Ask any firefighter what the most important function at a structure fire is, and the answer almost unanimously would be “saving lives.” Not many will argue against the fundamental reason for our existence as firefighters. But, if we are carefully noticing activities at a structure fire, we would observe that the actions of those operating on the scene sometimes paint a slightly different picture. Actions do speak louder than words, and our most important function, search and rescue, appears to be the area in which we have the least expertise. It seems that if a search is carried out at a residential fire, more times than not it is conducted haphazardly and generally after the fire has been knocked down.
Think back to the last fire or even the last 10 fires to which you responded. Did you perform a search or make a rescue while operating at these fires? Did you hear the radio traffic benchmarks of “primary complete,” “secondary complete”? If so, were those benchmarks early enough in the incident to really matter in the survival of a trapped victim? Was a primary search even performed at your last fire response?
If we’re being honest with ourselves, it will become apparent that our primary mission often is overlooked. Search and rescue, the very act of saving lives, is being pushed farther and farther down the list of tactical priorities. How is it that this most crucial firefighting function is becoming something that is carried out later and later in the incident, if at all? Is it a lack of training, or is it just because we really don’t need to perform too many primary searches? Or is there another underlying cause?
If you are a current subscriber,login here访问此内容。
If you would like to become a subscriber, please visit ushere.
