10 - Fireground Search & Rescue

Fireground Search and Rescue is the tenth and closing title in Action Training Systems' Fire Service Rescue series, and SkillsTrain, the authorised ATS distributor in South Africa, supplies it locally. It brings the series back to the structure fire itself, closing a pathway that has moved through rope, confined space, structural collapse, trench, vehicle and machinery, water and wilderness rescue.

The title covers searching for and removing occupants from a burning building. It works through the difference between a fast primary search for savable victims and a slower, thorough secondary search once conditions allow, systematic search patterns that keep a crew oriented in smoke and heat, and staying tied to a reference such as a wall or a hoseline so a searcher can get back out. It also covers recognising and removing a found victim using appropriate drags and carries, and keeping the search coordinated with the attack and ventilation crews working the same building. This is search and rescue of civilians within the fire, which is distinct from the downed-firefighter focus of rapid intervention training.

ATS builds its rescue content to NFPA 1006, the technical rescue professional-qualifications standard, and SkillsTrain supplies this title to that same build. It uses the same teach, test and track model as the rest of the ATS range: the course teaches a skill on video, checks the learner as they go, and stops, backs up and replays any point answered incorrectly before moving on. It is supplied on USB or as a classroom streaming option, individually or as part of the complete ten-title series.

Who it is for: firefighters and rescue technicians completing the full Fire Service Rescue pathway, and crews who want a disciplined approach to searching a working structure fire.