RIT Team

 

A rapid intervention team (RIT), is a team of two or more firefighters dedicated solely to the search and rescue of other firefighters in distress. RIT shall have no other operational assignment during an incident. Multiple alarm fires may require multiple RIT.

 

Through the late 1960s and early 1970s the London Fire Brigade introduced RIT procedures. This consisted of designated firefighter search and rescue teams (termed "emergency crews") stationed at self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) control entry points, equipped with emergency SCBA specifically designed to be worn by unconscious, injured or trapped firefighters.

 

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have requirements for some type of RIT at structure fires. These standards require that a minimum of two fire fighters be standing by in full personal protective equipment while other crew members are working in a hazardous atmosphere. The standards are the result of a series of incidents where fire fighters became lost, trapped or disoriented while fighting a structure fire without a RIT present.

 

The Campbellsport Volunteer Fire Department recognized the importance of rapid intervention teams and established a group of members to create the department’s standalone team in 2007.  Since then the Campbellsport Volunteer Fire Department has also become part of the Fond du Lac County rapid intervention team as part of District 5.  A minimum of one RIT is assigned to all structure fires within Fond du Lac County at the Working Still Alarm level.