Rules of Air Management (ROAM) PDF - Firefighter Safety

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Rules of Air Management Procedure (ROAM) Effective Date: 08/04/2010 Procedure Number 04-31A Revised Date: 01/26/2012 Number of Pages 01 1. Overvi...

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Rules of Air Management Procedure (ROAM) Effective Date: 08/04/2010 Procedure Number 04-31A Revised Date: 01/26/2012 Number of Pages 01 1. Overview All fire personnel operating in the geographical area of the Salt Lake Valley shall have a common SCBA Air Management Standard establishing the Rules of Air Management (ROAM) that are accepted and practiced by all fire departments. This standard shall establish the operational and training guidelines that are to be followed any time firefighters are operating in an IDLH atmosphere at structure fires or similar events requiring the use of SCBA. 2. Definitions READY Checks: Should be completed by firefighters prior to making entry into an IDLH atmosphere. R = Radio on correct channel, E = Equipment (PPE and tools), A = Air in SCBA checked and SCBA functioning correctly, D = Duties clearly understood, Y = Yes, you are ready to enter. 3. Guideline Running out of air while in an IDLH atmosphere has proven to be catastrophic and most often lethal to the firefighters involved. It is the standard that firefighters will be out of the IDLH atmosphere before the emergency low-air warning is activated. Individual firefighters and officers are responsible to monitor the available air and remove themselves and team members prior to the emergency low-air warning. ROAM (Rules of Air Management) 75% Rule: 75% of the air in the SCBA is for entry, work and exit from the structure. All firefighters must be out of the IDLH prior to breathing into the last 25% of their bottle. The 25% is safety reserve air for the firefighter if something goes wrong. This air is intended to give the firefighter time to implement emergency breathing while activating may-day procedures. CAAN: Frequent progress reports to IC should be done in a standard format (Par checks, Conditional Changes, Change in Division, etc) utilizing the CAAN format. C = Conditions, A = Actions, A = Air, N = Needs Rehabilitation: Firefighters that breathe into the emergency air reserve will report to rehab, and will not be allowed to return to action until cleared by medical. 04-31A Air Manangment SOP, Page 1 of 1