Oglethorpe County Fire Rescue (OCFR) had twelve firefighters participate in a 30-hour specialized training class to prepare them to be a part of OCFR’s first Rapid Intervention Team (RIT).
RIT is a team of firefighters dedicated solely to the search and rescue of other firefighters in distress. Both the National Firefighter Protection Association (NFPA) and the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have requirements for RIT at structure fires. These standards require that a minimum of two firefighters be standing by in full personal protective equipment (PPE) while other crew members are working in a hazardous atmosphere. These standards are the result of a series of incidents where firefighters became lost, trapped, or disoriented while fighting a structure fire without RIT present.
The overall purpose of RIT is to ensure firefighter safety and to provide a trained rescue team to respond to a downed firefighter in the event of an emergency on the fireground.