach (PULSE, 2000). The type II personal floatation device does not secure well and can come off a rescuer in a swift water incident (PULSE, 2000). One hundred people die each year from swift water rescue incidents, ten percent of that total are public safety personnel (PULSE, 2000). One reason for this is that firefighters do not get as many swift water calls as they do other emergencies. Some departments find it hard to justify dollars for training and equipment. However, 300% more dollars are spent in a reactive mode than in proactive one in equipment and training (PULSE, 2000). Swift water is relentless and it is also predictable to the trained eye. A trained swift water tech will make sound decisions and get the job done with the least risk to the rescuer (PULSE, 2003) Battalion Chief Tim Rodgers, of the Charlotte North Carolina Fire Department, believes in proper training and community support for swift water response (T. Rodgers, personal communication, September 5, 2006). He does not believe that a swift water incident can t happen in Charlotte, it is

13 Swift Water Preparedness 13 only a matter of when. He has teamed up with city, state and the federal government to handle swift water rescue responses. It only took one incident for this to happen. In April of 1992 a man in an inflated alligator raft decided to go into a swollen waterway. The raft deflated and the man had to be rescued. The firefighters set up on the wrong side of the river, one firefighter was put at risk and another almost lost his life. At the termination of the incident the people made it out of the water safely. According to Chief Rodgers, the hardest lesson learned was that the firefighters did not have training or proper equipment to perform a swift water rescue (T. Rodgers, personal communication, September 5, 2006). Hence, Battalion Chief Rodgers sent a few firefighters to training through Rescue 3 International, a swift water rescue training company. Training was then set up in the department by the firefighters whom became trainers themselves. Every firefighter was trained to some level for swift water rescue. There is on going training for new and already trained swift water technicians. Battalion Chief Rodgers goal was to have a personal floatation device and throw rope for all personnel. He has made it a top priority to get the proper equipment for two fully equipped fire stations for mitigating swift water rescue incidents, while placing the resources where they will best serve the response area. Floods are the most common and widespread of all disasters and fire departments need to be ready to respond to them in a professional manner. Between 1998 and 2004, 548 people died in floods, 55% of them were in motor vehicle activities (American Heat, 2005). Citizens are suing when swift water rescues go bad (American Heat, 2005). When an individual goes into water, hypothermia and drowning are the main concerns, and a rapid recovery from water is often the key to the person s survival. While training is important to a successful outcome, time is also critical, especially in winter time when hypothermia will quickly set in. A rapid response is needed to provide the best outcome to the victim in the water.

14 Swift Water Preparedness 14 Table B provides the general guidelines used to determine average survivable time in cold water (Davenport, 2003). Table A: General rule to determine the average survivable time in cold water Water temperature Average survivable time <34 degrees F <45 min degrees F < 90 min degrees F < 3 hours degrees F < 6 hours degrees F < 12 hours Firefighters who staff apparatus are required to complete specialized training to qualify as responders for water rescues. If firefighters are unable to save themselves, they will not be able to save someone else. Unit officer, who are in charge of the crews, must decide whether to utilize the reach, throw, row or go to perform a rescue. A cardinal rule of water rescue is not to go in the water if the rescue can be made any other way (M. Berna, personal communication, September 6, 2006). For many in the fire service sending personnel in the water is the first way utilized. A rescuer should try reaching with a long pole or throwing a rope first. If it is determined to use a boat, firefighters should follow the guidelines in Table C (Garver, 2004) Table B: Swift water rescue boat assignments Boat operator First crew member Second crew member Third crew member global awareness lookout general helper backup rescuer team leader swimmer tender rescuer first aid radio prepares equipment first aid limited assistance primary first aid

15 Swift Water Preparedness 15 However, firefighters must first be trained in boater safety utilizing the boats in their stations. Approximately 80% of all boating fatalities occurred on boats where the operator had never taken a boating safety course (United States Coast Guard [USCG], 2006, p. 5). Boating safety courses teach the operators how to operate boats safely, finding your way, casting and docking, and what to do in emergencies. The United States Coast Guard (2006) estimates that life jackets could have saved the lives of over 80% of boating fatality victims. The inherent dangers associated with SWR demand attention to strategy, tactics, training, standard operating guidelines and other factors related to operational safety. Standard operating guidelines should include the topics in Appendix B (Collins, 2005). An incident commander who has the advantage of access to well-trained, properly equipped firefighters and rescue teams can manage swift water rescues aggressively and safely to ensure the best chance of rescuing victims. To achieve this goal, fire departments should undertake proper preparation before their personnel are confronted with potentially lethal rescues. Departments who have formed swift water rescue programs tend to have firefighters who are well rounded, physically fit, and enthusiastic about their job (Collins, 2005, p. 129). After having gained knowledge of swift water dynamics and local swift water hazards an officer can develop an appropriate response system. All staff should be trained in basic swift water rescue procedures (Collins, 2005) since it is difficult to say who will be responding or who may be assigned to a certain station on any given day. Advanced rescue capability may be established by assigning that responsibility to particular units, such as truck companies, technical rescue units, and other units located in high hazard areas. Officers should have a working understanding of the hazards and dynamics of moving water, what equipment and tactics may be most effective under given conditions (Collins, 2005). Appendix C provides the command officer

16 Swift Water Preparedness 16 with the required terminology utilized during the mitigation of swift water rescues (Brown, 2006). Swift water teams can also be utilized for ice rescues. That is why it is good to have some personnel who are trained in surface diving and ice diving on a team. Appendix D presents some ice rescue considerations (Hendrick, 1999). Due to the fact that our society is so legalistic (personal communication, September 8, 2006), it is important to consider the legal ramifications for swift water rescue teams. Edwards, Gillespie, Hogan, Jonason, Sergerstrom, Soderstrom, Turnball (2006) found: In order to minimize the risk to a department, a risk management analysis needs to be prepared, identification of a recognized standard of care for the area has to be established, assembly of documentation of all training has to be recorded, responses and rescues must be logged, and there needs to be development of a departmental written guideline. Once this is done, the department needs to research the best training programs and equipment to meet their needs and conform to some recognized national written consensus or standard, such as NFPA (p. 14) Weather related disasters are now the number one killer of civilians worldwide. During the past 20 years 1.5 million people worldwide have been killed by floods and weather related situations (Segerstrom, 2003). It is predicted that by 2030 over 90 million people will be affected by flooding (Segerstrom, 2003, p. 8). Emergency services are not as prepared as they should be for aquatic rescue situations. A concept to be kept in mind is that 90% of all swift water and flood rescues can be handled by operational level skills and equipment (Segerstrom, 2003, p. 10). Technicians are still the most crucial part of the SWR. It is recognized that in the fire service it is difficult to be a technician in several disciplines (Segerstrom, 2003). However, a group of technicians must be available for safety, planning skills and to direct the response.

17 Swift Water Preparedness 17 The Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA, 2006) is developing swift water and flood search and rescue system to aid departments that become overwhelm by natural or manmade water disasters. It is comprised of the Maryland Fire Service, MEMA, the Maryland State Police, The Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Maryland National Guard. This system would place trained swift water and flood search and rescue personnel, tools, personal protective equipment and base of operations equipment in strategic locations prior to the actual event when requested by the local jurisdiction (MEMA, 2006, p. 2). The placement would be influenced by the history of the area to be prone to flooding, transportation arteries, and trained personnel. Human resources would come from the participating public service agencies. Personnel staffing would depend on the rescuers qualifications, certification and commitments from sponsoring departments. Maryland is prone to large scale flood disaster potential. Historically, hurricanes, tropical storms and tornadoes have brought death and destruction to all regions of the state (MEMA, 2006, p. 3) Thirteen percent of the state s land area fall within the 100 year flood zone. Major contributors to this flooding is winter spring snow melt combined with heavy rains, tropical storms, localized thunderstorms and the diverse topography for flash flooding (MEMA, 2006, p 3). To help victims have a better chance of survival state wide National Incident Management System (NIMS) typed swift water teams will give immediate response immediately following a flood. Maryland Emergency Management Agency states that teams that want to be deployed throughout the state must meet the minimum criteria as out lined in NIMS. Jurisdictions are not required to adopt the Maryland Swift Water/Flood Search and Rescue Response plan for their

18 Swift Water Preparedness 18 swift water and flood rescue team unless they wish to be register at MEMA as a resource for state wide deployment (MEMA, 2006). While the researcher was reading literature on the subject he developed a core of individuals to call by telephone for an interview who are regarded as extremely knowledgeable on the subject of swift water rescue. Mary Rigg shared the loss of her fiancé due to a swift water incident. Jim Segerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) stressed the importance of SWR training and utilizing an outside source to due the certification of the training once completed. George Lewis (personal communication, September 6, 2006) shared the importance of being what you say you are, if you are a boat operator then have the certification to back it up. Mike Berna (personal communication, September 6, 2006) shared the importance of having the right equipment to perform SWR. Carl Mauney (personal communication, September 4, 2006) expressed the importance of having backing from the department heads to make it work. Slim Ray (personal communication, September 7, 2006) gave insight from the white water rescue background. The literature review provided a look at how one can see that weather related disasters can create very dangerous situations for the community and the rescuers. Hence the need for preparation prior the incident involving a trained and equipped fire department. In the following section procedures are explained for researching answers to the questions presented in the introduction section. PROCEDURES Definition of Terms TRADENET an electronic mail forum through the National Fire Academy to exchange information to subscribers.

19 Swift Water Preparedness 19 The procedures for the ARP started with finding out who are the leading authorities in swift water rescue through web sources. Books were read dealing with swift water rescue emergencies. The local representatives were chosen due to their roles in the career and volunteer organization as related to SWR. TRADENET was utilized to try to determine fire departments of similar size personnel to Frederick County. I sent out the questionnaire on TRADENET with statements of the size of my department added. Responses to my TRADENET search give me leads for contacts to send the questionnaire to. The questionnaire was developed to answer the research problem questions. This questionnaire was developed based on information gained in the literature and from interviews. The cover letter for the questionnaire is in Appendix E and the questionnaire can be found in Appendix F. A list of the departments that were of similar size to FCDFRS whom I sent the questionnaire to can be found in Appendix G. A questionnaire was sent out to career staff at each station in Frederick County to get a reply for the resources available to FCDFRS at this time. The National Fire Protection Association standards that were relevant to water rescues were reviewed. This included Standards 1006 and These standards were viewed to determine what national criteria had been recommended. The Swift water Rescue Technician Unit 1 Edwards et al. (2006) written by Rescue 3 International was reviewed to become familiar with requirements and make up of swift water rescue teams. Videos from PULSE- Emergency Medical Update (PULSE, 2003) and American Heat (American Heat, 2005) were also viewed to gain insight into swift water rescues. This was done to provide a baseline objective for the FCDFRS.

20 Swift Water Preparedness 20 Interviews were also conducted with the Captain of Safety, D. Wenner of the FCDFRS, to get his insight on where this department stands on SWR. Todd Johnson (personal communication, September 7, 2006) was interviewed to determine the resources the volunteer companies have to offer. These interviews addressed the research question of what are the resources currently available to the FCDFRS? Telephone interviews were also conducted with a representative of the United States Coast Guard, Chief M. Warren (personal communication, September 7, 2006) and with retired Chief Petty Officer R. Black of the United States Navy (personal communication, September 11, 2006). These interviews were done to see how sources outside the fire service handle water rescues. The interviews varied in time from fifteen minutes to an hour and the following verbal questionnaire was used. What are the established standards and criteria needed to respond to swift water rescues? What criteria do you use for swift water rescues? What is the potential outcome of not being prepared for swift water rescues? Limitations The researcher made an attempt to contact departments whom he thought would perform SWR rescues and have a similar size career staff by utilizing a questionnaire. It was difficult to determine prior to the questionnaires being sent out as to which fire departments met this criteria. Also, the researcher believes some of the respondents to the questionnaires were not familiar with SWR components themselves. RESULTS The overall results of the following research questions for this study documented the national standards that are accepted by many fire departments for water rescue. What are the established components needed to respond to swift water rescues? What are the components for

21 Swift Water Preparedness 21 swift water responses used by other fire departments? What are the resources that are currently available in the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services for a swift water rescue response? What are the potential outcomes of not being prepared for swift water rescue responses? However, Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue had not officially adopted these standards. The components needed to prepare the FCDFRS for swift water rescues were determined. The first research question asked what are the established standards and criteria needed to respond to swift water rescues? J. Segerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) the director of Special Rescue Services Group of Sonora, California founded Rescue 3 and the internationally recognized Swift water Rescue Technician program in He has been with the Tuolumne County Sheriff s Search and Rescue Team for over 30 years. He stated that the discipline of swift water rescue is not elderly. Swift water rescue (SWR) training started in the private sector and as it went along the requirements were accepted in a consensus standard. Companies in SWR started from a group of white water rafters who were guides that had paramedic, rope training and other skills. People who are trained in swift water rescue have not saturated the fire service. This is partly due to the fire service being slow to change and having so many opinions. J. Segerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) stated that NFPA 1670 is not a defendable doctrine due to it not having been tested in court. NFPA has not taken a legal stance on the document. The real test will come when someone sues the fire department. Then the court system will be the standard setter. It was also stated by J. Sergerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) that the train the trainer for SWR needs to be eliminated. It is better to have a private company come in

22 Swift Water Preparedness 22 and do the training. Departments must set aside the money to make this happen. Mr. Segerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) stated that a chief in a Mississippi town could not do SWR training since he could not fund the back fill of station members that would be taking the class. Mr. Segerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) said this is a condemnation of the fire service. He went on to say that after the training is done another entity needs to come in to certify the training that took place. This entity will make sure the core competencies were trained and learned to protect the department legally. There needs to be a quantum change in the philosophical thinking of the fire service by having all paid firefighters trained in SWR to at least the awareness level (J. Sergerstrom, personal communication, September 1, 2006). Specialized training, like SWR, may have to be on your own time and not be for merit pay. Rescue responses will continue to increase, while suppression responses decline. Hence, the need for change in order for the paid fire service to survive (J. Sergestrom, personal communication, September 1, 2006). Captain C. Mauney (personal communication, September 4, 2006) with the Montgomery County Department of Fire and Rescue stated that his department borders Frederick County and units from Montgomery County respond into Frederick County during some SWR incidents. He stated NFPA 1006 encourages his department to train to the SWR technician level. NFPA 1670 (NFPA 1670) is useful for the department standard. However, he feels that NFPA 1670 needs to give standards on the equipment for SWR incidents. Montgomery County currently has a directive on SWR which gives guidelines on what can and can not be done at a SWR incident. A new document is in draft form at this time. It will delineate the operation and technician level SWR techs can do. It also will include all riding assignments be given a PFD, helmet and a throw bag. It also will allow for some rescues to be made by operation level SWR rescuers.

23 Swift Water Preparedness 23 M. Berna (personal communication, September 6, 2006), a member of the Baltimore County, Maryland Special Operations team, and a firefighter with over 20 years experience with SWR, stated that NFPA 1006 and NFPA 1670 are the bare minimum a department should require of all its firefighters. To increase the training, boat operations should be added along with technicians for a full SWR team. I asked him what criteria Baltimore County uses for SWR? FF Berna replied that there are two SWR teams in his county and that on a typical SWR, an engine, truck medic unit and rescue squad are dispatched. These units are staffed at the minimum with awareness level personnel. The actual team members are technicians and respond either on these units or other units from stations where they are located that shift. Two boats will be responding that are the inflatable rubber style. G. Lewis (personal communication, September 6, 2006), a retired Fairfax County, Virginia firefighter whom instructs for Rescue 3 stated that NFPA 1670 and NFPA 1006 should be adopted by the department. The department can be held to these standards, even if they do not adopt them, if something goes wrong at a SWR incident (G. Lewis, personal communication, September 6, 2006). At a minimum, all the firefighters in a department should be trained to the awareness level. An option for technician level SWR technicians is to have a mutual aid agreement with a close by jurisdiction. If the department provides training for technicians they must ensure that these firefighters also have rope rescue classes (G. Lewis, personal communication, September 6, 2006). The second research question asked what are the criteria for swift water rescue responses used by other fire departments? J. Segerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) stated that all one has to do is look at the National Institute for Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports. There were three drownings in 2005 during SWR. Due to the absence of training survival is luck

24 Swift Water Preparedness 24 and when you run out of luck you die (J. Sergerstrom, personal communication, September 1, 2006). This means that in a SWR incident a rescuer four times at risk of losing their life than a firefighter in a structure fire. This is why the incident command system is needed for the safety of the personnel. Many times at SWR emotions dictate what is going to happen. When this happens firefighters can die. Three years ago a firefighter died in Denver and his wife got a 3.5 million dollar settlement. He died in the SWR wearing turnout gear. The fire service needs to be proactive in getting experience before an incident in stead of waiting for something like this to happen (J. Sergerstrom, personal communication, September 1, 2006). Captain Mauney (personal communication, September 4, 2006) stated that Montgomery County is training their dispatchers to discern from the callers if the rescue is in still water, inland water or swift water. Based on which one it is determines what units will be dispatched. On inland and still water rescues one strike team is sent. This consists of two boats, which can be the inflatable rubber style and another inflatable rubber style or air boat. The strike team includes four SWR Technicians and ten operational or awareness personnel mix. The personnel for the strike team come on a medic ambulance, manpower unit, and rescue squad and boat support unit. On SWR incidents the strike team doubles in size. An air boat is rarely used on these incidents due to its size. G. Lewis (personal communication, September 6, 2006) stated that Fairfax County, Virginia is following the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Team Typing. Team Typing is based on the number of SWR technicians and equipment available in a given jurisdiction.

25 Swift Water Preparedness 25 Commanding Officer M. D. Warren (personal communication, September 7, 2006) of the United States Coast Guard, from Monterey California, stated that they do not do actual swift water rescues. However, they do tidal and surf water rescues. There are three levels of training that coast guard rescuers go through. The first level is Basic, which takes five weeks of training. Second is Surf Rescue, which takes six additional weeks. The third level is Heavy Weather rescue which takes six to eight months. This classroom section is eight hours a day for four weeks. The coast guard candidates have to meet personnel qualifications and sit for an oral board interview. It will take a rescuer one year to one and a half years to complete these entire training criteria. N. Rigg (personal communication, September 7, 2006), who is a flood safety education specialist and a FEMA subject matter expert for SWR stated that for SWR you need to use the term guidelines. This is due to the fluid flexibility needed due to operations in moving water. This will keep the fire departments from being strangled by standards. Many departments believe that SWR will not happen where they are. However, if you have water in your jurisdiction you can have a SWR incident. SWR is the most dangerous situation to be in. This is due to there being few instances per community. Hence, low incident, gives rise to high risk. Miss Rigg lost her fiancé, Earl Higgins, during a swift water rescue incident on February 17, 1980 while he was trying to save a child that had been swept away into the Los Angeles River. The child did make it out thanks to a miracle. Mr. Higgins was swept right by rescuers who did not have adequate training or equipment needed to rescue him. His remains were found nine months later 30 miles downstream. S. Ray (personal communication, September 7, 2006) who is an internationally recognized authority on flood, swift water and whitewater safety and rescue, stated that there really are not any standards for SWR. He stated that the closest standard training is Rescue 3. Mr. Ray stated

26 Swift Water Preparedness 26 there is a lot of talk about standards, however no action. He is not sure that there will be a one size fits all standard due to SWR incidents are scenario dependent. What is good for California may not be good for Maryland. S.Ray stated that people and rescuers will die if not prepared for SWR. In % of the firefighter fatalities were due to SWR. Hence, the fire service saw it had a problem. Today, the average fire department SWR calls are small, however we still have a high SWR death rate for the responders. This is due to the firefighters not being trained and equipped. Firefighters have to realize that they are also flood fighters. The questionnaire results in Appendix H show the components utilized by other departments to mitigate swift water rescues. This information is based on sending out questionnaires, found in Appendix F, to 100 fire departments, in Appendix G, with a return of 54 percent. The third research question asked what are the resources that are currently available in the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services for a swift water rescue response? T. Johnson (personal communication, September 7, 2006), the Chairman for the Maryland State Fireman s Water Craft Committee, is the Water Rescue Team Leader for the Junior Fire Company in Frederick, Maryland. The volunteer fire and rescue association adopted a Frederick County Swift Water Flood Task Force Standard Operating Guideline in 2003 which includes the career staff for participation in water rescues (Operations Committee, 2003). The problem is that the career staff does not have a policy for being required to be trained in SWR at any level (T. Johnson, personal communication, September 7, 2006). The volunteer association has adopted the NFPA 1670 standard. They have also looked at FEMA 120 resource list for resource typing. This resource typing based the type of SWR team on the number of trained personnel and available

27 Swift Water Preparedness 27 boats. Mr. Johnson would like to see two personal floatation devices and throw bags placed in stations. Some of the volunteer stations do have personal floatation devices on apparatus. Mr. Johnson stated that currently there are approximately 100 trained awareness, 50 trained operations and 25 trained technicians available for SWR on the volunteer side of the county. There are also about 40 trained in ice rescue and six trained in dive rescue. He believes it is vital that the fire stations that have boats have trained boat operators. Some volunteer s use in house training and others get outside companies to do their training. Two volunteers went to Saint Louis to take SWR Flood boat operators class. This cost $400 per person and was a 40 hour class. Captain D. Wenner (personal communication, September 8, 2006), of the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services, stated the division should follow national standards when responding to SWR incidents, however it needs to be jurisdictional specific. They also need to be performance based and there should be someone trained in doing a risk analysis based on conditions in Frederick County. This risk analysis should include an accurate size up of speed, height, appropriate training and equipment, to include watercraft. Captain D. Wenner (personal communication, September 8, 2006) stated that Frederick County has a combination response of volunteer and career staff. However, there is no policy to require career staff to be SWR trained to any particular level and no boat operations level requirement. He would like to see everyone be trained to the awareness level and units equipped with helmets, throw ropes and personal floatation devices. There should be some career staff trained to technician level due to the hazards of SWR. Command and control is paramount. There should not be any emotion based decision making, it should be based on fact. Captain Wenner stated that support by career staff as a resource for SWR is fragmented. This is due to no accepted standard related to SWR or strategic goals. There also needs to be more SWR appropriate

28 Swift Water Preparedness 28 equipment placed on apparatus that is adequate to the number of staff in the station and required levels of training must be put in place. Research question four asked what are the potential outcomes of not being prepared for swift water responses? J. Segerstrom (personal communication, September 1, 2006) stated that to inappropriate equipment and training for SWR will lead to more firefighters losing their lives. Utilizing proper equipment and training is very important to firefighter safety. C. Mauney (personal communication, September 4, 2006) said the potential outcomes of not being prepared for swift water responses places the safety of the rescuer at stake and it is not a timely rescue response to the citizens in need. He has seen teams show up on SWR calls that are good intentioned, however, they are not properly trained and the decisions made are poor and the operations goes down hill rapidly. Funding is just not going to SWR teams and this needs to change. G. Lewis (personal communication, September 6, 2006) stated rescuer and civilian deaths will occur when a jurisdiction is not prepared for SWR. More rescuers die than civilians. SWR makes up three to five percentage of the call volume and fifteen to twenty percent of the line of duty deaths. This is attributed to no training. For instance, some departments state you are a boat operator if you know how to start the motor on the boat! Some boat operators are trained on a calm lake and they are expected to perform in a SWR incident, which overwhelms them. Departments should also look into an inflatable Zodiac style boat for safer operations in SWR. Commanding Officer M.Warren (personal communication, September 7, 2006) stated that even though the Coast Guard does not respond to SWR it does surf and heavy weather rescues. People will die if they are not prepared. Boats go on rocks and must be rescued. This and other rescues can only be effectively done if the rescuers can be well trained.

29 Swift Water Preparedness 29 Retired Chief Petty Officer R. Black (personal communication, September 11, 2006) stated that the United States Navy does not actually do SWR. However they do rescue people that go overboard at sea on ships. When they lower a smaller boat into the water from one of the Navy s larger ships the crew consist of a boat driver, an officer, an engine man, an auxiliary man and a rescue swimmer. The boat driver must concentrate on taking the rescuers to where the person was last seen in the water. An officer is in charge of the crew. The engine person is along to take care of any mechanical difficulties with the boat s motor. An auxiliary person is a backup rescue swimmer and the person that can help where ever needed. A rescue swimmer is a very strong swimmer whom will go out into the water to make the rescue of the person once the rescue boat is close to the victim. Chief Petty Officer Black stated (personal communication, September 11, 2006) that it is imperative to be proactive in training for these types of occurrences. Training must take place once a quarter and it has to include the rescue swimmer being placed in the water that he/she will be making the rescues. It also is imperative for the swimmer to be fit so that they can perform well when called into action. A boat operator must be trained for the type of water rescues they will be operating in. The boat operator must practice for night rescues and be skilled in maneuvering the boat into position. It is very important for the rescuers to be skilled in throwing throw ropes. As for the cost of not being prepared for water rescues there would be many lives lost. The Navy stresses water recovery for its sailors due to the nature of being out at sea. That is why they practice for the real rescue in their practice scenarios. Descriptive Research Results

30 Swift Water Preparedness 30 The purpose of this research is to identify the components needed to prepare FCDFRS for swift water responses. Information in the appendices, gathered from interviews and from the questionnaires presents the criteria for identifying the needed components. DISCUSSION Relationship between Study Results and Literature Based on the information gathered while doing this research, this study suggested that the FCDFRS does have a sizeable liability issue by not being prepared for swift water rescues. This lack of preparedness also is putting the tax payers of the county, as well as visitors, at serious risk (D. Wenner, personal communication, September 8, 2006). It also goes against firefighter s own mission statement (D. Wenner, personal communication, September 8, 2006) of protecting life, property and the environment. Frederick County has various waterways, ponds, lakes and is a prime area for flash flooding and hurricanes. The results of this study support the need to adopt the NFPA 1006 and NFPA 1670 standards for water rescues so that there will be accountability in the SWR program. Interpretation of Results The results have shown that Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services is in a situation that many proactive departments have eliminated by taking a stance of being prepared for SWR incidents. The volunteers have many resources to mitigate SWR responses, while the career staff lags behind in resources and training. An all out effort needs to be made to support SWR training along with budgeting for the purchase of needed equipment. By taking a proactive stance the FCDFRS will be equipping the career firefighters to succeed in mitigating an emergency that they are now being dispatched