One thing should jump out at every chief or fire official who reads the Life Safety Initiatives that have grown out of the summit held by the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation to reduce firefighter LODDS: Every one of these “global” initiatives can be adopted on a local level. In Warren County, Ohio, a countywide rapid intervention team program is being implemented that meets one initiative – risk management training for personnel at all levels.

As part of the RIT program, the Warren County Fire Chiefs Association, comprising 15 fire departments north of Cincinnati, recently completed RIT training for all fire chiefs and assistant chiefs. The RIT training will now be “flowed down” to firefighters in all their departments.

Like many rapid intervention programs, the Warren County program teaches the fundamental techniques necessary to save a fellow firefighter’s life. What makes the Warren County approach unique is the commitment from 15 individual organizations. As part of the program, every fire department in Warren County adopted a single countywide RIT policy. This policy addresses on-scene staffing, RIT response, RIT training for all firefighters in Warren County and a standard RIT equipment list.

The RIT training is a three- phase program, with each phase delivering 12-16 hours of instruction. Phase One, “Implementing Rapid Intervention,” delivers instruction on basic rescue and survival techniques that don’t require skills beyond those covered in Firefighter I; Phase Two, “Rapid Intervention for Residential Buildings,” teaches advanced techniques required for residential buildings; and Phase Three, “Rapid Intervention for Commercial Buildings” covers the most advanced rescue and survival techniques.

The first two phases of the program are being taught in a train-the-trainer format. This ensures the training will reach all firefighters within one year, and all new firefighters will receive this training within one year of joining a department. Phase Three will be taught in an outreach format, with RIT Instructors going out to each department (due to the potential for injury associated with some of these techniques, it was felt that instruction needed to come directly from experienced RIT instructors only).

Another aspect of this program is the concept of risk management. Each phase of the training includes presentations on risk management, identifying potentially hazardous conditions before they overwhelm firefighters. For example, Phase Two includes segments on reading smoke conditions and recognizing hazards associated with specific residential designs.

Each Phase of the program also delivers instruction on preventative actions rapid intervention teams can take to prevent specific hazardous events (for example, creating secondary egress points for interior crews or cross-venting to prevent the build-up and subsequent ignition of fire gases).

The program also provides instruction at multiple levels. Each phase of the program includes a training session for incident commanders. As a function of the Warren County Fire Chief’s Association, a risk management and RIT session is planned for delivery to all chief officers in the county. As the firefighters develop their skills, command officers develop their skills – at recognizing and avoiding unnecessarily hazardous conditions.

Another initiative proposed was the concept for recertification of all firefighters on a regular basis. A key component of this would be the requirement that all firefighters continually demonstrate proficiency in basic firefighting skills. The Warren County Fire Chiefs adopted this requirement for all firefighters in April of this year. Using the firefighter competency evaluation developed by the Ohio Fire Academy, each firefighter would be required to demonstrate proficiency on each of the skills listed. Using this format, it will also be possible for firefighters to attend training opportunities offered by different departments.

The initiatives listed above are only two of the 16 initiatives that were produced by the NFFF Firefighter Life Safety Summit held in Tampa, Fla., last March. (For more information, see the Firefighter Life Safety Summit Initial Report on the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation Web site, www.firehero.org.) In the coming months, the NFFF and U.S. Fire Administration will be working to shape these proposals into a national agenda. Some may be easy to accomplish, while others may require a significant amount of time and resources. One thing is certain, any department or regional group will be able to act on these initiatives. It’s working in Warren County, and it can work for you. Just remember, “Think global and act local.”