This fireground training provides firefighters with 3 tactical search moves to use when in a V.E.S. (ventilate, enter and search) bedrooms scenario that can result in quicker victim rescues.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:
This is our seasoned crew and everyone is missing babies. We’re going to teach them some higher level skill sets, because they are missing some.
This is exactly how the room was set up every time. So, everybody who V.E.S’d this room, the babies are in the same spot, everything.
So now that you get to see it, it’s different. We missed the baby on the stairs. We talked about if the door is closed, we’re going to open it, sweep, close it. This door was open when we came in here so baby right on the stairs.
So when we close the door, what do we do? We look behind the door, so I got a baby behind the door. That one was there quite a bit. Okay, just search stuff.
Again, I’m not trying to trip you up but I’m making it as realistic as I can.
Three babies in both rooms. I know a bunch of you came in and we’re like, “I had no idea this was a bunk bed.”
The move is called the monkey move. So you’re in here searching and you’re like, “oh it’s a bed great! Okay, nothing underneath the bed, okay we’re good.” Everybody is good with that, like okay nothing on the bed, “okay we’re good.” And, I know one of the guys walked in and went, “it was a bunk bed.”
‘Do the monkey move verifying that there is not a bunk.’
Instructor Tip
So, the monkey move is this. I feel a bed, I know it’s a bed, and I go like this (arms flailing up and down). Like a monkey right? So, we do the monkey move verifying that there is not a bunk up here.
We got queen bed on the bottom, twin bed on the top, queen bed on the bottom, queen bed on the top. There is all kinds, 90 degree ones. So, we’ll start at the feet, as we’re searching the bed I’ll do it again here at the head. Because if it goes this way I’m like, “no bunk here, oh bunk here.”
What about if I come in a room and there is no bed? We’re V.E.Sing bedrooms only. Paul’s daughter, she’s got like a loft bed. So, it’s bookshelves and all this cool fun stuff underneath. There’s got to be a bed in the bedroom, right? So we can use the move other places. Like, this is kind of like little space, “oh there’s something up here.” So baby here, baby behind the door, and baby on the step.
Three babies in this room too. Here’s the deal we got again on outside the door. This door was closed, so we talked about open the door, search, make sure it’s not a closet, victim in, close the door and then we deal with the victim.
‘Baby in the crib. When I bring the baby up here, air is worse here then it is on the floor. So we roll the crib down, and the baby gently comes down into better conditions.’
Instructor Tip
Baby in the crib. A couple things, me, you guys are all burly dudes. My problem is, it’s a tall crib. It’s not that tall. But, when I bring the baby up here, air is worse here then it is on the floor. So, what we teach is I search underneath, you know the toddler brother or sister knows their other brother or sister is here so they hide underneath. Search underneath. We roll the crib down. So what happens to the baby is that the baby and all the bedding nicely and gently comes down into better conditions. Then I can search this. Baby out, baby low and back to my window. And, I can leave the crib like that so when Paul comes for secondary search he is like, “they hit the crib already because it’s already laid down.”
‘I find my fitted sheet the one that’s under everybody. (Tries pulling) It doesn’t want to move. If he is not there, it just pulls off the bed. So it gives me two seconds of, “oh there’s a good chance somebody’s on this bed.”’
Instructor Tip
So, we search the bed because people are sleeping at 2 A.M. in the morning. But, I can’t see anything, the smoke was pretty thick for you guys. I was really ramping it up. So I got a bed. What’s the first thing I do? Monkey move. Make sure it’s not a bunk bed. Now I’m going to search this bed, but real easy really quick, I can find my fitted sheet the one that’s under everybody. (Tries pulling) It doesn’t want to move. If he is not there, it just pulls off the bed. So it gives me two seconds of, “oh there’s a good chance somebody’s on this bed.”
Big king size beds, I’m not saying don’t occupy the bed, get on the bed, occupy the bed. Occupy the bed real quick. But, it’s a quick move and when you pull it off no one is on that bed.
When you jump in that window, you took it because you had to get in and you shut that door, so you can find it. What starts happening is that ventilation starts occurring. Because super-heated smoke actually rises and next thing you know you start gaining visibility as you’re in your V.E.S. So providing you get to that door, you start seeing a little more and V.E.S becomes really, really like easier as you go.