My name is Nyq Kabelev and I am a fire service instructor specializing in primary search, the author of the Primary search tactics, strategy and culture book and a founder of the Primary search international LLC training company.

I serve as a Captain of Tower Ladder 78, Tarrytown Fire Department, Westchester county, New York, a fire instructor for the same department and a rescue technician for the Westchester county Department of Emergency Services Special Operations Section Technical Rescue Team. I am also an EMT for and the Ex-Captain of the Irvington EMS, as well as the American Heart Association CPR instructor. I hold NYS and national Fire Service Instructor I and II certifications.

I teach primary search internationally, including to the members of some of the Europe's and Asia's busiest and largest fire departments. I brought the concept of RIT/FAST to Russia six years ago and now I am working alongside with my Russian colleagues to get people trained and have this discipline placed in service. There already have been successful rescues of firefighters in Russia based on the techniques that I have taught.

I am also a computer scientist by training who has spent 15 years co-developing and helping bring a world's first non-invasive melanoma detector through the research, development, clinical trials and to the successful FDA approval. Within scientific domain I specialize in machine vision and artificial intelligence (within the latter discipline I specialize in genetic algorithms and genetic programming).

I came to firefighting because deep inside I wanted to serve, but I stayed in fire service because I fell in love with a primary search – a physical and mental challenge of navigating inside unknown layouts in zero visibility in order to save lives. I began specializing in this discipline and when I became a certified instructor, I made a deliberate choice to only teach this subject and only do my fire science research on this particular topic.

Speaking of research, I have applied my knowledge of computer science and mathematics to objectively analyze existing primary search techniques which has led to debunking several myths that persistently roam around the fire service making some searches horribly inefficient. In some other cases I found that no predetermined search method actually exists, so I had to design some new and effective navigational algorithms that work even in zero visibility and unknown layout. The results of this research have been validated by multiple independent search teams of various skill levels during numerous drills and seminars that I am teaching.

The results of my research are presented in my book (Russian edition has been published, English edition is coming soon). Some of the results will be gradually published on this web-site as well.

Along with research in the navigation algorithms, I have also designed a system for teaching the primary search which focuses on first building a solid foundation of search safety and efficiency principles and then proceeds into specific search methods. The introduction into this system is presented on this web-site as well as in the book.

I have designed and am teaching, together with my team of co-instructors, full-time courses on primary search lasting between 50 to 100 hours based on this system. Depending on the client's needs, the courses can be taught either as full-time, full-immersion experience, or a piece-meal spanning a longer period of time. Also depending on the client's needs the classes can be taught with or without progression into RIT/FAST searches, but they always include at least a search-specific survival portion (and can include full survival module) as I believe it is a first pre-requisite to becoming a good search team member according to my ladder of mastery.

If your department or company is interested in getting your firefighters, line officers and Chiefs trained in primary search tactics and strategy like a world-class hockey team would be coached, contact us to discuss the scheduling opportunities. These classes are not easy, they are in-depth and will challenge you both mentally and physically, but you will have a ton of fun and your searches will improve if you make an effort to learn. Do not contact us if you are looking for an easy class or a substitute for your state training. Also, these classes are not in any shape or form meant to replace your mandatory training provided by your state, especially Firefighter I, and participation in our classes will not give you interior firefighting clearance – you have to earn it yourself in proper way. The purpose of our classes is to offer you the depth and focus on training in one specific area – primary search – on the level not available in your state programs.