A Rapid Intervention Team, or RIT, is absolutely crucial for firefighter safety. This team’s sole purpose is to rescue firefighters who find themselves trapped or in danger during a fire or emergency. Whether your department is fully career, a mix of career and volunteer, or entirely volunteer based, having a well trained and equipped RIT can be the difference between a near miss and a tragic loss. Setting up a RIT training program isn’t something you do overnight. It demands thoughtful planning, clear instruction, and commitment from everyone involved, especially leadership and the firefighters themselves.
Before jumping into training, it’s essential to truly understand what a RIT does. This isn’t just a backup group waiting on the sidelines. Their mission is laser focused: locate and rescue firefighters who are missing, injured, or trapped. That means the team needs special skills, strong concentration, and teamwork. To build your program on solid ground, look at national standards like NFPA 1407, which covers Rapid Intervention Crew training in detail, as well as NFPA 1500 (which focuses on safety and health programs) and NFPA 1561, the standard on incident management systems. These provide a solid framework to shape your training.
Fire service literature backs up how vital RIT training is. Books like Firefighter Safety and Survival by Anthony Avillo dive into rescue tactics and show why rapid intervention teams save lives. The Essentials of Fire Fighting from IFSTA is another go to guide, offering practical training advice and a mindset that’s key for RIT work.
Next up is assembling the right instructors and gear. Trainers with real-world rescue experience and MAYDAY response skills are ideal they know the challenges and tactics inside and out. Your training will need proper equipment, including extra air bottles, forcible entry tools such as halligans' and axes, thermal imaging cameras when possible, rescue ropes, and props that mimic collapsed structures or confined spaces for realistic practice.
The training itself should start with classroom time covering RIT procedures, MAYDAY communications, legal responsibilities, and lessons learned from firefighter emergencies, using reports from the U.S. Fire Administration and NIOSH. These real life stories highlight how rapid intervention can mean the difference between life and death, emphasizing the need for quick, coordinated action.
Once the theory is down, it’s time for hands on skill building. Firefighters practice switching air cylinders, dragging downed comrades, breaking through walls, and navigating tight, smoky spaces. The final stage should be realistic drills simulating what it’s like on the fireground low visibility, radio chatter, alarms sounding, and pressure to act fast. The more lifelike the training, the better prepared your team will be in a real emergency.
Plan for about 24 to 30 hours to cover basic RIT training, from classroom to practical exercises. After that, the team should meet and drill at least once a month to keep skills sharp, focusing on SCBA changes, firefighter drags, forcible entry, and clear communication. Departments with many calls or complex buildings should consider quarterly full scale drills to maintain readiness.
What if your department doesn’t have thermal cameras?
While TICs are incredibly helpful for quickly finding firefighters through smoke and darkness, many smaller or volunteer departments don’t have access to them. RITs can still operate effectively without these devices by relying on strong training, communication, and traditional search techniques such as using search ropes and maintaining orientation. The key is regular, realistic training to compensate for the lack of technology.
For RIT training to truly work, it has to be part of your department’s everyday culture. This means including RIT roles clearly in your Standard Operating Procedures. Every fire should have a RIT assigned from the moment units arrive, and their focus must be solely on rescue not fire suppression or other tasks. Training should also emphasize accountability and radio discipline so everyone stays coordinated. Incident Commanders play a critical role in knowing when and how to deploy RIT teams during incidents.
Finally, make sure to review every training session with honest feedback about what worked and what could improve. Keep good records of training hours and skill assessments. Rescue skills fade quickly without practice, so frequent refreshers and annual program evaluations are essential. Staying ready to respond effectively can save your firefighter brothers and sisters when they need it most.
José Musse, Director of Fire Training Center of Peru
New York City
DESASTRES.org
