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Vehicle and Machinery Search and

Rescue

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Objectives (1 of 2)

• Describe your role at vehicle and machinery search and rescue incidents.

• Recognize the need for a vehicle and machinery search and rescue.

• Identify the resources necessary to conduct operations.

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Objectives (2 of 2)

• Initiate the emergency response system for vehicle and machinery search and rescue incidents.

• Initiate site control and scene management. • Recognize general hazards associated with

vehicle and machinery search and rescue incidents.

• Initiate traffic control.

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Skills Objectives

• Initiate the emergency response system.• Recognize the resources necessary to

conduct operations at an incident scene.• Establish control and management of an

incident scene.• Recognize and control general hazards

associated with a rescue scene.• Provide traffic control.

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Emergency Response System for Vehicle and Machinery SAR

• Includes operations-, technician-level responders

• Includes local, state, national resources

• Forms part of all public safety agencies awareness-level training

• Uses 911 to access emergency dispatch (most often)

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Overview of Vehicle and Machinery Incidents (1 of 2)

• Some incidents are predictable based on certain conditions (weather, road surface).

• Incidents have many causes (human error, equipment failure, alcohol, drugs).

• Number one cause of fatalities and serious injuries in United States

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Overview of Vehicle and Machinery Incidents (2 of 2)

© Jack Dagley/ShutterStock, Inc.

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Specialized Incidents May Involve Vehicles and Machinery

• Vehicle coming to rest in a river or lake• Vehicle and train collision• Vehicle collision involving heavy rigs• School bus incident• Farmer caught in farm equipment• Structural collapse• Explosion• Vehicle entering a residence or business

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Applicable Standards (1 of 2)

• NFPA 1670, Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents; awareness level vehicle and machinery responders should meet:– Requirements in Sections 8.2 and 12.2– General requirements listed in Chapter 4 of

NFPA 1670

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Applicable Standards (2 of 2)

• NFPA 1006, Standard for Technical Rescuer Professional Qualifications:– Operations- and technician-levels

• NFPA 1521, Standard for Fire Department Safety Officer

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OSHA Regulations • 29 CFR 1910.147: Lockout/Tagout• 29 CFR 1910.132): PPE• 29 CFR 1910.134: Respiratory Protection• 29 CFR 1910.1030: Bloodborne

Pathogens• 29 CFR 1910.1200: Hazard

Communications• 29 CFR 1910.156: Fire Brigade

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Additional Personnel Resources (1 of 4)

• Facility personnel: electricians, mechanical millwrights, welders, fabricators, operators

• Law enforcement

• EMS: BLS and ALS

• Hazardous materials teams

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Additional Personnel Resources(2 of 4)

© Jim Parkin/ShutterStock, Inc.

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Additional Personnel Resources(3 of 4)

© Corbis

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Additional Personnel Resources(4 of 4)

• Additional personnel: – State/county emergency services, health departments

• Hospitals• Emergency flight services• National Guard• K-9 organizations• USAR teams• FEMA task force teams

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Specialized Equipment Resources (1 of 2)

• Specialized equipment use is vital, but it makes operations more complex.

• All rescuers and other agencies should train together.

• Rescue personnel should take training offered by different industries that sell heavy machinery.

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Specialized Equipment Resources (2 of 2)

© Stan Rohrer/Alamy Images

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Examples of Specialized Resources

• Heavy equipment providers or operators• Companies or businesses that supply resources:

– Examples: portable lighting, building suppliers, farm equipment sales, portable generators

• Specialists: – Examples: farm equipment mechanics, wrecker

services, 18-wheeler operators, physicians

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Controlling or Stabilizing Energy Sources

• Requires training ahead of time

• Varies from simple to complex procedures

• Often requires tools to reverse rotating equipment, or apply other controls manually:– Chains, come-alongs, cribbing, stabilizers,

multiple wreckers, cranes

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Specialized Equipment

© Bob Pardue/Alamy Images

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ICS

• Provides emergency response agencies with framework for operating and functioning consistently

• Allows clear, concise communications

• Unifies command structure and improves working relationships with all emergency response agencies

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Assess Local Hazards (1 of 2)

• New or revised roadways

• Rivers, streams

• Traffic volumes

• Types of transportation

• Types of equipment

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Assess Local Hazards (2 of 2)

• Number of employees in office complexes, apartment complexes, schools

• Hardware stores

• Pool supply companies, schools

• Warehouses and their contents

• Manufacturers and their products, storage

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Role of Awareness-Level Personnel

• Learn as part of training process.

• Communicate with neighboring departments to assess equipment availability.

• Share information regarding:– Needs assessment, written procedures,

mutual aid agreements, dispatch protocols, community resources, employee training

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Incident Size-up Evaluates (1 of 2)

• Incident scope and magnitude

• Risk–benefit analysis

• Number, size of vehicles or machines

• Stability of vehicles or machines

• Number of known or potential victims

• Access to scene

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Incident Size-up Evaluates (2 of 2)

• Exposed utilities, water, mechanical hazards, hazardous materials, electrical hazards, explosives, and other hazards including environmental factors

• Exposure to traffic

• Necessary resources and whether they are available

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Other Considerations

• Positioning of apparatus and consideration of other arriving units

• Establishing water supply• Observing scene features• Obtaining information about fire location,

time of day, weather, nearby • Changing weather conditions• General safety considerations

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Search and Rescue Perimeter

© Kristian Gonyea, The Press of Atlantic City/AP Photos

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Awareness-Level Responders’ Role (1 of 2)

• Establish site security.

• Use tools to stabilize vehicle or machinery and isolate incident.

• Disentangle and extricate victims using hand tools.

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Awareness-Level Responders’ Role (2 of 2)

• Ventilate the area.

• Support unbroken utilities.

• Provide victims with PPE.

• Protect bystanders and responders from unsafe areas.

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PPE (1 of 2)

• Must protect wearer’s respiratory system, skin, eyes, face, hands, feet, body, ears

• Includes protective apparel and personal protective devices

• Requires awareness and training to use regularly and properly

• Use overseen by safety officer on scene

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PPE (2 of 2)

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Safety Training Related to Machinery

• OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.146 for confined spaces

• OSHA 29 standard CFR 1910.147 for lockout/tagout

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Ask Questions Before Entering Machinery Site

• Is machinery locked and tagged out?• Are there exposed rotating parts?• Is machinery stable?• Are there hazards associated with

potential release of chemicals, steam, other fluids?

• Are there fall hazards?• What are the atmospheric conditions?

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Recognize and Control Existing or Potential Dangers

• Look and listen for unusual sights and sounds.

• Double-check that all energy sources have been controlled.

• Control pinch points.

• Control slip, trip, and fall hazards.

• Maintain crowd control.

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Machinery Hazard Assessment (1 of 2)

• Type of energy source(s) that power facility

• Presence of fire suppression system in facility

• Presence of fire alarm system in facility • Number and adequacy of fire hydrants

inside, outside

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Machinery Hazard Assessment (2 of 2)

• Mutual aid agreements with surrounding fire departments

• Hazardous material concerns

• Total square miles and population during day, night

• Available water supply and its source

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New or Hybrid Car Hazards (1 of 2)

• Safety equipment: – Air bag systems, hidden air bag cylinders,

seat pre-tensioner cylinders, composite materials, hidden hydraulic cylinders

• Hybrid car batteries:– Heat, toxic fumes when burned, high voltage

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New or Hybrid Car Hazards (2 of 2)

Courtesy of Captain David Jackson, Saginaw Township Fire Department

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Methods of Protection in Hybrid-Vehicle Incidents

1. Turn off the ignition switch to prevent current flow into cables; remove the key.

2. Deactivate 12-volt system and main fuse by removing main fuse and disconnecting negative cable from 12-volt battery.

3. Turn off IPU. (Use only if first two methods fail.)

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These Activities Apply to All Situations (1 of 3)

• Conducting a good scene survey

• Ensuring apparatus placed 150–200 feet (45.7–61 m) upwind or uphill

• Managing environmental concerns

• Wearing proper PPE

• Protecting rescuers with charged line

• Conducting ongoing size-up

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These Activities Apply to All Situations (2 of 3)

• Controlling all associated hazards

• Stabilizing vehicle or equipment

• Recognizing compressed cylinder locations

• Recognizing air bag system component locations

• Controlling energy sources

• Creating entry and exit points

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These Activities Apply to All Situations (3 of 3)

• Dismantling equipment

• Gaining access to victims

• Treating and packaging victims

• Extricating victims

• Releasing victims to EMS

• Terminating incident

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Hazardous Materials at Awareness Level

• Detect hazardous materials.• Conduct survey of hazardous materials

from a distance to identify name, UN/NA number, or placard.

• Implement actions consistent with the local emergency response plan and SOPs.

• Use ERG to initiate protective actions and notifications.

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Other Hazards to Control (1 of 3)

• Crowds: may interfere with rescue

• Traffic: may interfere with rescue, injure responders, victims

• Downed electrical lines: present fire and electrocution dangers

• Fuel sources: present fire and explosion danger, damage environment

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Other Hazards to Control (2 of 3)

© Louis Brems, The Herald-Dispatch/AP Photos

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Other Hazards to Control (3 of 3)

Courtesy of Robert Kaufmann/FEMA

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Examples of Fuel Source Hazards

• Gasoline, diesel, LPG, propane gas to power vehicles

• Natural gas found in supply lines that rupture or corrode

• Propane gas found in leaking cylinders

• Uncontrolled fuel runoff or fuel that mixes with other fuel types

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Hazardous Materials

• May come in solids, liquids, or gases• May have radioactive, flammable,

explosive, toxic, corrosive, biohazardous, oxidizer, asphyxiant, pathogenic, allergenic, or other characteristics

• Most commonly include gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, nitric acid, toluene, acetone

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Sources of Hazardous Materials (1 of 2)

• Flammable and nonflammable gases and liquids: – Vehicles containing pressurized nitrogen,

hydrogen, O2; transporters carrying liquid nitrogen, liquid hydrogen, LOX, LNG

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Sources of Hazardous Materials(2 of 2)

• Solid materials may include explosives, flammable solids, oxidizers and organic peroxides, poisons and corrosives:– Fertilizers, pesticides, caustic powders, water

treatment chemicals, Class 9 materials

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Material Storage Component of Hazard Analysis

• MSDS for specific materials housed or used at facility

• Containment area around storage location• Drains leading directly to spilled

contaminate area• Sprinkler systems or other means of fire

suppression • Smoke or fire alarms in storage area

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Unstable Vehicles or Machinery (1 of 2)

• Must be stabilized before entering, approaching incident scene

• Pose serious threats both to rescuers and victims

• May require various stabilizing methods:– Box cribbing, wheel chocks, step chocks, high

lift jacks, stabilizer jacks, rope, chain, cable, winches, tow trucks

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Unstable Vehicles or Machinery(2 of 2)

Courtesy of Mark Woolcock

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Additional On-Scene Hazards

• Agitated victims: require immediate assistance

• Sharp edges from metal and glass: control during stabilization

• Conditions causing twists, strains, sprains

• Weather conditions: current and changing

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Summary

• Vehicle and machinery incidents may require a great deal of time on scene, depending on incident’s complexity and related factors.

• Rescuers should understand how equipment operates and associated safety concerns and hazards.

• Facility safety managers are valuable resources to rescue personnel in relation to equipment operation and emergency procedures.