1. Structural Collapse Search and Rescue

2. Objectives (1 of 3)
Identify the need for structural collapse search and rescue operations.
Describe the various types of structural collapse events.
Describe the resources needed to conduct a structural collapse search and rescue operation.

3. Objectives (2 of 3)
Describe response planning and incident management requirements related to a structural collapse search and rescue incident.
Describe site control operations at a structural collapse incident.
List general hazards associated with a structural collapse incident.

4. Objectives (3 of 3)
Identify building construction types and their associated collapse characteristics.
List the five types of collapse void patterns.
Describe the FEMA USAR search, building, victim location, and structure marking systems.

5. Skills Objectives
Remove readily accessible victims from a structural collapse incident.

6. Structural Collapse Scenarios
Vary in difficulty based on significance of collapse and size, type, and occupancy of building involved
Require standard, flexible rescue plan of action
Require various resources, tools, personnel

7. Various Factors Cause Collapse (1 of 3)
Nature:
Hurricanes, tornadoes, high winds, earthquakes, mudslides, landslides, floods, snow or ice loads on roofs
Fire damage

8. Various Factors Cause Collapse (2 of 3)
© Baloncici/ShutterStock, Inc.

9. Various Factors Cause Collapse (3 of 3)
Interior or exterior blast:
Gas leak explosion, boiler explosion, terrorist activity
Human error:
Impact by transportation vehicle, faulty engineering, improper building materials

10. Applicable Standards
NFPA 1006, Standard for Technical Rescuer Professional Qualifications: job performance requirements for responders at technician-level
NFPA 1670, Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents: organizational requirements

11. Awareness Level Responders
Serve as equipment runners.
Help move and care for casualties.
Maintain perimeter control.
Provide command post assistance.
Direct traffic.
Perform other important tasks within training level.

12. Hazard Control Resources Include (1 of 2)
Firefighting assets
Utility company assistance
Trained professionals to control secondary collapse hazards
Hazardous materials response teams

13. Hazard Control Resources Include (2 of 2)
Law enforcement
Search and rescue teams trained in structural collapse rescue
Search assets:
Physical search teams, canine search teams, search teams with technical equipment

14. Technical Search Resources (1 of 3)
Acoustic devices pick up noises from within collapsed building.
Seismic devices sense vibrations, movement from within or around building.
Visual search devices pick up visual or thermal image.

15. Technical Search Resources (2 of 3)
Courtesy of CON-SPACE Communications

16. Technical Search Resources (3 of 3)
© Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Courtesy of Glen E. Ellman and Texas Engineering Extension Service, Texas A&M System.

17. Extrication
Actions taken by responders to remove victim from entrapment at building
Involves:
Lifting heavy objects
Cutting through building materials
Breaching structural building components

18. Special Training Required Includes
Use of hand, power tools to lift and stabilize heavy objects and possibly move heavy loads safely to access victims
Knowledge of mechanical advantage, classes of levers, pneumatic lifting bags, cribbing stabilization systems

19. Rescue Resources Include (1 of 4)
Breaching: cutting through wood, steel, concrete, furniture, appliances, to access victims
Shoring: using tools, equipment to support and stabilize damaged buildings and structural members to access victims and avoid secondary collapse

20. Rescue Resources Include (2 of 4)
© Glen E. Ellman

21. Rescue Resources Include (3 of 4)
Courtesy of Robert Rhea

22. Rescue Resources Include (4 of 4)
Victim packaging: using equipment (stretchers, baskets) to load and move victims to safety

23. EMS Resources (1 of 2)
May be significant at collapse event, especially with mass-casualty
Requires BLS and ALS care
Manage injuries, medical complications typical at collapse, including:
Fractures, respiratory distress, dehydration, compartment syndrome, crush syndrome

24. EMS Resources (2 of 2)
Courtesy of Robert Rhea

25. Hazardous Materials Resources
Include personnel trained and equipped to detect chemical, biological, nuclear, WMD hazards:
WMD threats: chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear, explosive
Involve atmospheric monitoring to determine dangerous atmospheres and establish control zones
Include specialized PPE, equipment, procedures

26. Law Enforcement Resources
Establish perimeter control.
Perform site security.
Control traffic flow.
Maintain force protection for emergency responders.
Interview witnesses, bystanders, and co-workers.

27. Logistical Support Resources
Nighttime lighting, bathroom facilities, food and shelter items for rescue workers
Apparatus maintenance, refueling, field repair of tools and equipment, procurement of rescue tools, supplies, and equipment
Provide on-site ER with physician and nurses for victims.

28. Strategic Objectives
Evaluate the scene and identify potential victims and locations.
Initiate operations to minimize hazards to operating personnel and trapped victims.
Search structure, rescue, and remove trapped victims.
Minimize further injury to victims during search, rescue, and removal operations.

29. Minimum ICS Management Personnel
Incident commander (IC)
Operations section chief
Planning section chief
Logistics section chief
Safety officer
Public information officer

30. Incident Action Plan (IAP)
Identifies overall control objectives for collapse emergency
Makes provisions for long-term staffing
Makes tactical and resource assignments
Identifies operational work periods and safety messages

31. Organizational Needs Assessment Includes
Types of buildings that may fail and construction materials used
Emergency response resource needs
Written procedures to request resources, mutual aid, contracts with private-sector companies, agreements with regional, state, or federal assets
Capability of agency personnel

32. Light-Frame Buildings (1 of 2)
Primarily wood frame, 1–4 stories high, residential
Inherent lateral stability weakness at foundation, connections between building components, windows, doors:
May cause weak walls to rack over

33. Light-Frame Buildings (2 of 2)
© Sue Ashe/ShutterStock, Inc.

34. Assess Light-Frame Buildings For
Cracked or leaning walls
Offset of building from foundation
Leaning first story
Cracked or leaning chimney, loose masonry
Cracked or loose brick veneer
Separation between main building and additions

35. Heavy Wall Buildings (1 of 3)
Characterized by URM or tilt-up concrete walls, steel or concrete frames with masonry infill walls, other low-rise designs incorporating concrete and/or masonry walls
Used for residential, commercial, industrial purposes, 1–6 stories
Lack of lateral wall strength and weakness of connections between walls, floors, roofs primary weakness

36. Heavy Wall Buildings (2 of 3)
Collapse problems related to load-bearing walls of brick, hollow concrete block, or stone
Falling hazards from bricks, rubble, and ornamentation are common during collapse event.

37. Heavy Wall Buildings (3 of 3)
© wheatley/ShutterStock, Inc.

38. Assess Heavy Wall Buildings For
Cracked walls at building corners and near wall openings
Unsupported and partially collapsed floors or roofs
Damaged connections between walls or columns and floors or roof structures

39. Heavy Floor Buildings (1 of 2)
Concrete frame, 1–13 stories
Some built with URM infill walls
Weakest designs may lead soft first-story collapse and include:
High, open ground-level floors
High open areas on corners of multistory

40. Heavy Floor Buildings (2 of 2)
Courtesy of Robert Rhea

41. Assess Heavy Floor Buildings For
Exposed reinforcing steel or lack of concrete on column
Concrete cracking in columns at floor line both above/below floor
Diagonal shear cracking in beams where supported by columns or walls
Cracking in flat concrete slabs
Loose infill masonry walls, cracks in concrete shear walls and/or stairs

42. Pre-cast Buildings (1 of 2)
Concrete
One or more stories
Factory pre-made individual building components
Primary weakness occurs at interconnection of various components

43. Pre-cast Buildings (2 of 2)
Courtesy of Robert Rhea

44. Assess Pre-cast Buildings For
Stability by observing connections for broken welds, cracked corbels, or broken connector bolts
Cracking of concrete in columns
Adequate support of wall panel connections
Badly cracked walls

45. Lean-to Void Spaces (1 of 2)
Victims are most likely located under floor within void space or on top of collapsed floor at lower end where debris slides down to bottom.

46. Lean-to Void Spaces (2 of 2)

47. V-Shape Collapse Voids (1 of 2)
Victims can be found:
Under each side of created V-shape near exterior walls
On top of collapsed floor in middle of created V-shape, along with all other floor contents, will shift to lowest position when floor fails

48. V-Shape Collapse Voids (2 of 2)

49. Pancake Collapse Voids (1 of 2)
Do not result in many survivable spaces except sometimes in void where floor assembly falls and rests on furniture or appliances

50. Pancake Collapse Voids (2 of 2)

51. Cantilever Voids (1 of 2)
Victims are often found under unsupported cantilever in very dangerous locations.

52. Cantilever Voids (2 of 2)

53. A-Frame Voids (1 of 2)
Victims are typically found under void spaces created on either side of middle support area or outside void spaces near side walls where floors failed at connection.

54. A-Frame Voids (2 of 2)

55. Approach Hazards (1 of 2)
Include numerous natural or human-made factors that can limit responders’ ability to reach the incident location quickly and hamper rescue:
Natural disasters (earthquakes, tornadoes)
Terrorist bombings
Damaged local infrastructure (roadways, bridges, electrical wires)

56. Approach Hazards (2 of 2)
Courtesy of Lara Shane/FEMA

57. Reconnaissance of Collapse Scene
Perform from safe location, away from potential secondary collapse hazards
Assesses area for hazards and determines needed hazard mitigation actions
Identifies access problems
Requires calm, slow, methodical manner

58. Utility Hazards and Other Hazardous Materials (1 of 2)
Damaged building utilities may cause fires, hazardous environments, and explosions.
Commercial and residential buildings may have hazardous materials onsite.
Nuclear or biological weapons, chemical agents, WMD as an incident cause should be considered.

59. Utility Hazards and Other Hazardous Materials (2 of 2)
© Steve Allen/Brand X Pictures/Alamy Images

60. Secondary Collapse Indicators (1 of 3)
Leaning walls
Smoke or water seeping through breaks or joints in wall
Creaking, groaning, snapping, falling debris sounds
Sagging floors or roof
Missing, strained, or damaged building components or connections

61. Secondary Collapse Indicators (2 of 3)
Excessive loading of structural elements due to debris shift
Racked (leaning) or twisted structure
Significant vibration sources in the area
Aftershock conditions or potential
Active fire in building

62. Secondary Collapse Indicators (3 of 3)
© A.S. Zain/ShutterStock, Inc.

63. Surface Hazards Result from presence of:
Unstable debris pile
Loose and uneven rubble
Sharp materials
May cause personnel to slip, fall, suffer twists, strains, sprains, and other injuries

64. Void Space Hazards
Entering collapse void to perform search and rescue operations is inherently dangerous.
May cause secondary collapse
Requires stability assessment first
Awareness-level rescuers must be trained to at least awareness level for confined-space rescue.

65. Basic Hazard Mitigation
Recognize surface and avoid hazards and possible injuries.
Recognize and avoid collapse hazards.
Limit exposure to hazardous areas by denying entry and establishing collapse safety zones.

66. WMD Event (1 of 2) Involves responses by multiple agencies
Anticipate multiple events or secondary devices.
Maintain situational awareness.
May become a mass casualty incident

67. WMD Event (2 of 2)
Courtesy of FEMA

68. Basic Search Methods Physical search: Hailing system:
Similar to physical search in fire-ground situation
Hailing system:
System for locating victims
Structural collapse marking systems:
Different systems used to identify buildings, locations, hazard assessments, victims

69. Building and Structure Marking System
Reprinted with permission from NFPA 1670, Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents, Copyright © 2009, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA This reprinted material is not the complete and official position of the NFPA on the referenced subject, which is represented only by the standard in its entirety.

70. Victim Location Marking System
Reprinted with permission from NFPA 1670, Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents, Copyright © 2009, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA This reprinted material is not the complete and official position of the NFPA on the referenced subject, which is represented only by the standard in its entirety.

71. Patient Care Considerations
Walking wounded may be suffering from typical collapse injuries.
Adequate EMS resources are necessary.
Surface victims should be recovered as quickly as conditions permit.
Extrication of entrapped victims may require special hand tools.

72. Summary (1 of 2)
Types of buildings involved in structural collapse vary.
Resource requirements include search, rescue, EMS, heavy equipment, structural engineers, utility companies, and other resources.
Effective planning is critical to structural collapse emergency management.
IMS implementation is the key to controlling the emergency.

73. Summary (2 of 2)
Collapse characteristics differ based on the building type.
Types of collapse voids and potential victim locations are based on building’s construction.
Thorough hazard assessment and ongoing assessment is necessary.
Initial search measures by first responders include physical search and implementation of hailing system.