You hear a DSU

[bittenyakka]

You are on a hose line right at the front of the fire aggressively attacking and you are successfully slowing the spread.  your BA set has 170 bar left and you hear a DSU quite loudly but you are unable to see more than about 1m if that.

the structure is a large open plan shop similar to a supermarket so the shelves act like walls to you but not the fire.

What do you do? and why?

[6739264]

Get down low, and GO GO GO!


But seriously, report the DSU to IC, confirm if they want you to search for it, allow RIT to go searching for it, while you battle the flame.

[bittenyakka]

well i wanted to discuss weather it is better to keep the fire at bay or go searching and hence anyone else who enters the building will have no information where the fire is.

[6739264]

Thats why you notify the IC of conditions inside and the fact you can hear a DSU activating. He then can make the decision as to weather of not you should leave fire attack and go searching or if he sends the purpose formed Rapid Intervention Team in from outside.

99% of the time I would leave it to the guys doing RIT to go in and get find the DSU as its what they are there for in the first place. They should also have the necessary tools for entry and extrication, that you may not have while conduction fire attack internally.

[bittenyakka]

so in CFS where it is common place that internal crews do not carry a radio you would suggest letting the exterior RIT crews do the whole thing?

[6739264]

How many VHF's does your appliance carry?

Every truck I've ever worked off has *atleast* a hoseline and the OIC as a bare minimum.

Who on earth is letting crews go internal without atleast a single VHF between a pair of operators? That is grossly incompetent.

Its always been the case when I've gotten off an appliance to have a VHF in my hand, so the BA set goes on, and the VHF gets slung on the left hand shoulder strap, with the mic optionally being slung around the neck and clipped to the mic holder below your chin on the PBI.

If everything goes pear shaped how on earth are you meant to communicate to external crews? You can't ventilate, give sitreps or do hardly anything internally without a radio.

Are you sure its commonplace in CFS or just in your brigade?

[bittenyakka]

In my brigade it is common for most of the crew to have VHFs but in my BFF1 and BA course they sort of implied or gave the impression that VHF and BA usually didn't go in the same sentence. Personally i believe that trucks should have enough VHF for the whole crew.

Using a radio in BA does require training but isn't that hard

[6739264]

We must have done a very different BA course then. How much training do you need to push button and talk? It does help to hold your breath whilst you speak, but its not necessary.

[bittenyakka]

just the whole slow down talk while exhaleing more so that the person you are trying to contact can get your message quickly and reduce radio traffic etc.

[Darcyq]

On my BA course the instructors went as far as to teach technique in using the hand held mic (speaking directly into it rather than across it as is the norm) whilst wearing BA.

[JC]

There is no way i would be going in to a structure with out comms, back to the post topic i would get onto the IC as well at least he will sum idea as to which way they started there search / attack, it could be quicker for another team to get to them.

[mattb]

All our appliances carry enough VHF radios for all riding positions, 6 firefighters = 6 radios.

We have mounted one in each BA locker, no BA crew goes in without a radio. The mere thought of sending BA teams in without one is dangerous and setting yourself up for failure.

If you don't have enough radios get your group to go out and purchase some more, they are one of the most important safety items you can have on the fireground.

[bittenyakka]

did you buy them yourselves Matt? our brigade has 4 on 24 and hence there is enough for OIC BA team and 2 more people however one was bought by the brigade as i believe stowage is only 3.

[SA Firey]

For info the Icom radios are $884.00 each plus the cost for a yellow pouch :wink:

[bittenyakka]

oh so not not cheap.

[mack]

so in CFS where it is common place that internal crews do not carry a radio

you have got to be joking......

[Robert-Robert34]

UHF handheld Radios like Uniden and GME could also be used by BA teams and OIC as they are very lightweight and not bulky in size plus they cost anywhere between $50-$300 pending on features and optional accessories  :wink:

My brigade has 2 UH040 handhelds for use on the fire ground and training  :-)   

[6739264]

Yeah, I don't know about you but I'm happy with my Motorola XTS 3000 and MTS 2000 thanks champ. I'd rather not have to rely on a radio I bought from filtered Smiths.

[F.B.R.T]

What's wrong with good ol' filtered Smith stuff!
You can get lots of quality stuff from filtered Smith. :-D
Gee I love what the word filter does everytime you type in filtered Smith!! :lol:

[6739264]

Chirst this word filter is terrible.

[RescueHazmat]

You get them, or make sure someone else is getting them.. - Never leave a "brother" down!

-Onto the radios, like everyone else has said, I don't know who told you or where you got the info it was common practice to go internal without a radio, but thats just appalling.

[bittenyakka]

i shall explain my self

on my bff1 one of my instructors said to my question "do BA crews carry radios?"  that is was almost impossible to do so and them talk. now i i hae since discovered that is isn't that hard to use radios and BA and it really helps the whole fire fire fighting process. it was a wrong assumption about CFS as a generic form, which happens all to often in CFS by many people.

[mack]

i thought it was common practice to go and do level one or two, get the paper,and then try your hardest to forget it?

[SA Firey]

Interesting that when you do BA reaccreds they dont use any VHF's in the course,nor teach it.

But if I hear a DSU im dropping everything and going in with a buddy real quick, to find our fallen brothers

[6739264]

Interesting that when you do BA reaccreds they dont use any VHF's in the course,nor teach it.

But if I hear a DSU im dropping everything and going in with a buddy real quick, to find our fallen brothers

Good to hear more solitary action on the fireground! :roll:

Don't forget about you OIC and ECO who have th bigger picture :)