Support System: Scappoose REMS to the rescue

The REM unit’s UTV during its deployment at the Bedrock Fire.

Fighting fires is perilous, and firefighters constantly put themselves in danger when in the line of duty. But while the nature of the work itself is dangerous, special units like the Rapid Extraction Module Support (REM or REMS) team at Scappoose Rural Fire District (SRFD) offer critical emergency support in difficult-to-reach spots.

The Scappoose REMS team returned Aug. 20 from a 14-day deployment at the Bedrock Fire outside of Eugene. The REMS unit specializes in emergency medical and rescue operations and provides rope rescue services and medical support on large wildfire incidents and remote rescues.

SRFD started the unit in 2020 as ideas about providing medical support during wildfire response changed. SRFD Fire Chief Jeff Pricher said that following the death of wildland firefighter Andy Palmer in 2008, more thought has been put into creating units that can help extract people in need, even in the most challenging terrain.

“At some point, someone was like, ‘Wow, these structural fire agencies, they’re really good with rescuing people with ropes, I bet you it would be really good for us to have some ropes and rope rescue guys on wildland fires where you gotta pull somebody up a cliff,’” Pricher said. “And that was how the idea was hashed.”

Pricher said that SRFD saw and heard about what other agencies around the country were doing and decided that it would be worth getting into because they have strong medical personnel and saw a need in the local area as well.

In an emergency

Pricher said there have been incidents where mountain bikers have crashed on trails near Scappoose, and special equipment is needed to extract them.

In addition to wildland fire training, unit members are certified paramedics and emergency medical technicians and have undergone rope rescue certification.

In concept, the crew for the unit is a four-person team. To carry out rescues, the team uses a custom Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) that has been designed to hold rescue equipment and provide safe transport for patients who are rescued. The UTV was paid for through donations to SRFD.

Paul Liebig with the UTV in the safety of the SRFD garage, following the 14 day deployment.

The unit is equipped with two full rope rescue kits, a GPS and monitor, and battery-powered extrication equipment, among other life-saving tools. Communication during incidents is a constant key for the members of the REM unit.

Within SRFD, Pricher estimated that about 75% of the organization is trained as rope technicians. The remaining members are at the “operations or awareness level.”

When on duty at a scene, the REM unit is constantly assessing risk and adjusting positioning so they can quickly provide help to firefighters or people in need.

“One of the things that is awesome about REM is you are truly thinking outside the box. So the first thing is trying to figure out what resources you have, how to integrate those, and what processes you’re going to implement, step-by-step, based on what you see,” Pricher said. “Because no two rescues are going to be the same.”

Paul Liebig is a member of the REM unit, and he was the person in charge of the unit during the deployment to the Bedrock Fire. Liebig handled communications for the crew and assigned the other members to their tasks.

“Constant reevaluation every day,” Liebig said. “Keeping one person available to do only communications, someone’s doing systems, and I have one to two rescuers.”

Pricher said that this unit is most commonly deployed in difficult terrain or Type 1 or Type 2 fires, which are “incidents of national significance.” Locally, the REM unit has been deployed to help the sheriff’s department with search and rescue calls or extracting mountain bikers who have crashed. The deployment of the REM unit largely comes down to risk assessment, according to Liebig and Pricher.

Fortunately, Liebig and his team did not have to perform any extractions during their deployment at the Bedrock Fire. However, when offering support to the units fighting the fire, the REM unit is in constant communication with those fighting the fires to assess which areas may need more support.

When deployed to wildland fires, the REM unit consists of four members.

When not actively performing life-saving operations, careful planning is critical to the team being prepared to jump into action. The REM team uses a “PACE” model. This acronym stands for “Primary,” “Alternate,” “Contingency,” and “Emergency.”

“Those are kind of the core functions that any team leader focuses on in their work cycle because you can pretty much guarantee that nothing is going to go as planned,” Pricher said. “You need to have backups, and it’s just an easy way of remembering.”

“It’s all in the pre-plan,” Liebig added.

Collaboration

One notable aspect of the deployment at the Bedrock Fire was it was the first time that SRFD partnered with Clackamas County Fire District (CCFD). CCFD recently received a grant so they could purchase a special rig similar to SRFD’s.

CCFD sent people to the Bedrock Fire with SRFD’s REM unit to gain knowledge of their function and operations to use in their program. Pricher said that SRFD has partnered with “everybody in Columbia County.”

“If they have folks that they want to send out with our REM unit, we’re glad to go out as a team, like a county team. Columbia County representing for sure,” Pricher said.

In a given year, Pricher said that the unit gets deployed at least a dozen times a year, between search and rescue operations, fires, or other incidents. Pricher said that the experience that the team members get when responding to large fires is invaluable.

“They are seeing large-scale incident management in a way that they might only see once or twice in a career if it was just ‘little old Scappoose,’ you don’t go out on those big incidents,” Pricher said.

Pricher said this experience gives the teams excellent knowledge of the Incident Command System and evaluating a large-scale emergency response.

Pricher estimated that there are likely less than six agency REM teams in the state of Oregon. Liebig said there are private REM teams but that SRFD’s team was one of the first agency units of its kind.

One of the things that is awesome about REM is you are truly thinking outside the box.

- Jeff Pricher, SRFD Fire Chief

During downtime on wildland fires, the crew is constantly training to be ready when they are called into action. Another point of emphasis for Pricher about the value of these units is the collaboration that this unit promotes.

“The only other thing to highlight is how specialty units like this can truly help build camaraderie and teamwork. Because nobody can do this by themselves, whether it’s internally, working amongst our staff, but externally with our other agency partners,” Pricher said. “It actually facilitates and forces you to want to work with your neighbors to be better at what we do.”

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