Crawling or Falling?

A show of hands…How many firefighters, in the course of a zero visibility training drill or while searching at a working fire, have crawled headfirst into a wall or piece of furniture?  How many firefighters have been part of a human “search” train, and when the leader crawls into a wall, the other searchers “rear-end” the partner in front of them?

If you got certified as a firefighter in the USA, you should be waving your arm wildly in the air as to affirm that you have used your head for scouting large, unmovable objects…

The technique of conducting a search that’s taught in many firefighter certification classes focuses on ensuring that you have 4 points of contact on the ground (hands and knees) and stay low below the heat. While the crawling technique is effective in keeping you low, it does lack in keeping you aware of your surroundings.  Aside from using your head as a probe, the technique constricts your ability to keep your eyes focused in front of you observing obstacles and searching for the fire or victims. The rear brim of many of the helmets firefighters wear today is perfectly situated to bang into the top of the SCBA cylinder limiting your flexibility.

Our goal on every fire is to safely and effectively complete our job (search, rescue, put the fire out) and do it is as rapid as we can……remember the building is on fire, we need to move!  How can we modify our search technique to allow us to stay low, stay focused, stay alert to our surroundings and move quickly?  Modify our stance.

As demonstrated in the picture, by simply changing our stance to having our front leg out in front of us and our back leg underneath our body we can achieve our goal.  We can now feel any holes, persons, or walls with our front foot.  We can then reach forward with our tool or hand to confirm what the obstruction is.  Our upper body is now in a more upright position, yet still fairly low, allowing us to observe fire conditions, find victims and the seat of the fire.  This position better allows us to use all of our senses and  / or the Thermal Imaging Camera.

Look at the side by side profiles, by having our body in the more upright position we also keep our flashlights (remember, you brought 2 with you, the jacket mounted light and your box light over the shoulder) focused in a useful position. Often, when you are crawling on all fours your flashlight is either looking at the ground by your stomach or dragging behind you like you are dredging a beach.

Aside from the ability to move quickly and efficiently, this technique could also save your life.  Imagine crawling along and you find a hold in the floor like the one pictured above.  Do you think you could stop yourself from falling into this hole if you are on all fours with most of the weight on your upper back (your SCBA) propelling you forward?  Most likely not, but in a this new stance, you may feel the hole with your leading foot and then, all you have to do is sit back! You have placed your weight away from the hole and your seated body has made a nice roadblock to stop your brother or sister firefighters from steamrolling you down into the hole .  See the picture below….

This technique applies to not only searching, it is encouraged when stretching and deploying a handline down the hall for all the same benefits. Practice this on every drill you do and continue to be Combat Ready!

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