Swi Water Rescue Module - Hyattsville Volunteer Fire ... · PDF fileSwi Water Rescue Terms (contd.) • Drowning: – Obvious to many but that’s what we are trying to prevent

Hya$svilleVolunteerFireDepartmentTraining

Swi$WaterRescueModule

Swi9WaterTerms

•  Upstream

–  Upstreamisbacktowardsthedirec9oncurrent/flow

•  Downstream

–  Downstreamisthedirec9onthecurrent/flowisgoing

•  RiverLe9

–  RiverLe$isthesidetowardyourle$handwhileyourbackistothecurrent/flow

•  RiverRight

–  RiverRightisthesidetowardyourrighthandwhileyourbackistothecurrent/flow

•  RiverCenter

–  RiverCenteristhemiddleoftheflow

5/3/09 Swi$WaterRescueModule

Swi9WaterRescueTerms(contd.)

•  Drowning:

–  Obvioustomanybutthat’swhatwearetryingtoprevent.

•  Entrapment:

–  Whatcangetvic9ms/rescuersstuck

•  Trauma:

–  Whatcanhurtvic9ms/rescuers

•  Hypothermia:

–  Mostwaterinourlocalareawouldbeconsideredcoldenough(<70deg.)yeararoundtocauseHypothermia(Seechartbelow)

•  Debris:

–  Top,floa9ng,suspendedandboRom


Swi9WaterRescueTerms(contd.)

•  LowheadDams:

–  NooneotherthanSwi$WaterRescuesTechsshouldaRemptanyrescueinvolvingLowHeaddams

•  ContaminatedWater:

–  Otherthannormallyrunningwatersourceswhenthereisafloodtypesitua9onweneedtobeawareofpossiblecontaminatedwatersuchasfromsep9c/sewersystemsandgroundwaterrun‐off

•  FixedObstacles:

–  Bridgesabutments,Rocks,Culvertsandothers

•  Strainers:

–  Strainersletwaterpassbutnotsolidstopassthrough

–  Examples:Barbwire,treelimbs,branches,logjamsandfences


BePrepared

•  AllDepartmentmembersneedtopreparethemselvesforthepossibilityofrespondingtoanincidentthatmayinvolveswi$waterrescue.

•  Swi$waterrescuecanbebothchallenginganddangerous,requiringskill,9mingandteamworkinordertobeeffec9ve.

•  Rememberthe9metoprepareisnow.Whenwearefacedwithonlyminutestodeployourresources,wemusthaveawellthoughtoutplantobeabletoimplementaneffec9verescuewithaminimalamountofrisktothefirstresponder.


BePrepared(contd.)

Duringinclementweather,makesurethattheswi$waterrescueequipmentontheapparatusinanareathatiseasilyaccessible.

•  Makecertainthatmembershavenon‐skidsole/shoes,ortennisshoesreadilyavailableincasetheywillbeworkingaroundthewater’sedge.

•  Personalflota9ondevicesandswi$waterhelmetsshouldalsobeinaposi9onwheretheycanbequicklydonned.

•  Ropethrowbagsandrescueequipmentshouldbepre‐riggedandreadyforimmediatedeployment.


WhenDispatched…

•  Itisimpera9vethatcompaniesrespondtotheloca9ondesignatedbyPSCwhendispatchedonaswi$waterincident.

•  Allcompaniesareremindedthatduringinclementweather,response9mesmaybeincreasedduetoassociatedproblems.

•  The“average”response9metoarescuesitefordeploymentisapproximatelyfiveminutes,withanaddi9onalthreeandahalfminutestoset‐upforarescueopera9on.


RescueOperaMons:PointLastSeen

•  Determinethespeedoftheflowingwaterbytheuseofanin‐watervisualindicator.(halffilledwetwaterboRlewithfire‐linetapetail)

•  Ques9onwitnessesregardingtheincidentandthevic9m(s)thatmaybeinthewater.Theinforma9onthatwillbeneededincludes:

–  Numberofvic9msinthewater

–  Ageofvic9m(s)

–  Timeinthewater

–  Type/colorofclothing

–  Swimmingabilityofvic9m(s)

•  Searchtheimmediateareaforvic9m(s)

•  Relayinforma9ondownstreamtootherRescuers


RescueOperaMons:FloataMonSite

•  Posi9onlookoutsfacingupstreamtosearchforvic9m(s)orvisual

indicatorreleasedbypointlastscenecompany.

•  Preparetogetflota9ondevicetothevic9meitherbyloweringor

throwingalifering,considerusingfire‐linetapetolowerthering.

•  Communicatewiththein‐watervic9m

–  Reassurevic9mthatrescueeffortsareoccurring

–  ARempttogetvic9mintoadefensiveswimmingposi9on

–  ARempttogetvic9mtoself‐rescue(swimtowardrescuers)

•  Relaynecessaryinforma9ondownstream

–  Whetherthevic9mhasafloata9ondevice

–  Vic9m’sloca9onwithinthechannel

–  Physicalcondi9onofthevic9m


RescueOperaMons:RescueSite

•  Understandthecapabili9esoftheon‐dutymembers/crew

•  Pre‐plantherescuesiteandopera9on‐allowforunseenproblems

•  Thelargecommitmentofresourcesattherescuesitewill

requirecoopera9on/coordina9ontobesuccessful.

•  Establish2rescuepointsatthesite

•  InformtheICwhentherescuesystemisinplace

•  Ifthevic9m(s)getpast(downstream)therescuesite,immediatelyno9fytheIncidentCommander

•  Companiesshallnotleap‐frogtoanewposi9onunlessdirectedbytheIC

Rememberunderidealcondi9ons,theaverage9metosetupforrescue

opera9onsisover3:30minutes.


Swi9WaterRescueTeams

•  FirstRespondersactindependentlyfromtheSwi$water

Teams.FirstResponderCompaniesshallnotwaitforthe

swi$waterteamtoarrivebeforeaRemp9ngtoconduct

alandbasedrescueopera9on.

•  FirstResponderCompaniescompaniesshouldremain

awareoftheTeam’sopera9ngloca9onintheeventa

TeamMemberneedsrescueassistance.


GeneralRescueTechniques

•  Reach(FirstResponderTechnique)

•  Throw(FirstResponderTechnique)

•  Row

•  Go

•  Tow

•  Helo


Reach

•  Thiscanbedonewithanylongrigidobject.Such

asapikepole/hookorladder.Butyoucanuse

yourimagina9on.(LowRisk)


Throw

•  80%ofmovingwaterrescuesareeffectedusing

ropebagsandotherthrowdevices.Arescuer

can"throw"aropebagorotherthrowdevice

fromastableplajorm,ordryland.

•  Usingathrowbagofropeorfloata9ondevice.

(Lowrisk)


Swi9WaterSafety

•  PersonalFloata9onDevice(PFD),HelmetandThrow

Bagwhenwithin10’ofthewater’sedge

•  DeployupstreamspoRers

•  Deploydownstreamsafe9es

•  Neverputyourfeetdownifyou’resweptintothe

water

•  Nevercountonthevic9mtoassistintherescue


Swi9WaterSafety(contd.)

•  Never9earopeatarightangletothecurrent

•  Giventhechoicebetweenafirehelmetandno

helmet;picknohelmet

•  Never9earopetoyourself

•  Alwaysbereadyforself‐rescue


WhistleSignals

•  1Blast

– ARen9on:lookindirec9onofwhistle

•  2Blasts

– ARen9on:lookUp‐stream

•  3Blasts

– ARen9on:lookDown‐stream

•  4BlastsorCon9nuous

– Warning/Emergency:lookindirec9onofwhistle


ThrowBags•  Holding

–  Usingthesmallfigure“8”onabiteplacethumbinbiteandhaveropego

overthebackofyourhandintoyourpalm.

–  DONOTWRAPROPEAROUNDHAND!

•  Throwing

–  Whileholdingtheropewithnon‐dominatehandandholdingthebagstrap

ontheother,swingthebagwithropeunderhandatorslightlyup‐stream

fromyourtarget.

•  Retrieval

–  Con9nuetoholdtheropewithyournon‐dominatehandgatherupthe

ropeinsmall(12”)bitesun9lyouretrievethebag.Noneedtore‐stuffthe

bagunless9mepermits.Nowyouwillbeabletothrowtheropeaswellas

thebag.Repeatasneeded.


WaterCondiMons:Dynamic/Moving

•  Determininghowfastthewaterismovingcandeterminedifferenttypesofrescue.

Throwingas9ckorothereasilyvisibleobjectinthemovingwaterandrecordingthe

9meittakestotravel100feet.


Seconds Current(Ft/Sec) MPH Knots

5 20 13.6 12

10 10 6.8 6

15 6.7 4.5 4

20 5 3.4 3

25 4 2.7 2.4

50 2 1.3 1.2

100 1 .6 .6

WaterCondiMons:ForceofMovingWater


Current(MPH) ForceonLegs(psi) ForceonBody(psi)

3 16.8 33.6

6 67.2 134

9 151 302

12 269 538

WaterCondiMons:Temprature

•  Thischartdoesnotdis9nguishbetweenmoving(dynamic)ands9ll(sta9c)

water.Butrememberthefollowing,Apersonsuddenlyimmersedincoldwater,

especiallythatcolderthan50F,evenifunhurt,immediatelybeingstosuffer

lifethreateningproblems.Mostofthewinterlocalwatertemperatures

average45Fto50F.


WaterTemp UsefulWork Unconcious

32.5°F <5mins <15mins

40°F 7:30mins 30mins

50°F 15mins 60mins

60°F 30mins 2hrs

70°F 45mins 3hrs

SelfRescue

•  PFD/Helmet/Throwbagifwithin10’ofthe

water’sedge

•  CallforHELP!

•  Keepfeetup,pointeddownstreamandmove

yourbodyata45degreeangletothecurrent

•  Watchforathrowbagorotherrescuedevice.


Documents

Swi Water Rescue Module - Hyattsville Volunteer Fire ... · PDF fileSwi Water Rescue Terms (contd.) • Drowning: – Obvious to many but that’s what we are trying to prevent