Peter Matthews talks Capt. Gary Coney from Chicago Squad 2 and retired Chicago Fire Commissioner Bob Hoff about the rollout of the new Responder Intervention Team (RIT) Chief course being offered by the Illinois Fire Service Institute on the new episode of The Firehouse Yak.
This is the first hands-on course for chief officers that digs into mayday incidents from the command level with topics including the branches of RIT command, accountability, managing the fire vs. managing the mayday, downed firefighter rescue skills and the aftermath of a RIT deployment. This 50-hour class includes classroom sessions and multiple hands-on scenarios with many sets and reps that allow the small classes to get intense and realistic training.
The course, Coney and Hoff explain, was designed from lessons pulled from multiple mayday scenarios they were directly involved with and incidents from across the country that resulted in serious firefighter injuries, or tragic deaths. The program has been tested by incident commanders from departments large and small, and promises to challenge each participant to sharpen their skills should they command a mayday.
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