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Recently the Forked River Fire Department was given access to a building ready for demolition to make room for a new store in town. The members of the FRFD used the opportunity to conduct some FAST team drills. Forked River is one of a hand full of departments in Ocean County certified to the level of FAST team 2. Ocean County which is very progressive in the area of Firefighter Safety started the teams a few years back and have very strict standards for training and recertification of the Level 2 FAST teams.

The members decided to set the building up for two separate evolutions , the first being the removal of a downed firefighter up a set of stairs from the basement using both the SCBA and the mast sling device. They also reviewed other options such as using a ladder and a SKED stretcher to slide the Firefighter out as well as different options using ropes.

The second evolution was used to simulate a firefighter falling through a floor and into a basement also known as the nance drill. FRFD members used a charged 1-3/4" line to lower a rescue team into the basement and then removed the downed firefighter using several different methods such as using the hose line, a mast sling device and high point removal. They also reviewed other methods such as the use of the handcuff knot or the SCBA to raise the firefighter up from the basement. The discussions also reinforced that the situation will dictate the method used depending if the firefighter is alert and oriented or unresponsive as well as fire and smoke conditions at the time of removal.

Some of the training required throughout the year to re certify by Ocean County Fire Marshal's Office include the drills conducted above as well as thermal imaging cameras, large area search, building construction and size up, The Denver Drill and SCBA Emergency Change over. Since the county conducted all the training the teams are trained and equipped the same which allows for an interoperability among different townships in the county maximizing firefighter safety.