USAR Task Force 6 and Structural Collapse Technician Training

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FEMA Task Force teams across the United States stand ready to deploy in an emergency. Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Force 6 is one of eight US&R teams in the state of California and is based out of Riverside. Before they can be deployed, they must pass two-week training. The minimum training for rescue specialists are Confined Space Operation, Trench Operation, High Angle Rope Operation, Vehicle Extrication, Machinery Extrication, and a Structural Collapse Technician course.

The Structural Collapse Technician course covers concrete breaking and breaching. Instructors from all over the nation were recently sent to Florida to go through all the modules. One of the new techniques that Task Force 6 instructors learned involved the use of saws.  Riverside City Fire Department firefighter, Billy Milligan, explains,  "In the past, we're the West Coast, we all have a tendency to pull our saws back when we're doing our cutting. Back in the East Coast - and pretty much industry standard - they're doing concrete work, they actually push the saw forward. At first, it's a little shaky; but once you get it down, it actually works a little bit better for us in actually working with the saw, and it's easier on the individual operating the saw."

Structural Collapse Technician training covers several areas of rescue techniques.  The first is the Clean Step Cut, which is used on a horizontal slab of concrete directly over the victim when there is no other way to rescue them. "The Clean Step Cut means that we have to surgically take out a piece of concrete and lift it out without anything dropping on that victim," says Riverside City Fire Department Engineer, Bob Linden.

The second is rappelling off a wall. This technique is usually used to pick victims off the side of cliffs or hills, so carrying a jackhammer with the rescuer is different and a little tricky. While they are suspended, they drill anchor points to stabilize the wall so it does not fall on the victim or the rescuer.

The third technique is the Triangular Stitch Cut. Team members take hammer drills and drill holes in the concrete at 2-3 inch intervals in the shape of a triangle that is large enough to fit a person or litter basket. They then take a chipping tool to cut between each of the holes. The block of concrete that must then be removed weighs 300-500 pounds.

In addition to breaking and breaching, the rescuers practice shoring up buildings. Throughout the course, students are taught that although the tools they use at a disaster scene are not always ideal, they are limited to the resources at hand and must learn to work with what they have.


Author:Barbara Brooks - FDNNTV.com