First responders should be aware of what’s in their district and prepare for the potential dangers that it presents. However, they also must prepare for what might go through their district or over it. The preparation in conjunction with large highways and railroads includes training for hazmat, large-truck rescue and railroad incidents. That said, most don’t think about what goes over head.
My district has a large airport in the middle of it, so we train for aircraft emergencies. However, two of the three crashes that we responded to were outside of the airport, one of them in a neighboring department’s district. When we responded to the latter, the chief of the neighboring district told me, “I’m here 30 years, and we never had a plane crash.”
Although you don’t have an airport, you might be in an approach way or a travel path that aircraft follow. From time to time, you at least should review things that you might need to do with an aircraft that’s different from your routine incidents.
Potential for incidents
The first step is to identify the potential for an aircraft incident in your district. This might be low or high. For example, the airport that’s in the middle of our district services a range of aircraft, from single-engine planes to 737s. As well, the airport is one of the busiest in the state of New York. So, we know that the potential for incidents is high.
Unfortunately, many of the departments that around us might discount their risk for an incident because of their distance from the airport. They might not realize that they are in an approach way or a takeoff area.
Although some departments might have a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-registered airport in their district, it might be just a grass field. Others might not be aware that an airport has pilot training schools and, thus, that there are a lot of daily takeoffs that circle the airport or fly a path over their district.
If you have a nearby airport, visit it to see what type that it is. Find out the frequency by which aircraft come and go. If the airport has its own responders, find out their capabilities (staffing, equipment, etc.). If possible, inquire about training with them. Discuss their policies and procedures, so you understand their response.
We have a great working relationship with Republic Airport Fire Rescue. (Republic Airport is a regional executive airport in East Farmingdale, NY.) Its procedures cover minor incidents to large ones, and we regularly discuss its emergency plans and outline both departments’ roles at these incidents. With that knowledge, we wrote standard operating procedures (SOPs) for our response, so when there is an incident, we all are on the same page. These include which gate to respond to for on-field incidents, so apparatus can be escorted on the facility.
We also are aware that the department responds to incidents in a one-mile radius of the airport, which, if you have a local aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) department, is good to know. Republic Airport Fire Rescue has several large ARFF vehicles, but by working with the department, we also know that they only have 2–3 firefighters on staff at any particular time and have no EMS capability.
If your department isn’t adjacent to an airport, but the potential of aircraft emergencies exists for your district, discuss these matters with the department that’s closest to the airport and the aircraft rescue for the facility. By doing this, you can set up mutual-aid plans in the event of a crash or incident off of the facility property.
Within these policies, we reference our town disaster plans. This is a mutual-aid plan for simultaneously activating multiple departments for ambulances. Having plans such as this in your policies helps the incident commander (IC) and dispatch to get resources to the scene that much quicker.
Aircraft types
The second step identifies the types of planes/aircraft that you have the potential to come in contact with, so you can train for those kinds of incidents. (The aircraft that my department can encounter ranges from private, commercial and military aircraft.) Reviewing the aircraft is important to learn the challenges that each might present.
Some planes might have higher octane fuel (aviation gasoline, or AVGAS).
Some smaller aircraft have built-in parachutes that are deployed via a rocket. If you have an incident that involves this type of plane and the parachute didn’t deploy, you have an unexploded rocket to be concerned about.
Aircraft have different hydraulic fluids that can be harmful to responders.
Cargo in and of itself can be hazardous. You might have military aircraft carrying ordnance.
Knowing the kind of aircraft and potential cargo helps you to set up training and procedures to deal with these incidents.
Command/communications
With these types of incidents, prepare to have a unified command. We usually set up unified command with the ARFF department that covers our airport. Unified command might cover multiple agencies, depending on the size and scope of the incident: law enforcement (for scene security, investigation and traffic control), local electrical utility (if high-tension power lines are involved), railroad, etc. Additional communications with these agencies are important, because, even if they don’t have radio communications, at least liaisons are on scene.
If possible, have local first responders on the same frequencies, to aid in better communications. I have been on several incidents where I was able to communicate with the agency that covers my airport and was able to receive a patient count before I was on scene, which obviously was very beneficial for figuring out needed resources.
Of course, knowing the size of the plane and the number of people who were on board helps size-up.
If you set up a staging area, assign a chief as the staging manager. Having a senior officer there might make responders respect the officer in charge of the staging area.
Operations
Approach upwind of the crash when possible. Don’t just focus on the crash site. Be observant of surroundings. Look for passengers who might have been ejected or got out on their own. Check for downed power lines, aircraft parts or any other hazards.
Check on the stability of the aircraft. Determine whether the fuel, electrical and engine systems were shut down. Avoid engines that are operating. Look for leaking fuel.
If you arrive and the fire mainly is on the ground around the aircraft, your attack should be performed in the method of a flammable liquid fire. Crews should wear full PPE, including SCBA. Use a fog or taskforce-type nozzle, so you can change patterns of the hose stream. A cone pattern is recommended for fire attack.
Your priority is to keep the fire away from the cabin area if passengers are on board. Extinguishing the fire is the priority to save lives, because aircraft aren’t made to withstand it.
Fires that involve the landing gear should be approached by avoiding side walls of tires.
When fire is extinguished, or if there isn’t fire but there are pools of fuel, it’s important to apply AFFF foam and to maintain a good foam blanket—and to know where you can get additional foam. Depending on the weather and fire conditions, you might need to keep adding to the foam blanket. Knowing where you can get additional foam is good information to add to your policies.
For larger incidents, consider a RIT.
You also should be prepared for additional problems when you arrive. Several years ago, we had a midair collision that had one of the aircraft land in a building. The IC had to contend with two crashes and a structure fire. Also, recently, in a Pennsylvania residential area, a crash produced a fuel fire that extended to a pesticides truck, which could have caused a hazmat incident.
Consider your district. Do you have bodies of water, mountainous areas, heavily wooded areas, etc.? (Small lightweight planes have crashed and were stuck in the tops of trees.)
Special resources, such as technical rescue teams, a SCUBA team, the Coast Guard, etc., might be needed.
Extrication of passengers is complicated by aircraft’s inherently limited access. A rotary saw is the recommended tool of choice to cut open an aircraft. It’s recommended to cut along rivet lines. Don’t cut blind of other side of cuts. The inside of the body of aircraft might have fuel tanks. Other aircraft fluids can be caustic.
Look over the aircraft for emergency access points, which usually are labeled, although some of the labels are more distinct than others. This is why it’s important to know what types of aircraft are in your area. The internet is a good tool to get this information, including from the FAA, which provides a wealth of information for first responders.
EMS
EMS operations can range from routine medical emergencies on board an aircraft to a crash. At crash incidents, EMS should set up triage based on the size of emergency. At large incidents, it’s important that a transport officer keep track of patient count and where patients are transported, to avoid overburdening area hospitals.
Because aircraft are inherently small and maneuvering inside of them is difficult for EMS personal, even for routine medical emergencies, members must be provided with training, including to understand the different priorities at each level.
We had a patient from a crash who was in the cockpit, which was very tight. Only one medical provider was able to access him.
On a medical emergency on a 737-type aircraft, the patient couldn’t get up because of illness. Personnel had trouble getting around the patient to lift him. Members considered using rolled up sheets under the patient or a Kendrick extrication device (KED) to lift him out of his seat. Ultimately, a stair chair just fit in the aisle way.
Reeves stretchers, which packages the patient, and other such equipment should be considered for a removal option.
Setting up preplanning EMS resources in your policy, including ambulances and medivac units, is worthwhile.
Keep in mind that a mass-casualty incident can be caused by illness. Recently, several passengers ate at the same restaurant prior to boarding, and all of them developed food poisoning prior to landing.
Inflatable slides/chutes for evacuations on large passenger jets can cause minor injuries to passengers who are forced to use them.
EMS resources also should be available for responders.
The EMS sector also is responsible for rehab. EMS might be called on to stand by at a family assistance center or to assist with fatalities management.
As well, at large-scale incidents, EMS might be asked to provide a stand-by ambulance during the investigation phase of operations, which might take several days. Reaching out to mutual-aid departments in such a situation helps to avoid overloading you members.
