RIT/Rapid Intervention Team Guide: Equipment, Tactics & Training Drills

RIT Exists Because Good Firefighters Get in Trouble

A Rapid Intervention Team is the emergency plan for the emergency responders. When a firefighter goes down, becomes trapped, or runs out of air inside a structure, RIT is the crew that goes in to get them out. It is one of the most demanding, high-stress assignments on the fireground, and it requires dedicated training because you cannot fake it when it matters.

What Is RIT?

RIT (also called RIC, Rapid Intervention Crew, in some jurisdictions) is a dedicated team of firefighters standing by on the fireground whose sole assignment is the rescue of firefighters who become trapped, injured, disoriented, or incapacitated during operations. OSHA's two-in/two-out rule (29 CFR 1910.134) requires that a team be available to rescue interior crews. Many departments assign a full company as the RIT once sufficient resources are on scene.

RIT Equipment

A RIT team should be staged and ready with equipment beyond what a standard crew carries. Common RIT equipment includes:

• RIT air supply: A spare SCBA cylinder with RIC/UAC connection hose to provide air to a downed firefighter
• Forcible entry tools: Halligan bar, flathead axe, and additional hand tools for breaching walls, forcing doors, and removing obstacles
• Search rope / tag line: For maintaining orientation during the search
• Thermal imaging camera: For locating the downed firefighter and navigating through zero-visibility conditions
• Webbing and carabiners: For packaging and moving a downed firefighter
• Wire cutters / cable cutters: For entanglement hazards (drop ceilings, wires, cables)
• Stokes basket or rescue sled: For moving an unconscious firefighter, especially down stairways
• Portable radio: For communication with command and interior crews
• Handlight / flashlight: For visibility in degraded conditions

The RIT officer should do a full 360-degree walk-around of the building, noting entry points, window locations, construction features, and potential access routes before standing by. This pre-planning is not wasted time. It is preparation that cuts minutes off a rescue if activation happens.

Activation Triggers

RIT activation occurs when:

• A Mayday is declared by any firefighter on the fireground
• A PASS device is heard activating inside the structure
• A crew becomes unaccounted for during a PAR (Personnel Accountability Report)
• A structural collapse occurs with crews inside
• Conditions suddenly deteriorate (flashover, backdraft) with crews operating interior
• The incident commander has reason to believe a firefighter is in distress

When activated, RIT transitions from standby to active rescue. This is a high-priority, resource-intensive operation. The IC should immediately request additional alarms if RIT is activated, because the RIT assignment is now consumed and a second RIT must be established.

Packaging a Downed Firefighter

Getting to a downed firefighter is only half the problem. Packaging and removing them is the other half, and it is brutally demanding physically. A firefighter in full gear weighs 250-350+ pounds. They may be unconscious. The environment is zero visibility, high heat, and structurally compromised.

Key steps in packaging:

1. Assessment: Check the downed firefighter's air supply. If their cylinder is low or empty, connect the RIT air supply to their UAC/RIC port immediately. This is the first priority.
2. Communication: Transmit to command that you have located the downed firefighter. Provide location and conditions.
3. Disentangle: Free the firefighter from any entanglement: wires, debris, collapsed ceiling. Cut away what you need to.
4. Convert the SCBA for drag: The SCBA waist strap can be used as a handle. Some departments teach converting the SCBA harness by loosening the shoulder straps and using them to create drag loops.
5. Webbing techniques: A length of webbing can be used to create a hasty harness around the downed firefighter for dragging, lifting through windows, or lowering down stairs.
6. Move to egress point: Choose the shortest, most viable exit route. This may not be the way you came in. Windows, breached walls, and alternative exits should all be considered.

Training Drills

RIT skills are perishable. If your department does not train on RIT at least quarterly, the skills will not be there when you need them. Essential drills include:

• RIC/UAC air connection: Practice connecting to the RIT air supply and to a downed firefighter's SCBA in zero visibility with gloves on. Do it repeatedly until it is muscle memory.
• Firefighter packaging and drag: Practice converting SCBA for drag, webbing techniques, and moving a full-weight mannequin or willing participant through obstacles, down stairs, and through windows.
• Wall breach: Practice breaching interior walls to create alternative exit routes.
• Window removal and rescue: Practice removing a downed firefighter through a window, including the use of ladders as a shelf or platform.
• Entanglement: Set up entanglement props (wires, drop ceiling) and practice self-rescue and buddy rescue in zero visibility.
• PASS device location: Practice locating activated PASS devices in smoke-filled environments using sound alone and TIC.
• Full-scale RIT activation: Simulate a Mayday from start to finish: activation, deployment, search, locate, package, and remove. Time it. Debrief it. Do it again.

Train hard so the real thing feels familiar. RIT is not the time to figure things out. It is the time to execute what you have drilled.