Rapid Intervention Team
(RIT)
Through the late 1960s and early 1970s the London Fire Brigade
introduced RIT procedures using EATL and EASE equipment (Emergency Air
Transfer Lines & Emergency Air Supply Equipment). This consisted of designated
firefighter search & rescue teams (termed Emergency Crews) stationed at
BA control entry points, equipped with emergency SCBA specifically designed
to be worn by unconscious, injured or trapped firefighters.
More fire fighters die in residential occupancies than in any other type
of structure fire and are typically the most common type of occupancy that
fire fighters encounter. Both the NFPA and OSHA have requirements for some
type of RIT at structure fires. These standards requiring that a minimum of
two fire fighters be standing by outside in full protective equipment,
while other crew meembers are working in a hazardous atmosphere, are the
result of a series of incidents where fire fighters became lost, trapped,
or disoriented while fighting a structure fire without a RIT present.
The Rapid Intervention Team is a unit made up of emergency responders
trained in emergency scene rescue techniques. The team's objective is to
rescue emergency responders who become trapped, injured or missing during response
activities.
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