Principal courses
Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue (CSSR)
Course Overview
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to provide individuals with collapsed structure search and rescue tasks the knowl¬edge and skills necessary to search for, stabilize and extricate victims trapped in collapsed structures using the safest and most appropriate procedures.
Background: CSSR is an eight-day course of the Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response that was developed by the United States Agency for International Development through Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) together in collaboration with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), and National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET). The course has been delivered in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines.
Target Audience: Emergency and disaster first response groups, i.e. Fire Departments, Red Cross/Red Crescent Socie¬ties, Police Departments, and Rescue Groups associated with government emergency response system.
Course Methodology and Content: PEER CSSR Course is a pass/fail course. The CSSR course is delivered by a course coordinator, seven lead instructors with the help of four assistant instructors using the Interactive Lecture Method (ILM) of instruction that is objective based, performance oriented, tested, and highly participatory. The experience of the instructors is enriched by the interaction between the participants. Experienced course monitor is assigned for overall supervision of course delivery.
A practice session is scheduled the day before the classes begin for instructors to review the use, maintenance and safety precautions for all equipment used in the course. Interactive lectures and demon-stration practice sessions are used to present the course content with exercises and written evalua¬tions used to assess participant learning. CSSR Course lessons highlight on:
» Planning
» Rescue Scene Organization Search
» Basic Medical Care
» Emergency Building Shores
» Breaching and Breaking
» Lifting Heavy Objects
» Final Drill- Structural Collapse Scenario
Performance Objective: Given a simulated collapsed structure and a collapsed structure equipment kit, participants working in teams of 5 to 6 will search for, locate, stabilize and extricate two victims of a simulated collapse in no more than 4 hours.
Instructional Objective: At the completion of this course, the participants will be able to:
» Describe the organization and procedures required for initiating a collapsed structure rescue operation.
» Describe and explain the classification procedures and marking system for collapsed structures.
» List the security standards that must be followed in a collapse structure operation.
» Name, describe and explain the use and maintenance procedures of the tools, equipment and accessories used in a collapsed structure operation.
» Describe and explain the different methods for locating voids and the steps to follow in locating possible victims.
» Name and explain the basic techniques for penetrating into a collapsed structure and reaching a victim.
» Describe the medical protocol to follow in rendering assistance to one or more victims trapped in a collapsed structure.
