However, they have gathered essential information that facilitates scene safety, incident command, and makes for a smoother transition from basic to advanced operations. During large scale flood events that involve more than one watershed, an engine and ladder is dispatched to assess the emergency and request resources as needed. Most of our operations personnel have also completed Emergency Rescue Technician, which is a North Carolina state program. This gives them another seven hours of related training. Those who have completed this training typically get assignments to ladder companies.
Completion is required to be assigned to a rescue company.
We have plans underway to provide our firefighters assigned to engine and ladder companies with a light weight water helmet, a river knife, light sticks, and plastic radio bag. During water emergencies we remove PAR tags from bunker clothing and place them on our PFDs. During large scale and predicted events, we put lightweight footwear on company personnel prior to the response and do not don bunker clothing during after hours responses to flood or swiftwater emergencies. We have deliberately limited equipment since a set number of people can only safely perform a given number of functions without support. PFDs are color coded.