THE “FIVE OR DIE” Culture – 90 minutes 

Sadly, the fire service averages around 100 Line of Duty Deaths (LODD) each year. FAST Rescue Solutions, LLC is committed to being a part of reducing that number. This 90-minute presentation is a discussion of the MAYDAY event and firefighter rescue. Using statistics from Chief Don Abbotts PROJECT MAYDAY we review identified causes of the MAYDAY and discuss measures for prevention. Special attention is given to the current status of NFPA 1407 and thoughts on its effects on fire department operations.

The focus will shift to what we refer to as the “Five or Die” – One of the fire chief’s worst-case scenarios: one of their own, down, unconscious, and not breathing in an IDLH environment. We will explore how to be better prepared through a candid self-assessment and how to train to defeat those worst-case scenarios. We stress that the rescue of a down firefighter starts with the firefighter next to them. Rescue techniques used with, and without, an HRD like the FAST Board will be discussed. We hope to allow the attendants to learn how to solve the common firefighter rescue obstacles of weight, force, and friction. Finally, we engage in a candid discussion on how an organization can perform a self-assessment to determine how well they will handle an ‘incident-within-an-incident’ when one of their own is in a real-life “Five or Die” scenario. This presentation is suited for all levels of the fire service but is particularly important for officers and leadership.

Please indicate you are interesting in a lecture in the comments.