This week members of Pinehurst Fire Department are in the process of conducting some important lifesaving training in conjuction with the 911 Telecomunicators in Carthage.
Tonight we joined Pinehurst Fire Chief Carlton Cole and Deputy Chief Derrick Clouston to observe the second round of training at the department completing several "Mayday" training scenarios.
It is the Chiefs goal to have each shift complete this training in conjuction with each shift at the 911 Center having the opportunity to train as well.
Unlike most training where dispatch and fire crews are practicing to save you or me, in this case they are practicing saving one or more of their own.
In a call no firefighter wants to hear, if an emergency occurs on a fire ground with a firefighter in distress a Mayday call is sent out.
A Mayday call can be initiated for a number of reasons. A firefighter trapped in a basement who is running out of air in their breathing apparatus, or it could be a firefighter who is injured on the third floor of a burning building unable to escape, a building structural collapse scenario, or so many other situations can lead to a firefighter needing help.
Fortunately in today's modern emergency services, emergency personnel train and prepare to respond to an emergency event just in case something like this were to ever happen.
A Mayday Call is usually initiated by either a firefighter verbally calling for help over the radio, or there is a button on each portable radio that can be pressed to initiate a Mayday call.
Immediately upon receiving the electronic Mayday signal there is a protocol that is implemented by the Telecomunicators.
First they radio the on-scene commander alerting them to the Mayday signal that has been received requesting verification if it is an actual Mayday call or an accidental system activation.
The scene commanders are also able to see the Mayday call details. Each radio can be traced to a specific person or team.
Scene commanders track who is where inside of a house or commercial building and where they are assigned to be working. This allows for on-scene commanders to begin the steps of responding to the problem immediately if needed.
At each fire or other significant incident at the very beginning a preselected number of firefighters are assigned to be prepared to respond as the Rapid Intervention Team or RIT as it is called in the fire service.
It varies some by department, but these trained firefighters usually respond with a RIT bag that might contain things such as forcible entry tools and hand tools to do things like cut wires. They also might carry things like a spare air mask to replace a damaged one, or an extra air bottle should the firefighter in distress run low on air.
In addition Telecomunicators at the dispatch center will automatically dispatch out a Second Alarm for additional nearby fire stations to respond, usually requesting specific units to respond from each station such as engines, tankers, heavy rescue trucks, a ladder or tower truck or other specified apparatus. Officials in the Public Safety Office and the Fire Marshals Office are also notified. In addition EMS units are dispatched and Aircare is placed on stand-by.
A firefighter being trapped or injured is something that we hope that we never see here at home, but situations do happen to emergency responders every week somewhere across the country.
Fortunately for those that are on the frontlines facing danger every day, officials in Moore County are always prepared to respond to an emergency, even when it is one of their own needing to be rescued.