Tech Rescue Tools of the Trade: Field and Shoring Operations Guides

March 1, 2015
Bob Duemmel provides an overview of two valuable tools for responders that provide the critical details while operating at a collapse incident.

The more we learn the greater the challenge of properly executing those newly developed skills becomes. One of the strongest ways to maintain your proficiency is to establish standardized methods of implementing these tasks within your organization.

The examples we will be focusing on here are directed to structural collapse incidents.

By establishing agency-based operational procedures you will have one of the strongest tools at hand to guide your standardization process. With a well-written procedure or guide in place you can cover many, but not all of the components of a collapse operation. In an effort to avoid reinventing the wheel, you can utilize outside resources as a part of your team's operational guidance.

Field Operations Guides (FOGs) are great tools for this task. Selection of the FOG is important because there are many variations available, including those created by government agencies while others are developed by individual authors. A functional option to the FOG is the Shoring Operations Guide (SOG), which is a condensed version of the FOG.

My county’s special operations unit has chosen the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Urban Search & Rescue (USACE USAR) Structures Specials FOG and SOG as our team's standardized guides. A great reference site for more information on these two guides is the DisaterEngineer.org website. In its library you can review multiple operations guides, various training materials, forms, and other related information associated with USAR operations. The site's multimedia gallery contains excellent video clips of the detailed testing process that goes into validating the material found in the USACE USAR FOG & SOG.

Throughout our research to choose which guide we would adopt, we found numerous options to choose from, all with great content. Some of these options had many of the same people included in their development teams. This article is not intended to judge any of these specific guides as being the right one; that choice is fully within the control of your organization.

Additionally when you make your choice of FOG or SOG, you should include language that promotes the most recent edition. I have reviewed other agency’s programs, which have included the title of a specific FOG; but missed some other important parts of their documents guidance.

  • Some have identified a specific edition; this lends itself to having difficulty in obtaining the correct edition once the new ones come out
  • Some editions have minor content changes while others have extensive modifications and or additions to the guide as a part of the updated edition
  • Not all changes are user friendly, sometimes material is eliminated in the newer edition, so retaining your past copies allows you to transfer the lost material to your new guide if you so desire.

The edition you are working on can have a major impact on your operations. One example of the types of changes from one edition to another can be related to the addition of the: 2’x4’ and 4’x4’ Plywood Laced Post (Vertical/Class 3) shores. These are two of the newer additions to the suggested shoring selections within the FOG & SOG. If you are using a guide that is one or more editions older you would not possess the information to properly construct one of these time-saving systems. Remember that your operational level of success relates directly to teamwork. Putting all of your team members on the same page is essential to success.

FOGs and SOGs provide the responders with easily accessible memory joggers. There are very few if any individuals out there who can remember and instantly recall all of the details related to shoring operations or for any of the others specialties we respond to. It is the attention to detail that fosters the successful operation mentioned earlier.

Some of the details that are included in the FOGs and SOGs include:

  • Nailing patterns
    • Remember the nails connect members together, but do not directly transfer loads
    • Proper sized nails to use:
      • 8d = for plywood 5/8” or 3/4”
      • 16d = for dimensional lumber
    • Proper amount of nails – examples: Raker shores
      • 24” cleats =14 -16d nails for 45 degree angles
      • 30” Top cleats = 20-16d for 60 degree angles
    • Plus many other points of detail that assist in the erection of a well-constructed and stable shoring system.
  • References to the Class of shore being selected:
    • Class 1 Spot Shores
    • Class 2 (two or more post) vertical Shores
    • Class 3 shoring has all Posts braced in two directions
  • Four Categories of FEMA USAR Markings:
    • Structural Identification Marking
    • Structural/Hazards Evaluation Marking
    • Victim Location Marking
    • Search Assessment Marking

These three examples are a small portion of the information available in the guides. You should become familiar with your selected guides content prior to needing it at an incident. The more you train with this valuable tool the greater its value becomes.

The use of tabs also helps to customize your personal guide. By placing tabs on specific sections in the guide you can quickly find the information you desire when working at an incident or during a training exercise.

A secondary benefit of having an established guide in place is that it helps prevent the “self-designed/modified” version of a shore from slipping into your system. One additional challenge we face is the “we have been doing it this way lately because someone said it was the ‘way to do it’ ” culture of the fire service. Having previously established standardization within your organization will help to halt this freelancing mentality prior to it negatively impacting your operational capability.

As updates and changes take place, you also have to be committed to passing these changes along to your entire organization.

No matter how busy or slow your agency is, we always need to keep training and looking into the future for safer and more efficient ways to accomplish the tasks we face.

BOB DUEMMEL is the technical rescue editor for Firehouse. He is also the deputy coordinator for Special Operations in Monroe County, N.Y. and a captain with the City of Rochester Fire Department. He is the Plans Manager for New York Task Force-2 USAR Team, a member of the Western New York Incident Management Team and a member of the New York State Technical Rescue curriculum development team. He is a nationally certified instructor with a focus on technical rescue programs. He has delivered training to fire service, industrial, military and international rescue teams and has assisted with exercise evaluation for the United Kingdom and the European Union's USAR program. Bob has also participated in numerous USAR exercised as both a participant and evaluator. He is host of “The Buzz on Technical Rescue” podcast. Bob can be reached at [email protected] 

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