Rescue from collapsed structure

Include all incident actions

Incident information

Confirm and communicate the involvement, number and severity of any casualties (persons or animals)
Establish the last known position (LKP) or place last seen (PLS) of casualties, including times
Question the casualty, other responders and witnesses to understand incident factors and history
Identify best access route, rendezvous point (RVP) and marshalling area and communicate to all responders
Identify building construction, cause and type of collapse and any potential for further collapse
Consider the integrity of the surrounding structures and environment before, during and after space creation
All incident information:
Gather information from available sources to gain accurate situational awareness and understanding
Question the responsible person, other responders and witnesses to understand incident factors and history
Confirm and communicate the involvement, number and severity of any casualties (persons or animals)
Ensure that a scene survey is carried out at the earliest opportunity
Access any operational or site specific risk information (SSRI) and confirm accuracy
Debrief crews that have withdrawn from a working area during an incident to gain operational intelligence
Maintain situational awareness and identify changes during the incident through active monitoring and regular briefings
Further incident information
- Identify building construction, cause and type of collapse and any potential for further collapse
- Access past, present and future weather information from sources such as the Met Office
- All incident information:
- Use local knowledge, topography and map reading skills to aid navigation to an incident
- Ensure that tracks and pathways are suitable for fire service vehicles
- Consider the least damaging routes to incidents and where possible, stay on marked paths and tracks
- Consider Step 1-2-3 Plus: Safety Triggers for Emergency Personnel
- Access past, present and future weather information from sources such as the Met Office
- Ascertain the availability of pre-arranged evacuation strategies and policies
- Consider pollution prevention information contained within site specific risk plans
- Seek advice from landowners and other bodies on susceptible areas of the environment
- Review situational awareness following an emergency evacuation or tactical withdrawal

Resource information

Request medical support at rescue incidents as soon as a need is identified
Consider requesting additional resources or specialist teams to assist with the transportation of casualties
Request adequate resources to enable effective search and timely extrication of casualties
Request adequate resources to enable effective search given the scope and environment of the incident
Consider requesting advice on structural integrity from local authority building control teams or USAR Tac Ad
Further resource information
- Consider the management of any glass that might affect rescue operations
- Consider using a range of thermal imaging resources such as aerial appliances, drones and helicopters
- Consider using a range of thermal imaging resources such as aerial appliances, drones and helicopters
- Carry out testing and monitoring of the atmosphere and use the results to inform the incident plan
- All incident information:
- Identify best access route, rendezvous point (RVP) and marshalling area and communicate to all responders
- Consider requesting facilities for the welfare of crews deployed at protracted incidents
- Consider the availability of pollution control equipment and/or pollution containment facilities on site
- Make use of specialist fire and rescue service or on-site environmental protection equipment
- Consider the appointment of a HMA (or equivalent) to oversee environmental protection activities
- Consider requesting geological monitoring equipment in consultation with urban search and rescue (USAR) tactical advisors

Risk information

Hazardous materials
- Approach the vicinity of the incident cautiously and at slow speed
- Identify whether the incident should be reclassified as a hazardous materials response
- Ensure that appropriate inner and outer cordons are established following an assessment of the risk to crews, other agencies and the public
- Consider the likely presence of explosives, flammables, dusts, biological materials and health hazards
Heavy and bulky objects
- Consider the task, individual capabilities, load and environment (TILE) when carrying out risk assessments for manual handling
- Consider task rotation when personnel are carrying out manual handling tasks
Live utilities
- Isolate any utilities that may affect the incident or crew safety, and secure against reconnection
- Identify any utilities not isolated and communicate to all personnel
- Request the attendance of utility providers to isolate incoming supplies if local isolation is not possible
Rescue tools
- Monitor rescue tool performance for indicators of unidentified materials
- Consider rotating crews involved in the use of rescue tools to reduce fatigue, exposure to noise and vibration
- Provide hard and soft protection between the tool and the casualties, operators and other responders
- Minimise the production of airborne particulates during extrication and provide respiratory protection
- Ensure all personnel wear PPE according to service risk assessment and procedures for rescue incidents
- Consider extrication methods which do not require the use of tools or equipment
Restricted access and egress
- Monitor access and egress routes as the incident progresses and review the incident plan if necessary
- Consider the impact of the transport infrastructure on safe access and egress routes
- Define routes using physical barriers and clearly illuminate where there is reduced visibility
- Account for any extended travel times in the incident plan and contingencies
Unstable structure
- Consider requesting advice on structural integrity from local authority building control teams or USAR Tac Ad
- Assess and monitor the effectiveness shoring
- Consider requesting specialist tactical advice and resources for shoring
- Consider requesting specialist monitoring equipment for unstable structures
- Assess and continuously monitor the buildings for signs of failing structural integrity, external and internal
Working environment
- Carry out testing and monitoring of the atmosphere and use the results to inform the incident plan
- Consider using battery powered lighting to reduce noise and eliminate fumes
- Identify sub-surface voids and highlight avoidance routes at building collapse incidents
- Ensure machinery and processes are isolated and locked out before starting rescue operations
- Ensure that cable cutting equipment is available at incidents where cables may cause entanglement
- Ensure personnel working around unstable ground are secured using work restraint or fall arrest systems
All incident information:
Working environment
- Identify bodies of water, unstable ground and risks of falling from height in working environment
- Consider the effect of weather conditions and time of day on the working environment
- Ensure that all personnel are briefed on the current hazards, risks, control measures and tactical mode
- Establish and maintain safe means of access to and egress from scene of operations at all times
- Establish, identify and communicate safe traffic routes, establish clear zones and equipment points
- Provide lighting to illuminate hazards to personnel in poorly lit environments
- Ensure that all personnel wear the level of PPE identified by service risk assessments, procedures and training
Weather conditions
- Monitor personnel for signs and symptoms of fatigue, dehydration, heat or cold stress
- Consider task rotation when personnel are carrying out manual handling tasks
- Consider relief and welfare arrangements to reduce the effects of stress and fatigue on themselves and others
- Instigate appropriate medical interventions if personnel show signs and symptoms of physiological stress
Noise
- Consider isolating sources of noise
- Keep the number of people exposed to the hazard at a minimum and reduce time of exposure through personnel rotation
- Ensure personnel wear appropriate hearing protectors
Heavy and bulky objects
- Consider using machinery or other equipment to assist with manual handling risk
- Request additional or specialist resources to assist with manual handling tasks
- Consider the task, individual capabilities, load and environment (TILE) when carrying out risk assessments for manual handling
- Ensure personnel adopt the provided safe system of manual handling
Moving vehicles
- Be vigilant and co-operate with service procedures relating to vehicle movements
- Position appliances to fend-off vehicles and use warning signs, lights and cones
- Consider taking steps to minimise the risk of collisions
Animals
- Avoid, contain or control animals if necessary
- Request support with managing animals from owners, keepers, police, vets or welfare organisations
Hazardous materials
- Identify whether the incident should be reclassified as a hazardous materials response
- Remove unaffected chemicals from the hazard area if safe to do so
- Comply with service protocols when handling substances that are hazardous to health
- Ensure open wounds, cuts and grazes are covered by a waterproof dressing
- Comply with hygiene arrangements and do not eat, drink, smoke or vape
Body fluids
- Avoid contact with body fluids where possible
- Isolate or cover body fluids following casualty removal
- Wear body fluid gloves and cover broken skin with waterproof dressing
- Instigate decontamination procedures following exposure of personnel and equipment to body fluids
Distressing or traumatic scenes
- Minimise number of personnel exposed to traumatic scenes where possible
- Handover responsibility for traumatic incidents to an appropriate agency where the fire service does not have primacy
- Erect screens to restrict the view of traumatic scenes
Violence and aggression
- Consider adopting defensive tactics if people are displaying unpredictable, aggressive, violent or illegal behaviour
- Request police support at incidents involving violence and aggression towards crews

Powers, policies and procedures

All incident information:
Close a highway, stop and regulate traffic:
- if a road traffic accident has occurred
- for the purpose of rescuing people or protecting them from serious harm
- if they reasonably believe a fire to have broken out or to be about to break out
- for the purpose of extinguishing or preventing the fire or protecting life or property
Consider applying operational discretion where outcomes would justify unusual, unorthodox or innovative action
Outcomes which would justify applying operational discretion include:
- Saving human life
- Taking decisive action to prevent an incident escalating
- Incidents where taking no action may lead others to put themselves in danger
Return to operational procedures when the objective has been achieved
Restrict the access of persons to premises or a place if they reasonably believe an emergency to have occurred

Why?

Expectations?

Benefit vs Risk?

Objectives

Provide medical care and release trapped casualties
Maintain the safety of all personnel, other responders and the public
Save life and reduce harm
All incident information:
Maintain the safety of all personnel, other responders and the public
Save life and reduce harm
Minimise the impact of the incident and fire service actions on any identified environmental risk
Promote community recovery and restore normal operations
Further objectives
- Secure the scene to ensure evidence is preserved for internal and external investigations
- Minimise the impact of the incident and fire service actions on any identified environmental risk
- All incident information:
- Consider the JESIP principles at all incidents involving multi-agency operations
- Consider taking action to prevent a serious escalation of the incident
- Protect Critical National Infrastructure and/or local critical infrastructure
- Promote community recovery and restore normal operations

Tactical priorities

Develop and communicate immediate release, emergency and full extrication plans
Stabilise life threatening injuries or conditions and maintain casualty care throughout incident
Anticipate casualty condition and potential survivability given the environmental situation
Implement a co-ordinated search plan, define parameters and sub-divide the area where necessary
Develop a plan based on Locate, Access, Stabilise, Transport (LAST) principles
Identify the number of casualties requiring medical attention and instigate a triage process
Establish a safe working environment for fire crews and other responders
All incident information:
Carry out a dynamic risk assessment, identify hazards, evaluate risk and implement safe systems of work
Declare the tactical mode and communicate to all personnel and fire control
Instigate the completion of an analytical risk assessment and record significant findings
Establish emergency arrangements appropriate to the size and complexity of the incident
Further tactical priorities
- Consider screening casualties from the view of the public, media or other casualties
- Consider appointing a search coordinator to ensure all areas have been systematically searched
- Establish and communicate limits of operation based on identified risks and available resources
- All incident information:
- Apply the firefighter safety maxim and safe person principles at operational incidents
- Identify and communicate the hazard area and establish a safe working area as soon as is practicable
- Anticipate the likely development of the incident and evaluate the potential consequences of a range of actions
- Develop and communicate an incident plan considering contingencies arrangements
- Consider the competence of individuals and teams when allocating tasks
- Regularly review and update incident plan in response to active monitoring of the situation against expected outcomes
- Review the tactical mode following active monitoring and briefings with sector commanders
- Periodically review the analytical risk assessment using situational awareness from active monitoring
- Use the Joint Decision Model to co-ordinate an effective response at multi-agency incidents
- Identify the need to evacuate and develop a strategy in liaison with partner agencies
- Communicate emergency evacuation signal and muster point arrangements to all personnel
- Secure the scene to ensure evidence is preserved for internal and external investigations
- Carry out an environmental risk assessment and monitor the impact of tactics on the identified risk
- Consider preservation of evidence when planning, communicating and implementing tactics

Operational tactics

Protect casualties by physically isolating them from immediate harm where possible
Assign suitably trained responders to carry out casualty assessment and provide treatment
Adopt a methodical system when using thermal imaging equipment to search for casualties
Deploy an appropriately sized team into confined or restricted areas for search and rescue tasks
All incident information:
Gain access to premises causing minimal damage considering the urgency of the situation
Establish and resource a casualty care point
Determine whether people should be advised to evacuate, shelter in place or 'stay put'
When evacuation is necessary, identify the number of people affected and develop a plan
Further operational tactics
- Deploy an appropriately sized team to ensure the safe transportation of casualties
- All incident information:
- Consider the potential effects of incident development when positioning appliances
- Identify the number of casualties requiring medical attention and instigate a triage process
- Instigate and communicate hygiene arrangements, facilities and consider decontamination
- Implement an appropriate protection plan when an identified nature conservation site is at risk
- Stabilise casualties until resources or specialist teams are available to assist with extrication

Communication

Provide a structured handover when transferring casualty to medical responders
Establish communications with police search advisors (PolSA) and other responder agencies
Use intrinsically safe radio equipment in atmospheres where there is a risk of fire or explosion
Conduct regular communication checks to ensure equipment continues to function
Establish an effective system of communication considering distances and the working environment
All incident information:
Establish and maintain an incident ground communication plan considering other agencies and remote resources
Ensure that all personnel are briefed on the current hazards, risks, control measures and tactical mode
Communicate the incident situation to other responders via fire control using the M\ETHANE message protocol
Provide a structured brief when handing over and taking over command
Communicate findings of analytical risk assessment to all personnel and other agencies
Further communication
- Establish a media liaison point and brief a nominated media liaison officer
- Communicate the incident situation to other responders via fire control using the M\ETHANE message protocol
- All incident information:
- Identify best access route, rendezvous point (RVP) and marshalling area and communicate to all responders
- Communicate any change in the tactical mode of a sector of the incident to all personnel
- Communicate objectives, priorities and tactics to be adopted in resolving the incident
- Deliver clear, concise and timely briefings to crews, command support functions and other agencies
- Ensure all personnel are aware of the incident command structure and communication strategy
- Establish a media liaison point and brief a nominated media liaison officer
- Use plain English to communicate information where a lack of common understanding exists
- Regularly pass information to fire control regarding incident progress
- Communicate emergency evacuation signal and muster point arrangements to all personnel
- Ensure that all appropriate environmental agencies are informed of the incident when required
- Use the most effective methods for communicating with people who are either directly or indirectly involved in the incident
- Establish resilient telecommunications with other responding agencies and consider talk groups

Control

Consider relief and welfare arrangements to reduce the effects of stress and fatigue on themselves and others
Ensure that appropriate inner and outer cordons are established, identified and communicated following an assessment of risk to crews, other agencies and the public
All incident information:
Establish an incident command structure appropriate to the likely size and complexity of the incident
Ensure that appropriate inner and outer cordons are established, identified and communicated following an assessment of risk to crews, other agencies and the public
Control access to the inner cordon using methods proportionate to the size and complexity of the incident
Appoint competent safety officers to monitor specific hazards or activities
Instigate a tactical withdrawal of personnel when the mode changes from offensive to defensive
Further control
- Communicate the tactical withdrawal and emergency evacuation arrangements to all personnel
- All incident information:
- Be prepared to adopt a leadership role at multi-agency incidents
- Establish a scene access control point to log all persons operating within the inner cordon when appropriate
- Consider the use of command support systems and equipment where required
- Monitor the performance of personnel and where necessary modify plans to available competencies
- Keep contemporaneous records and/or decision logs to capture key events, critical decisions and rationale
- Instigate a safety sector at large or complex incidents under the control of a safety sector commander
- Implement exclusion zones where intolerable risks to safety are identified
- Request the police to establish a traffic cordon where necessary
- Request an air exclusion zone through the appropriate authority if required
- Maintain effective command and control in an emergency situation and review incident priorities, tactics and resources
- Carry out a roll call of fire service and all other personnel at the scene following an emergency evacuation
- Commit only minimum number of essential personnel to hazard area

Incident closure and handover

Instigate and co-operate with post incident investigations where necessary
Conduct a structured debrief at a level appropriate to the size of the incident
Ensure that hazards and risk controls are identified when handing over safety to the responsible person
All incident information:
Ensure that effective supervision of operational activity is maintained until the conclusion of the incident
Instigate and co-operate with post incident investigations where necessary
Ensure that hazards and risk controls are identified when handing over safety to the responsible person
Take measures to secure premises where no responsible person can be identified
Conduct a structured debrief at a level appropriate to the size of the incident
Consider community recovery protocols and arrange appropriate assistance prior to leaving the incident
Further incident closure and handover
- Follow service protocols for post incident health surveillance and monitoring
- All incident information:
- Consider whether appliances, personnel, equipment and other resources can be released from the incident
- Conduct an inventory check and ensure equipment receives appropriate after use inspection and testing
- Consider decontamination of personnel, PPE and equipment prior to redeployment
- Consider the condition and serviceability of PPE when assessing operational readiness for redeployment
- Secure the scene to ensure evidence is preserved for internal and external investigations
- Gather relevant information for the incident recording system
- Conduct a structured debrief at a level appropriate to the size of the incident
- Record and share significant findings from incident debriefs
- When appropriate instigate a review of existing guidance following the use of operational discretion
- Ensure differences in information are resolved and systems updated following the closure of an incident
- Compile and secure all incident command paperwork (e.g. analytical risk assessment and decision logs)
- Ensure that waste products created by the fire and rescue service are disposed of legally and responsibly
- Follow service protocols for post incident health surveillance and monitoring
- Consider decontamination of personnel, PPE and equipment prior to redeployment

Additional information

USAR phases of rescue:
- ASR 1 – Wide Area Assessment
- ASR 2 – Sector Assessment
- ASR 3 – Rapid Search and Rescue
- ASR 4 – Full Search and Rescue
- ASR 5 – Total Coverage Search and Recovery
Consider the 6 phases of rescue (REPEAT)
- Reconnaissance and Survey
- Elimination of Utilities
- Primary Survey-Search and Rescue
- Exploration of Voids and Spaces
- Access by selected debris removal
- Terminate by general debris removal

Rescue from collapsed structure

Incident information

Further incident information

Resource information

Further resource information

Risk information

Hazardous materials

Heavy and bulky objects

Live utilities

Rescue tools

Restricted access and egress

Unstable structure

Working environment

Working environment

Weather conditions

Noise

Heavy and bulky objects

Moving vehicles

Animals

Hazardous materials

Body fluids

Distressing or traumatic scenes

Violence and aggression

Powers, policies and procedures

Objectives

Further objectives

Tactical priorities

Further tactical priorities

Operational tactics

Further operational tactics

Communication

Further communication

Control

Further control

Incident closure and handover

Further incident closure and handover

Additional information