BY CHRIS WHITBY
I recently heard the following dispatch; the names have been changed to protect the guilty: "Attention Department 3: Mutual aid re-quests, from department 53-58, one RIT [rapid intervention team] to the scene of a structure fire, Main Street, USA." After a few short minutes, Department 3's chief replied: "Control, 03-1: Be advised, we don't have a RIT." After a brief pause, the control center dispatched a RIT from Department 26, which was three districts away. It took that department 10 minutes to respond; add also the initial delay of Department 3's dispatch and refusal to respond.
Let's look at the overall responsibility of the RIT, also known as FAST (firefighter assistance and search team), and the type of training needed for each.
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