Survivability Profiling Starts with Size-up

Baltimore, MD - In his class, "Survivability Profiling—Size-up on Steroids", Capt. Stephen Marsar of the FDNY began with some very sobering statistics. He detailed the number of line-of-duty deaths in the past seven years and breaks it down into how many firefighters died in structure fires each year.

The interesting thing to note, is the amount of civilian fatalities in those same structure fires.

Year LODDs Structure Fire LODDs Civilian Fatalities
2008 114 31 3
2009 89 21 0
2010 85 21 1
2011 81 22 0
2012 82 23 0
2013 101 26 4
2014 87 20 1

Those numbers are staggering and and they point to a distinct problem in the fire service; too many firefighters are risking (and losing) their lives trying to save people who either already escaped, had already died, or were never there in the first place.

Survivability profiling is the educated art of examining a situation and making an informed, intelligent decision of whether to commit firefighters to life-saving or interior operations. It differs from basic risk vs. reward in that it goes beyond the tendency to justify risk whenever we respond to an occupied building.

Yes, every firefighter takes an oath where they “swear to protect life and property” but too many forget that “life” includes their own life.

Too often firefighters suffer from what Plano, Texas, Fire Chief Brian Crawford calls the “firefighter duty-to-die syndrome.” According to Crawford’s theory, firefighters feel it’s their duty to take unnecessary risks—even if that means dying or risking others’ lives—because they are trying to fulfill a notion they have about what a firefighter should be: a bold and selfless hero.

Marsar says firefighters are asking themselves the wrong question when they arrive at the fireground. Traditional size-up asks, “Are there people in there?” It is based on several factors such the time of day, type of structure, etc. Survivability profiling asks, “Are people alive in there?” In situations where people are unlikely to survive the existing fire and smoke conditions, survivability profiling leads us to extinguish the fire first and attempt searches when it is relatively safe for our operating forces to do so.

Survivability profiling asks—if people are suspected or known to be trapped—is there a reasonable assumption that they may still be alive? If not, Marsar says we should slow down and attack the fire first and complete the searches when it is relatively safe for our operating forces to do so. Some will argue that using survivability profiling will kill people. Marsar says, “No, fires and smoke kill people (many times before we even arrive on the scene). Survivability profiling will save firefighters’ lives.”

Survivability profiling goes beyond the traditional size-up criteria and the mindset that there’s a life inside every burning structure that we respond to. Although there have certainly been civilians saved by this thinking, the sobering fact is that this assumption has also killed many firefighters. “The research supports the fact that in many fires where firefighters have been killed, we, after entering the structure, were the only life hazard that existed,” Marsar says. “Conversely, even in situations where we know or are reasonably certain that civilian lives are inside a burning structure, we must sometimes look at the fire and smoke conditions and conclude that some trapped occupants are just not savable. This extremely difficult and unpopular decision will require us to attack the fire first and conduct search and/or rescue, and/or body recovery, when it’s relatively safe for our operating forces to do so.”

Does that mean we should just surround and drown all structure fires that we respond to? Of course not, nor does it mean that we should stop interior firefighting operations. Marsar says it means that we must slow down and rethink the way we do business in certain situations, especially in understaffed departments—an issue that many emerging leaders are dealing with as a result of budgetary cutbacks and political restraints.

“We need to be more honest with ourselves and professional enough to reach educated conclusions regarding civilian survivability at some structure fires,” he says. “That is why the IAFC’s Rules of Engagement for Structural Firefighting have been adopted on a national level. They provide guidelines on go/no-go decision-making and firefighter safety and survival.”

Marsar says firefighters need to follow the IAFC Rules of Engagement, especially the section that says “DO NOT Risk Your Life for Lives or Property That Cannot Be Saved.” He showed a series of slides of burning buildings and asked audience members whether the people inside of the building could be saved. While some were questionable (and worth the risk), others were very obvious and yet in the photos, you could see firefighters trying to gain access for search and rescue operations. Marsar stressed that there is nothing wrong with an Offensive Exterior Attack.

Marsar told the audience, “An NFA instructor I once had told me, ‘History repeats itself. Therefore, history is predictable. If history is predictable, then it’s preventable—and if it’s preventable, then it cannot be an accident.’ We and our future leaders owe it to ourselves, our fellow firefighters, our departments and our families to help reduce preventable LODDs. It’s my hope that survivability profiling will assist in that goal.”

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