In addition to the fire and EMS responsibilities of the fire services, the Zion Fire and Rescue Department provides Special Response Team (SRT) services utilizing trained personnel from in-house as well as other departments. SRT incidents involve disciplines that often require staffing and resources outside the abilities of a local department. With this in mind, the Lake County Fire Chief’s Association developed a “Specialized Response Team (SRT)” comprised of staffing and funds from all of the Lake County Fire Departments. In 2005 the McHenry County Fire Departments joined with Lake County Fire Departments and the SRT is now a combined effort of both counties. Through a combination of MABAS Division 4 in Lake County and Division 5 in McHenry County, the SRT coordinates specialized response services to protect the health and safety of the public. Teams are trained to respond to a wide range of emergencies such as hazardous materials releases, structural collapses, rope, confined space or trench rescues, water rescues and/or recoveries as well as wildland fires. We are fortunate to be in Lake County, which is very progressive in preparing for such emergencies. By combining resources, all Lake County Fire Departments have access to training, personnel, and equipment that would be too expensive for a single department.
For more information about the Special Response Team, visit: https://srtillinois.org/
Below is a description of the teams that the Zion Fire and Rescue Department has members participating in:
Hazardous Materials Team – Although all our members have basic training in hazardous materials, the Hazardous Materials Team is responsible for controlling and mitigating hazardous materials incidents. Team members identify hazardous materials, assess the associated hazards and risks, contain and/or confine releases as well as carry out any necessary decontamination. The team operates two vehicles equipped with state of the art monitoring equipment, computers, Level A and B suits, communication equipment, reference materials, decontamination equipment, tools and supplies for spill and leak control and many other items necessary for management of a hazardous materials incident.
Dive Rescue Team – The Water Rescue and Recovery Team is responsible for all incidents involving bodies of water and includes three disciplines: dive, sonar and swiftwater. The Zion Fire and Rescue Department currently only has members that participate on the dive team. The Dive Team performs rescue and/or recovery of drowning victims. The Sonar Team utilizes specialized equipment to search for and locate victims. The Swiftwater Team responds to incidents that involve any type of swift moving water.
Technical Rescue Team – The Technical Rescue Team is actually comprised of four disciplines: high angle/rope rescue, confined space rescue, structural collapse and trench rescue. The Zion Fire Rescue Department has personnel trained in all 4 disciplines. The Technical Rescue Team is trained to respond to and mitigate a variety of incidents such as a worker trapped in a collapse deep in a tunnel, rescues several stories off the ground such as water tower incidents or window washer accidents or perhaps an excavating crew installing a water line could become trapped when the trench they’re in collapses.