Fire Engineering Books: Searching Smarter

By John "Skip" Coleman, Assistant Chief (Ret.), Toledo (OH) Department of Fire and Rescue

In his latest book, best-selling author Skip Coleman takes a comprehensive look at search for the fire service.

Searching Smarter defines the four most common types of search (the standard, oriented, vent/enter/search, and team search) and applies them to existing common occupancy types (residential and commercial). It also discusses the relationship between command and other divisions/groups, search basics, and reading buildings for search.

Searching Smarter is an important resource for firefighters riding all apparatus types, company and chief officers, and paid and volunteer firefighters.

Features and benefits:

• Covers the best methods of search for specific instances
• Discusses search plans, search focus, and search continuity
• Illistrates search techniques wtih diagrams and photographs
• An all-in-one search textbook

Contents:

• Introduction
• The scope of the problem
• Types of search used today
• Incident commander and the search group
• The relationship between search and groups/divisions
• The standard method of search
• Team search
• The oriented search
• Vent/Enter/Search (VES)
• Search basics
• Primary and secondary searches
• Prioritizing search
• Search vs. rescue
• Reading the building for search
• Where to start and where to stop searches
• How long should a search last?
• Searching with a hoseline
• Searching with a tool
• Searching with a thermal imager
• Single family occupancies
• Multi-family occupancies
• Low-rise motels
• Nursing homesand other health care/institutional occupancies
• Restaurants
• Strip malls
• Places of worship
• Industrial occupancies
• Newer office buildings
• Large malls and big box stores
• Final thoughts
• Index

Pages 262/Hardcover/8.5x11/2011