Blue Flower

In dangerous affairs like primary search you should avoid the urge to just jump in and do something – too often this approach leads to yet another NIOSH LODD report.

Instead, you should take time to study the problem well before the fire and prepare yourself for combat by learning how to search safer, faster and in more intelligent way.

Because of this we start by defining several important terms. These are not just some theoretical definitions that you can afford to skip. Each of these definitions contains some principles that are crucial for your own survival during the fire. So please make an effort to read and understand them instead of demanding for quick and easy recipes.

In this section we will define three things:

  1. We will define what primary search is. Even if you know what it is already, do read this section, you might be surprised with something new and potentially life-saving, because I present an improved version of the definition we all heard about!
  2. Then we will define the problem of primary search  in other words, what we should be trying to accomplish when we are searching within a burning building. Again, it is not a dry theoretical definition and some irrelevant abstraction, the definition that you will learn is a main combat principle of primary search that we will utilize in practice every time, regardless of the type of search. So pay attention!
  3. Finally, we will define the types of search that you can conduct in different buildings and circumstances. These definitions will be a foundation for several sub-sections in Methodology section of the website.

Please don't be scared by the word "definition". I know you probably want to just do something hands-on and we will, but "just going hands-on" is no longer enough to survive in the modern fires. The fires have evolved and we too need to become smarter than our enemy, we need to be one step ahead of it all the time, and this is why I beg you to spend few minutes and try to look at the problem in a fresh new way. I promise you that if you follow through, your searches will become so much safer and faster, even in the worst conditions, that you will be amazed.

Ready? Then click "Next" to begin our journey!

Next: What is primary search?