Think About It!

The Importance Of Plan A,B,C,D,E,F,G………

Post courtesy of Patrick McKay, Fairfax City Rescue Engine 33 Chauffeur

Company officers are tasked with strategizing and using their personnel to employ tactics during emergency incidents. When making these decisions, an alternate plan should be established in the instance that our initial actions do not mitigate the problem. Yesterday I responded to a unique, somewhat complex incident that further emphasized this. Fortunately due to proactive decision making by several good fire officers, multiple plans were established and employed without delay. If you do this job long enough, you will likely respond to a variety of emergency incidents where the first tactics that are employed are unsuccessful. With that said, we cannot simply freeze up and look around waiting for a solution to the problem to drop from the sky. This article will look at how to prepare for and employ multiple tactics during emergency incidents.

Training is probably the best way to ensure to your company is able to employ multiple plans. Incorporate elements into scenario based drills that cause failure of Plan A such as: the FDC is damaged and unable to be used yet you still need to get water to the fire on the 10th floor, your initial preconnect stretch does not reach the fire area, your saws won’t start yet the roof still needs to be opened, the stairs are burned out to the second floor and a search still needs to be conducted because there is a report of occupants inside, your hydraulic rescue tool system fails and the occupants of a vehicle are still trapped. These are certainly not the only drills that can be conducted but are merely examples of a few drills where companies need to initiate Plan B and so on. It is better to work out the kinks during training than on an actual incident. This training will create thinking firefighters and fire officers and allow them to make sound decisions quickly to overcome obstacles on emergency incidents.

Being proactive is essential to successful emergency incident operations. If we’re not proactive, we’ll be reactive and continuously playing catch-up. During rope rescue operations we always attempt to establish redundancy at least one time for each component of our systems and we incorporate elements such as load releasing hitches in case our initial plan fails. Constructing our rope systems with these elements and redundancy initially will allow us to overcome events that may cause our initial plan to fail, without delay. This is one example of taking a proactive approach during emergency incident operations.

As I mentioned in a previous article, it’s important to not only know how to use your equipment but also the limitations of your equipment. This allows personnel to identify all the equipment on their rig that may be used to cut something and also which tool or technique to utilize in the instance that your “Plan A” cutting tool fails or breaks. If all of the battery powered reciprocating saws are successful in cutting something but fail due to the battery, a company may simply need to place an electric reciprocating saw in service to continue on.
Hopefully the company has been proactive and already staged this equipment near the scene where it can be quickly deployed. If a company is unsuccessfully trying to displace something utilizing hydraulic spreaders with a spread force of 32,000 pounds and a 40,000 pound spreader is also on the scene, it would be a good idea to put the 40,000 pound spreaders to work. Knowing your equipment will allow you to make these decisions quickly on emergency incidents. The same kind of decision making can be used on the fireground dealing with handlines. If you are not making any headway on a fire utilizing a handline flowing 150 GPM’s, a decision needs to be made to increase the GPM’s. This could be accomplished by switching nozzles (a proactive move may be placing a 15/16” slug between the shut off and nozzle), bringing in another handline that flows 150 GPM’s thus providing a total of 300 GPM’s, or bringing in a larger line that’s capable of flowing 250 GPM’s or more. This decision needs to be made quickly and may be influenced by factors such as personnel available, water available, and the area that the line is being maneuvered in.

I hope this article provides some insight or merely initiates thoughts on developing and employing multiple plans to mitigate an emergency. A good rule of thumb is to always develop at least one back up plan to whatever plan you are utilizing (e.g. if we are on Plan C, then Plan D needs to be established). This will allow you to stay ahead of the game and prevent long periods of inactivity. Nobody has the answer to every problem, however we can effectively work towards solving these problems by developing multiple plans. Another important element of developing and employing multiple plans is having someone who is standing back from the immediate work area and can provide insight as to what’s working and what’s not working. Sometimes when we are actively involved in an operation we become so engrossed with what’s taking place that we lose track of time or fail to see what’s taking place in the big picture. Happy holidays and stay safe!