One of the things that drive me INSANE during an audit or hazard assessment is a PRCS rescue team that is equipped only with SCBA’s. To this day, I have ALWAYS been able to find an entry portal that is too small for a rescuer wearing an SCBA to pass through. It then takes me several more minutes to find a closed permit for said space and the rescue plan was to use the on-site rescue team… which would NOT have been able to affect an entry style rescue and based on the configuration of the space, the entry supervisor had allowed entry without non-entry rescue measures in place. This is pure lunacy and ignorance to think any PRCS rescue team can perform their duties in all PRCS on-site with an SCBA. Granted, there may be sites out there that have done extensive/thorough rescue evaluations and have determined that 100% of their PRCS can be entered and maneuvered while wearing an SCBA. YES, just because the entry/exit portal is large enough to enter with an SCBA, does not mean that the entire space can be accessed with an SCBA. In my 30+ years of being a rescuer, I have come to the conclusion that a PRCS Rescue team MUST be equipped with Supplied Air Respirators (SAR) with Auxillary back-up for their rescue duties, which could easily involve entering an IDLH atmosphere.
