Welcome to the Technical Rescue Re-Certification for 2025

Overview

Technical rescue incidents cover a wide range of calltypes that may be beyond the scope of most fire/rescue personnel.  The scope of technical rescue incidents for this re-certification includes confined space, trench, rope, structural collapse calls-all of which are addressed in Appendix J of the Incident Response Policy.  

The successful management of technical rescue incidents relies heavily on the actions of first-arriving  units.  First arriving units can provide critical assistance to people in danger by stabilizing the situation. 

The objectives of this refresher training are to provide personnel with a review of technical rescue concepts as they relate to initial response and scene preparation, and to provide a reminder of when the scope of the incident objectives require personnel to stop and wait for more specialized assistance.  This refresher is not meant to fulfill the re-certification requirements for Special Operations personnel.  After a review of the material contained herein, personnel are expected to take and pass an exam to an accuracy of at least 80%. 

Note, only personnel trained to the Confined Space Technical Rescuer standard who are operating as a member of the Technical Rescue Team may enter confined spaces-this refresher does not grant you the training to enter confined spaces and only acts as a refresher for awareness level response.  Confined space rescue calls, requiring entry, in Montgomery County are ultimately mitigated by the Technical Rescue Team.  

All actions at technical rescue calls are guided by a series of principles. It is important to remember that principles are not rules. Principles provide high level guidance on how personnel should think about and think through problems rather than specific rules to follow. Our principles for technical rescue calls are:

1. Personnel must do no harm or further complicate the rescue.

2. Time spent in scene preparation and hazard control is rarely wasted.

3. Whenever it is safe to do so, personnel should make visual and/or verbal contact with the victim(s) in an effort to calm and reassure them.

4. Whenever possible personnel should support victim(s) self-rescue. For example, lowering a ladder into a trench or confined space so the victim(s) can climb out on their own.

According to the Operational Doctrine Statement, "Ideally, all of the incident priorities are addressed simultaneously.  When available resources do not allow for simultaneously addressing the priorities, they must be addressed sequentially and in the listed order: life safety, incident stabilization, property conservation."  The initial response to technical rescue incidents usually is focused on incident stabilization. 

The policy outlines four common objectives for all technical rescue calls:

1. Assess: Assess the scene, determine the most appropriate travel routes and staging areas, identify hazards and conduct a risk analysis.

• An effective risk assessment for technical rescue incidents must consider the hazards the victim(s) are exposed to, the ability of fire/rescue personnel to control hazards, the likelihood that the hazards will cause harm or death, and the expected benefit of intervention. There are some critical points that must be factored into the risk assessment for technical rescue incidents.

  • The standard fire/rescue three-gas meter configuration is insufficient for technical rescue incidents but can be used in initial operations.

  • The fastest way to rescue and/or evacuate the victim(s) may not be the safest way to do so.

•     Some structural and trench collapses involve physical forces large enough to require custom engineering solutions.

• Structural and trench collapses may involve physical forces that stress normal fire/rescue equipment beyond their designed ratings.

2. Control: Control hazards, isolate, remove any bystanders and deny entry, identify hazards, and establish isolation zones.

3. Rescue: Use appropriate methods and equipment to separate people from hazards.

4. Evacuate: Remove victim(s) to safety.

In most cases first responder units will only accomplish the first two objectives.  They must then wait for the technical rescue team (TRT).  Why?  Because for the most part only TRT personnel are trained to the required NFPA competencies for technical rescue.  TRT also brings a greater variety of tools and equipment to assist with the rescue and evacuation objectives. 

The policy outlines initial actions-in support of the priorities, principles and objectives-based on the unit type:

• First Engine. Incident command.

  • As the policy outlines, the establishment of command is a vital part of the risk management process.

• First Aerial. Establish and maintain isolation zones, control utilities as necessary, control other hazards as necessary.

  • The job of the first aerial is essentially to complete common objective two: "Control Hazards"

  • In order to control the hazards crews must take time to first recognize/identify the hazards, isolate and deny entry to the scene, remove bystanders, and establish isolation zones. All of these tasks are part of the risk management process.

• First Rescue Squad. Make access to the victim(s) and, if it is safe to do so, calm and reassure the victim(s).

  • While it is not generally expected that the initial Rescue Squad will initiate the rescue plan (except in very special cases, the TRT will execute the rescue and evacuation objectives) they are in a position to create and implement a plan with a focus on stabilizing the incident (aligned with the second incident priority). They are also charged with making contact with the victim, aligned with principle three.

Technical rescue incident checklists may be found on the Technical Rescue subpages on this site.

Confined spaces may include: Storage tanks, sewers, boilers, underground vaults, wells, tank trucks, tank rail cars, and silos.

According to OSHA, a confined space is a space that:

• Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work; 

• Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of entry.); and

• Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

According to OSHA, a permit-required confined space is a space that has one or more of the following characteristics:

• Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere;

• Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant;

• Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section; or

• Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.

NIOSH has reviewed confined space incidents that have led to fatalities, including for rescuers.  These case studies are useful to demonstrate how our policies protect you against the common threats identified by NIOSH.  [our protections are listed in brackets]

NIOSH found that these fatalities occurred as a result of encountering one or more of the following potential hazards:

• Lack of natural ventilation 

  1. Our first responders do not enter confined spaces 

  2. TRT uses forced air ventilation for most confined space incidents

• Oxygen deficient atmosphere 

  1. Our first responders do not enter confined spaces 

  2. TRT is protected with sensor technology

• Flammable/explosive atmosphere,  

  1. Our first responders do not enter confined spaces 

  2. TRT is protected with sensor technology

• Unexpected release of hazardous energy,

  1.  The first due aerial is tasked with identifying and controlling these hazards using appropriate methods such as lock/out-tag/out

  2. TRT is protected by tactical planning and in some cases PPE

• Limited entry and exit, 

  1. Our first responders do not enter confined spaces

  2. TRT is protected with tactical planning

• Dangerous concentrations of air contaminants, 

  1.  Our first responders do not enter confined spaces

  2. TRT is protected with sensor technology

• Physical barriers or limitations to movement, or 

  1. Our first responders do not enter confined spaces

  2. TRT is protected with tactical planning

• Instability of stored product. 

  1. The first due aerial is tasked with identifying and controlling these hazards using appropriate methods such as lock/out-tag/out

  2. TRT is protected by tactical planning and in some cases PPE

First responders may approach a trench to conduct reconnaissance and/or make contact with the victim(s).  When responders do approach a trench, the following guidance applies:

• Personnel should approach from the narrow end of the trench.

• The number of personnel near the trench must be limited to only those absolutely necessary.

• Personnel may lower ladders into the trench to support self-evacuation.

First responder personnel may enter a trench when:

• Protective systems (such as shoring or trench boxes) are in place, and;

• The reason for the emergency does not involve failure of those protective systems, and;

• The atmosphere of the trench has been checked at multiple elevations using the Fire Rescue issued multi-gas meter and no sensors are in alarm, and; 

• The victim’s condition requires immediate evacuation.