4.6 Breathing Apparatus Emergencies, Firefighter Rescue & Post-Fire Decontamination
Key Takeaways
- If any member of a breathing apparatus team has an equipment failure, an air emergency or an injury, the entire team withdraws together — a team never splits inside a hazard area.
- A charged hose line is the most reliable escape guide in zero visibility: on a coupled line the lugged male end faces the nozzle and the swivel female end faces the supply, so travelling toward the female coupling leads out.
- Standard positive-pressure breathing apparatus does not permit buddy breathing unless the set is fitted with a second-man rescue connection; without one, the only correct action is immediate removal of the casualty.
- Firefighters must not eat, drink or remove gloves before gross decontamination, because combustion residues on turnout gear include carcinogenic and toxic compounds that are readily ingested.
- Every crew member who worked inside the fire compartment is a potential carbon monoxide casualty and must be rested, rehydrated and assessed before any second entry.
4.6 Breathing Apparatus Emergencies, Firefighter Rescue & Post-Fire Decontamination
Core Principle: Section 4.3 covered how to wear a set and Section 4.4 covered how to search. This section covers the two things that decide whether a fire produces casualties among the fire party: what a team does when something goes wrong inside, and what happens to the crew after the fire is out.
1. Air Management Is a Discipline, Not a Gauge Check
| Trigger | Meaning | Required Action |
|---|---|---|
| Rule of thirds passed | One third used on the way in | Turn around now, regardless of progress |
| Low-pressure whistle at 50–55 bar | Roughly 10 minutes of reserve | Unconditional exit. Both team members. Immediately. |
| Team member's whistle sounds | That person is on reserve | The whole team exits together — never split |
| Entry control calls the time of whistle | Calculated exit deadline reached | Team acknowledges and withdraws |
The rule that saves lives: the whistle is not a warning to hurry the job. It is the point at which you must already be able to reach the door on the air you have left. Plan the exit from the moment you enter.
2. Emergencies Inside the Hazard Area
Disorientation
- Stop. Do not wander. Movement without a reference multiplies the problem.
- Announce it on the radio: your call sign, your air pressure, what you can feel around you.
- Find a reference: the hose line, the lifeline, or a bulkhead. Once on a bulkhead, follow it consistently in one direction.
- Following a hose line out. On a coupled fire hose the male coupling (with lugs) points toward the nozzle and the female coupling (with the swivel) points back toward the supply. Travelling from a male end to a female end therefore takes you out toward the hydrant. Learn this by feel with gloves on, in daylight, before you need it.
- Conserve air: slow, controlled breathing; stop physical work while you re-orient.
Entanglement
Cable, lagging wire, lashing and light fittings collapse into search paths. The sequence is stop – feel – follow – cut: stop moving so you do not tighten the snag; feel to identify what is caught; follow the item to its attachment; cut with the personal wire cutters if trained and equipped. Reversing out along your own route is often faster than cutting.
Air Emergency
- Standard positive-pressure marine sets are not designed for buddy breathing. Some sets carry a second-man rescue connection on the first-stage reducer that lets a partner share the supply; if your set has one, know where it is. If it does not, the only correct response is immediate removal of the casualty from the hazard area.
- Declare the emergency on the radio using the team call sign and the word "emergency" three times, give a location, and start moving toward the exit while entry control launches the back-up team.
Downed Firefighter
1. DECLARE -> "Emergency, emergency, emergency - Team 1, deck 3 alleyway,
firefighter down, my pressure 140 bar"
2. CHECK -> Is their facepiece sealed? What does their gauge read?
3. PROTECT -> Correct the airway seal / open the cylinder valve fully
4. MOVE -> Drag on the HARNESS, not on a limb. Keep low, keep together.
5. HANDOVER -> Casualty to the first aid team at the collection point
The back-up team exists precisely for this. Entry control launches it the moment an emergency is declared, using the tally board to know exactly how much air the distressed team has left.
3. Casualty Removal from a Smoke-Filled Space
Table A-VI/1-2 requires the ability to effect a rescue in a smoke-filled space wearing breathing apparatus. Practical points beyond the drags covered in Section 4.4:
- The clock is oxygen, not comfort. A casualty breathing fire gases is accumulating carboxyhaemoglobin every second. Speed of removal outranks neatness of technique unless spinal injury is obvious.
- Protect the casualty's airway as far as practicable: keep them low, below the hot layer, and shield the face from radiant heat with a gloved hand or the edge of a coat.
- Vertical trunks and hatches need a Neil Robertson stretcher (Section 5.5) and a hoisting line — a semi-rigid wrap is the only practical way through a 600 mm manhole.
- Watertight door coamings are the commonest snag point in a drag; lift the casualty's hips over the sill rather than dragging across it.
- Announce the removal so that the boundary team can open and re-close doors ahead of you rather than leaving a fire boundary standing open.
4. Rehabilitation, Decontamination and Medical Check
The incident is not over when the fire is out.
Rehabilitation
- Crew coming out of a set go to a designated rehab area upwind of the incident: gear opened, hood off, seated, water offered.
- Record pulse, respiratory rate and general condition before anyone is cleared for a second entry. Heat stress and dehydration after 30 minutes in full turnout gear are severe, and a fatigued firefighter is the next casualty.
- Rotate people out; do not run the same two people through three consecutive entries because they are the most experienced.
Gross Decontamination
Combustion residues on turnout gear include soot-adsorbed hydrocarbons and acid gas residues.
- Do not eat, drink, smoke, or rub your eyes before decontamination. Do not remove gloves and then handle food.
- Rinse or brush down the outer shell, wash hands, face and neck thoroughly, and get out of contaminated clothing as soon as practicable.
- Bag contaminated gear rather than carrying it through the accommodation; launder turnout gear separately from other laundry.
- Wash SCBA facepieces and disinfect them before returning them to service.
Medical Assessment
Every person who was inside the compartment — firefighters included — is treated as a potential smoke casualty:
- High-flow oxygen for anyone with headache, nausea, dizziness, confusion or a cough.
- Remember the pulse oximeter limitation from Section 3.5: a normal SpO₂ does not exclude carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Contact TMAS for anyone with airway burn signs, persistent symptoms, or a significant exposure.
Equipment Reinstatement
Before the ship stands down: recharge or replace all discharged cylinders and extinguishers; refill or exchange SCBA cylinders; drain, flake and stow hoses; test the fire main; reset dampers and doors; restore ventilation; and enter the whole incident in the official log book. A ship that has just fought a fire with half its firefighting capacity spent is not ready for the next one.
Two firefighters are searching a smoke-filled accommodation flat when one firefighter's low-pressure warning whistle sounds. What must happen?
A firefighter becomes disoriented in zero visibility and locates a charged hose line. How does the coupling arrangement indicate the direction of the exit?
Why must firefighters avoid eating, drinking or removing their gloves before gross decontamination after a shipboard fire?
After a machinery space fire, a firefighter who was inside the compartment reports a headache and mild nausea but insists they are fit for a second entry. What is the correct management?