Trench Rescue Level 1

To produce firefighters who meet the requirements of NFPA 1006.

Standard establishes the minimum job performance requirements necessary for fire service and other emergency response personnel who perform technical rescue operations.

1.1* Conduct a size-up of a collapsed trench, given an incident and background information and applicable reference material, so that the size-up is conducted within the scope of the incident management system; the existing and potential conditions are evaluated within the trench and the rescue area; general hazards are identified; a witness or “competent person” is secured; the probability of victim existence, number, condition, and location is determined; potential for rapid, non-entry rescues or victim self-rescue is recognized; needed personnel, supply, and equipment resources are evaluated; and utility involvement and location are determined.

• Requisite Knowledge. Methods to distinguish soil types, collapse mechanics, and other contributing factors such as severe environmental conditions and other general hazards; need to immediately secure

“competent person” or witness; signs and evidence of victim involvement, number, and location; jurisdictional and community resource lists and agreements; effects and hazards of collapse and rescue efforts on utilities at the incident site; personnel training level and availability; risk–benefit analysis; protocols; incident management system; and all applicable regulations, laws, and standards.

• Requisite Skills. The ability to measure dimensions of trench, categorize soil, identify type and degree of collapse, and determine severe environmental conditions with implications for secondary collapse and victim survivability; demonstrate interview techniques; implement protocols and resource acquisition agreements; implement public works utility notification, response, and location procedures; perform a risk–benefit analysis for determining self-rescue, rescue, or recovery mode; implement an incident management system for span of control; and apply governing regulations, laws, and standards.

1.2* Implement a trench emergency action plan, given size-up information and a trench incident, so that initial size-up information is utilized; pre briefing is given to rescuers; documentation is ongoing; the collapse zone is established; a risk–benefit analysis is conducted; rapid, non-entry rescues or victim self-rescues are performed; the rescue area and general area are made safe; strategy and tactics are confirmed and initiated for existing and potential conditions; rapid intervention team and operational tasks are assigned; other hazards are mitigated; rescue resources are staged; and a protective system is being utilized.

• Requisite Knowledge. Size-up information and documentation; need to brief rescuers; areas that could be affected by collapse; variables to factor risk–benefit analysis; criteria for rapid, non-entry rescues; methods to control hazards in the general area; options for strategy and tactical approach by factoring time frame, risk–benefit, approved shoring techniques, and personnel and equipment

available; incident management system; rescue personnel and equipment cache staging; and options for victim isolation and/or protective systems.

• Requisite Skills. The ability to use and document tactical worksheets; disseminate information; understand mechanics and extent of collapse effects; perform risk–benefit analysis; Execute rapid, non-entry rescues; mitigate hazards by isolation, removal, or control; choose strategy and tactics that will enhance successful outcome; use incident management system and resource staging; and apply choice of isolation and/or protective system promptly to surround victim.

1.3* Implement support operations at trench emergencies, given an assignment, and equipment and other resources, so that a resource cache is managed, scene lighting is provided for the tasks to be undertaken, environmental concerns are managed, a cut station is established, supplemental power is provided for all equipment, atmospheric monitoring and ventilation are implemented, personnel rehab is facilitated, operations proceed without interruption, extrication methods are in place, and the support operations facilitate rescue operational objectives.

• Requisite Knowledge. Equipment organization and tracking methods, lighting resources, dewatering methods, shelter and thermal control options, basic carpentry methods, hand and power tool applications, atmospheric monitoring protocol, rehab criteria, and extrication and removal equipment options.

• Requisite Skills. The ability to track equipment inventory, provide power, use lighting, choose and deploy dewatering techniques, acquire or construct structures for shelter and thermal protection, select rehab areas and personnel rotations, operate atmospheric monitoring and ventilation equipment, and perform patient packaging and removal.

1.4* Support a nonintersecting straight wall trench of 2.4 m (8ft)or less as a member of a team, given size-up information, an action plan, a trench tool kit, and an assignment, so that strategies to minimize the further movement of soil are implemented effectively; trench walls, lip, and spoil pile are monitored continuously; rescue entry team(s) remains in a safe zone; any slough-in and wall shears are mitigated; emergency procedures and warning systems are established and understood by participating personnel; incident-specific personal protective equipment is utilized; physical hazards are identified and managed; victim and rescuer protection is maximized; victim extrication methods are considered; and a rapid intervention team is staged.

• Requisite Knowledge. Shoring and shielding, tabulated data, strategies and tactics, protocols on making the general area safe, criteria for a safe zone within the trench, types of collapses and techniques to stabilize, emergency procedures, selection of personal protective equipment, and consideration of selected stabilization tactics on extrication and victim safety.

• Requisite Skills. The ability to interpret tabulated data information and tables, place shoring and shielding systems, install supplemental shoring, use protocols, choose methods to stabilize, use personal protective equipment, anticipate extrication logistics, and create systems in trenches 2.4m(8ft)deep.

1.5* Release a victim from soil entrapment by components of a nonintersecting collapsed trench of 2.4 m (8 ft) or less in depth, given personal protective equipment, a trench rescue tool kit, and specialized equipment, so that hazards to rescue personnel and victims are minimized, considerations are given to crush syndrome and other injuries, techniques are used to enhance patient survivability, tasks are accomplished within projected time frames, and techniques do not compromise the integrity of the existing trench shoring system.

• Requisite Knowledge. Identification, utilization, and required care of personal equipment; general hazards associated with each type of trench collapse; methods of evaluating shoring systems and trench wall stability; crush syndrome protocols; identification of collapse characteristics; causes and associated effects of trench collapse; potential signs of subsequent collapse; selection and application of rescue tools and resources; risk–benefit assessment techniques for extrication methods; and time restraints.

• Requisite Skills. The ability to select, use, and care for personal protective equipment, operate rescue tools and stabilization systems, identify crush syndrome clinical settings, and complete risk– benefit assessments for selected methods of rescue and time restraints.

1.6* Remove a victim from a trench, given a disentangled victim, a basic first aid kit, and victim packaging resources, so that basic life functions are supported as required, the victim is evaluated for signs of crush syndrome, methods and packaging devices selected are compatible with intended routes of transfer, universal precautions are employed to protect personnel from blood borne pathogens, and extraction times meet time constraints for medical management.

• Requisite Knowledge. Medical protocols, available medical resources, transfer methods and time needed to execute, universal precautions protocol, rope rescue systems, high-point anchor options, and patient ladder raise removal techniques.

• Requisite Skills. The ability to select and use personal protective equipment, provide basic medical care and immobilization techniques, identify the need for advanced life support and crush syndrome management, and use a removal system that matches logistical and medical management time frame concerns.

1.7* Disassemble support systems at a trench emergency incident, given personal protective equipment, trench tool kit, and removal of victim(s), so that soil movement is minimized, all rescue equipment is removed from the trench, sheeting and shoring are removed in the reverse order of their placement, emergency protocols and safe zones in the trench are adhered to, rescue personnel are removed from the trench, the last supporting shores are pulled free with ropes, equipment is cleaned and serviced, reports are completed, and a post briefing is performed.

• Requisite Knowledge. Selection of personal protective equipment, equipment used and its location, shoring and shielding tactics and order of placement, shoring removal protocols, criteria for a “safe zone” within the trench, personnel accountability, emergency procedures, manufacturer’s recommended care and maintenance procedures, and briefing protocols.

• Requisite Skills. The ability to use personal protective equipment, remove equipment and protective systems, use trench safety protocols, clean and service equipment, and perform an incident debriefing.