FIRE-USAR / HAZMAT

Fire Branch Overview – Hazardous Materials and Urban Search and Rescue

Fire based scenarios for 2012 followed a different format than in past years. This year, portions of the hazardous materials and rescue scenarios were devoted to decision making skills and cooperation between teams, in addition to the completion of a specific set of tasks in a given amount of time.1 Hazardous materials and search and rescue scenarios were broken down into 2 distinct phases.
The first, or competitive phase, consisted of a series of time-based scenarios, evaluated and graded by a proctor. These scenarios were approximately 1 hour in duration, geared at evaluating a particular skill or method used to address a problem. Most scenarios culminated with a short briefing by the participants, to provide an interpretation of information gained during the scenario.
The second phase was the cooperative phase, where several teams arrived simultaneously at a large-scale problem, much like a real incident. For example, three urban search and rescue teams were assigned to arrive at a scenario site at the same time. A simulated Chief Officer provided a general briefing, selected a task force leader from the participants, advised the teams of the rules of engagement, and direct them to work the scenario in a unified manner, sharing resources and personnel. This was not a formally evaluated portion of the exercise however, each team was shadowed by a proctor who recorded general comments and observations about the performance of the team and the individual members.
Additionally, the Fire Branch of Urban Shield provided opportunities for combined law enforcement/fire scenarios. These scenarios were focused on establishing joint action plans, joint hazard assessment teams, and law enforcement oriented decontamination.

Hazardous Materials

Teams participating in the hazardous materials scenarios were challenged with illicit laboratories, product sampling and identification situations, radiation detection and identification and product control in large cargo tanks and simulated fixed facilities. Combined, each of these scenarios required the use of detection and monitoring devices, wet chemistry identification, appropriate personal protective equipment and various types of product control measures. Additionally, certain phases of the overall exercise required cooperation between teams to solve a given set of challenges. Rating dimensions included leadership, decision making processes and results, teamwork, problem solving ability, communication, scene safety, use of resources and equipment, and overall command and control.

Search and Rescue

Search and rescue scenarios enabled participants to perform core search and rescue competencies, as well as test the ability of mutual aid companies to mitigate multiple search and rescue problems during a large-scale scenario. Participants and teams were challenged with scenarios focused on building collapse, rubble pile search with live victim rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue and high angle rescue situations. Teams were evaluated on their ability to size-up victim and hazard situations, establish visible command and control, mitigate general scene hazards, make the rescue area safe, assign shoring and extrication assignments, and patient packaging and removal techniques. Rating dimensions included leadership, decision making process and results, teamwork, problem solving ability, communication, scene safety, use of resources and equipment, and overall command and control.