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By Crawford Coates
Assistant Editor, FireRescue Magazine and Wildland Firefighter
Listening to Fred LaFemina’s tales of search, rescue and recovery tempts the listener to shake his head and say, “Only in New York.” Each story—with its canny twists and characters and gritty setting—is unique, but a variation of each could happen most anywhere. Though only in New York do they occur with such regularity.
LaFemina, a 21-year veteran of the fire service who now serves as the task force leader for New York TFI’s USAR Team, detailed a few incidents, each highlighting different issues, challenges and complications. He analyzed a body recovery in a slag-filled barge in Queens; a body recovery in a heating oil tank in the basement of a multi-family building; the rescue of a junkyard worker allegedly left by the mob to die in the yard’s liquids-capture tank; a helicopter crash on the roof of a two-story apartment complex; and the tragic Staten Island Ferry incident that killed ten people and involved the complicated cooperation of several agencies.
His analysis of the incidents served to reinforce several key points:
• Well-intentioned firefighters who are not disciplined will get themselves and others in trouble: Shut them down.
• Don’t allow concerned personnel to clog access to the scene; non-essential personnel should be moved in order to gain control of the situation.
• Always evaluate scene safety (at the barge incident, a rail was missing along the operations area, presenting a potential hazard).
• Treat recovered bodies with dignity; manage the family and treat them with sympathy.
• Time: You will always require more of it than you think. Rotate personnel as needed to keep everyone fresh.
• Get your gear cleaned up and ready to go to the next event; only essential personnel should be placed in contact with contaminants to limit cleanup time.
• Rescue vs. recovery: don’t risk lives to recover a body; if it can wait for safer conditions, wait.
• Know your workers well; certified does not mean qualified.
• Train like you play; recreating realistic environments to train in pays off when you go live.
• Have proper PPE and equipment at the ready.
• Keep the staging area away from the operations area.
• Be aware of the fact that you might be working on a crime scene—and not even know it.
• When an incident becomes a media event, get the PIO involved early and get the media the information they need so that personnel can get back to work unmolested.
• The Do-Over: reassess the scene when you arrive. Events evolve with imperfect knowledge and will proceed imperfectly unless reevaluated.
Visit Fred LaFemina’s “Fire Operations” column section at FireRescue1