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Published: 18 August, 2014

Jacob McAfee, Assistant Chief at the USAF Plant 42 Fire

Department in Palmdale, California, USA, higlights the
challenges confined space rescue responders face and how
to tackle them.
Fire departments both paid and volunteer typically provide a
wide range of technical rescue services. Technical rescues
typically include confined space rescue, high angle rescue, low angle rescue, swift water rescue, urban
search and rescue operations, and trench rescues. These types of rescues are high-risk, low-frequency
incidents. Its what makes technical rescues so challenging. Although they are high-risk, the low
frequency occurrence can mistakenly lull the rescuer into a sense of complacency by neglecting his
training and this will limit the amount of experience you have working real world incidents.
In this article I will discuss one position within the confined space incident command structure that often
gets overlooked but may be the difference between success and failure during confined space
operations. Based on my past training and experience I will also provide some basic tips to assist the
attendant in making your next entry run smoother and ultimately improve the safety of personnel.
Confined space rescue can be one of the most demanding types of rescue the fire service provides. A
confined space is defined as an area that:
Is large enough for an employee to bodily entry and perform work
Has limited or restricted means of entry or exit
Is not designated for continuous human occupancy
Confined spaces are separated into permit required and non-permit required confined spaces.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 29 code of federal regulation
(CFR) 1910.146 confined space; requires one or more of the following characteristics to be classified as
a permit required:
1. Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere
2. Contain a material that has the potential for engulfment
3. Has an internal configuration that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging
walls or by a floor which slopes down and tapers to smaller cross sections
4. Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard
Non-permit required confined spaces do not contain or have the potential to contain atmospheric
hazards capable of causing death or serious injury. During confined space operations firefighters are
put to the test physically and mentally. It takes a certain type of individual to mentally and physically
cope with the conditions of conducting an entry rescue. To be successful rescuers need a good support
team that will assist them through the rescue. Typical incident command assignments at a confined
space rescue include:
Incident commander
Safety Officer
Rigging
Rescue group/Rescue team manager
Medical group
Air supply manager
Attendant
Entry/back up teams
While every position plays a part in the outcome of the incident the attendant may be the most crucial
position to the success of the rescue and safety of your personnel. At the tactical level the attendant has
possibly more individual tasks than any other position on scene. The attended needs to be someone
trained at the confined space technician level and have a good command presence and
communications skills. They need know how to avoid task saturation and maintain good situational
awareness. The attendant needs to be aware of the rescuers attitude and tone while in the space. It will
be the attendants job to ensure rescuers that get feelings of claustrophobia or exhibit other signs of
emotional distress are talked down.
The attendant serves as the communication line between the patient and rescuers in an unforgiving
environment, and it is that communication that can have a dramatic effect on the rescuers mindset
during the rescue. All personnel involved in a confined space entry will at some point experience some
uneasiness or some signs and symptoms of claustrophobia. The most important factor to controlling
those involuntary reactions is recognition. It can be hard as a rescuer in the space to recognize these
signs and control them. The attendant should recognise that change in emotion and speech to provide
that voice from the outside to help control those emotions.

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While the main responsibility is to the people in the space, the attendant also gives haul commands to
the rigging team, communicates with the air supply team, and maintains atmospheric monitoring. They
will keep accountability for the entrants in the space, document current and past travel routes and more.
This position is too often filled by anyone on scene that has had confined space training. Ensure that
this person has the experience, training, and the knowledge to perform the required tasks just as you
would any other position. Primary duties of the attendant include:
Know the hazards of the space and rescue plan before entry
Be aware of possible behavioral effects of exposures. Remain outside the space during the
rescue operations until it is completed or when relieved by another qualified attendant
Monitor the atmosphere
Maintain primary communications with the entrants.
Alert entrants in any case where evacuation is needed
Maintain a clear working zone around the entry point
Perform non-entry rescue
Not allow unauthorized personnel to enter the space
Do not perform any duty that will interrupt your primary duties of monitoring, ensuring
communication and safety of the rescuers and victims
Make initial patient contact with the victim
Operate hardwire communications
Wear appropriate PPE and position vest
Reports to the entry team manager or rescue group supervisor
The attendant is generally the first one to the entry point so I recommend that they have these main
components:
Atmospheric monitor (typically a 4 gas) that reads CO, O2, toxicity, and flammability
Appropriate PPE to include self-contained breathing apparatus (initially)
Hardwire communications and talk box (if used) and search cam probe.
Equipment for a travel restraint/fall protection (if a vertical entry), and attendant position
checklist.
Once the attendant has established patient contact and monitored the atmosphere they will log their
initial readings and send them to the rescue group supervisor. Remember that OSHA requires the
atmosphere to be monitored before entry. For vertical entries OSHA requires testing of the atmosphere
every four feet in depth at a duration of 90 seconds to allow the sample to travel up the collection tube.
Monitoring must continue throughout the incident and result be given to the entry group supervisor
every 15 min. depending on conditions. The attendant will at all times be positioned at the entry point
and monitor the rescuers progress and maintain constant communications.
No one should talk to the rescuers besides the attendant. It is vital that the attendant maintain
accountability of each rescuer in the hole. The attendant should document when the entry was made,
and what time the rescuers went on air. The attendant will manage the entry teams work/air duration,
their mental stability, their route, their airlines, and requests for equipment or other support. Note: For
extended entry operations that have complex internal arrangements such as tunnel systems it may be
necessary to send more personnel in the space as line tenders. These personnel should be positioned
in bends or turns within the space to ensure that supplied airlines move freely and not restrict the
rescuers movement.
Some tips to make operations run smoothly and reduce task saturation of the attend include:
Combining your hardwire communications lines with your supplied airlines can lessen the
amount of lines to manage.
Color code you supplied airlines. It is easier to track colored lines than remember who is
rescuer #2, entrant #4 and so on. Once someone enters the space and needs slack on a line or
has an issue they can be identified by color. Example: Rescue #1 is red. While in the space,
rescuer #1 has an air emergency, they transfer over to their escape pack and need to get out of
the hole immediately. The rescuer relays back take up slack on red, attendant relays information
to the line tenders outside to take up slack on red.
Make sure to map the rescuers travel routes. The rescuers should be relaying information back
about their travel routes as well as marking them inside. This can be critical to cut down time
inside the space with complex arrangements. As the operation goes on and multiple rescuers go
in and out of the space, not keeping track of the route can cause duplication of efforts and
frustration.
Dont overlook good line management for your rescuers. If you do not take up and let out slack
as needed for the rescuer you may end up creating an entanglement hazard inside the space for
your rescuers. It doesnt take long to create a mess.
Maintain radio discipline and composure. Numerous people will be trying to talk to the
attendant, ensure you always put the entrants first. Never miss a message from the entrant, their
life could depend on it.
Each year there are more rescuers killed attempting to remove victims from confined spaces than the
victims themselves. Train, train, train, confined space rescue operations already put firefighters in
high-risk environments, finding every way to increase our proficiency and awareness of the environment
is the top priority of every officer. With all the focus on the entrants and the complicated rope systems
dont forget about the details.

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Comment (1)

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aliceward83 0p 31 weeks ago

+1

Does the employer have the equipment necessary for compliance, including personal
protective equipment?
Has the employer ordered or arranged to obtain the equipment required for compliance,
or taking alternative measures to protect employees from confined space hazards?

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Has the employer engaged in additional efforts to educate and protect workers when it
comes to confined space hazards?
A confined space training Perth must be purged at least twice and retested where a
confined space has a chemical substance or mixture of chemical substances that is a
hazard, physical agent levels constitutes a hazard and/or oxygen levels are considered
hazardous.
Reply

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