FAST- local teams used at own fires?

[Guest tfd193]

It appears I have misinterpreted your first posts. Sorry for the misunderstandings

[Remember585 815]

At what point do you throw in the towel and admit you can't respond?

Do you wait and wait and wait???

What's your minimum response requirement? Is it adhered to?

Does the whole FAST Thing in OUR AREA (I don't know about anywhere else) come down to calling your neighbors / friends just so they call you to thier next big one?

As for training, don't even get me started anymore. I'm on a team that has a strict rule on training requirements, and from what I gather from a bunch of area Departments, we might be the only one. We've even removed guys from the team that work(ed) as career firefighters because they didn't meet our requirement.

In case you're wondering - some of the requirements are;

Essentials / Basic / FF 1

IFA / Intermediate

Survival

FAST

CPR

Attendance at 50% of Team Drills (all members currently on our team made this requirement and then some in 2005).

In addition, everyone has training in

AVET

Ropes

Ladders

The least amount of experience presently on our team is 6 years. We put members in a training phase until we are confident in them to become a member. We take a proavtive approach to the incidents we go on, such as throwing ladders, clearing windows / window dressings and accountability when not already in place. The thing that cracks me up is that after 1 fire in particular, someone made the comment that we weren't doing what we're suppost to, which is to wait for someone to be in a jam. We'd rather minimize the chances then stand there and cross our fingers....

I again apologize about the rant, but I am one of those people who has been on the receiving end and the helping end - and - someone who lost a family member fighting a fire. This is the one thing I am most passionate about, and when I see the $hit that goes on around here I get completely unhinged.

Rant off.....(Thank God!)

[22 Truck 6]

how can some departments be called a FAST team when 98% of the team members are not properly trained or guailified or dont hold drills every month,is it better to tag a company as the fast team or use a rotation with the other companys in there department       

←

thank God somebody said it.....

[firemoose827 324]

We have a county team with members from all over the county, and departments who have "donated" their rigs for our use. If theres a call in the north end of the county then all members whos depts aren't on scene respond to the closest "donated" engine and respond with atleast a crew of four. It works well and the longest response time was 10 minutes. A lot of orur depts dont call us though, they think they dont need us. Stupid, Huh?

[Posa 103 2]

I heard about this forum through a good friend. I work in Ladder 103, and I was at the fire where Richie died. First of all the "official" reports do not tell the entire story, and arnt 100% accurate either. Secondly, all your "theory's" are wondurful...now do them when its a guy you were just eating lunch with, blinded by very hot smoke in a chimney, in a real building that you've never been in before, while your radio michrophone is melting, and the guy is pinned down by something you cant determine, boxes and crap all over the place, with room for maybe two guys to operate and try to keep the fire from coming up the stairs at the same time....simple just set up two in two out and go pick him up.....why didnt we think of that??

Edited March 13, 2006 by Posa 103

[x152 179]

I heard about this forum through a good friend. I work in Ladder 103, and I was at the fire where Richie died. First of all the "official" reports do not tell the entire story, and arnt 100% accurate either. Secondly, all your "theory's" are wondurful...now do them when its a guy you were just eating lunch with, blinded by very hot smoke in a chimney, in a real building that you've never been in before, while your radio michrophone is melting, and the guy is pinned down by something you cant determine, boxes and crap all over the place, with room for maybe two guys to operate and try to keep the fire from coming up the stairs at the same time....simple just set up two in two out and go pick him up.....why didnt we think of that??

←

POSA glad you stepped in.......as usual there are far too many quarterbacks attempting to rewrite history here.

Fire Fighter rescue is a labor intensive (i.e. time intensive) operation. If we do not have a cadre of personnel available to do the job, the concept of RIT/FAST/or (whatever buzz word we call it this week) is not going to work.

Expensive tanden-axle Rescue Trucks (with 24" lettered "Rapid Intervention Unit" on the side), colorful armbands/scba covers, concrete cutting saws, all terrain vehicles, rescue cranes, or whatever..... are only good for the clever marketing of the equipment dealer that just sold you the goods.

[Guest fire38]

I like the idea of a county Fast Team. You have more resources to pull from, and you will most likely get the best team possible because you won't have to worry about chiefs scratching each others backs, which is a common mistake by me.

[firemoose827 324]

I like the idea of a county Fast Team. You have more resources to pull from, and you  will most likely get the best team possible because you won't have to worry about chiefs scratching each others backs, which is a common mistake by me.

←

Yes. We are run by one of our county deputy coordinators who simply run drills and oversee the logistics of the team. On calls, the first team member to arrive is the team leader and runs the calls. We work well together and drill monthly. We have no flashy markings or fancy tools, the team leader stages at the command post and the team stands by somewhere close by.

POSA103, sorry about your friend.