3 years ago
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Jeff Seaton is a firefighter from San Jose, California. The Little Rock Fire Department brought him in to provide new training techniques for its men and women.
?They asked us to come out and show them a system that allows us to search in large occupancies, thousands of square feet safely and effectively,? says Seaton.
Seaton says disorientation in a burning building is the number three killer of firefighters in America. So the search line system he's teaching is designed to prevent that by using rope, knots and rings.
?There's a ring that indicates which way is in and out of the building. The knots lead you in and out the building and the number of knots that the firefighters count following that ring are going to tell them exactly how far they've traveled into the building,? says Seaton.
Seaton says this system lets firefighters outside know where their people are within ten feet in a burning structure.
Captain Scott Valentine of the Little Rock Fire Department met Seaton at a convention in Houston a year ago. He says Seaton's system is invaluable in saving civilian lives as well as firefighters.
Valentine says, ?Each year approximately 100 firefighters lose their lives. Our goal is to reduce that number; that's the whole basis for this training.?
Valentine says specific groups will be designated as search line crews.
?F.A.S.T. [It's the] acronym for firefighter assist search teams. These guys will actually be designated to stand by and in the event a firefighter goes down, that will be their primary responsibility,? says Valentine.
Seaton says the search line system is in place to save lives. He says it's just one more tool to protect those they serve.
