By: Michael L. Walker
The process of “size-up,” the gathering of information about the scene, has been taught for decades. Unfortunately, during most training classes, size-up is discussed as an individual endeavor. The need for shared fireground size-up information is not always stressed. The proof of this deficiency is no more evident than when reading National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) line of duty death (LODD) reports. Failure to perform size-up -or inadequate size-up- and not sharing size–up information, are always a factor in these reports. The continuous sharing of size-up information is a key element for success on the fire ground. In this article, we will discuss using two distinct locations to facilitate size-up that-if applied correctly- will greatly increase scene awareness and operational efficiency. The Incident Commander’s (IC) Exterior Size-Up
The Interior Officer’s Size-Up
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