SWP - Mayday

Declaring that a member is in trouble inside a hazard zone, and the actions every member, the incident commander, the rapid intervention crew and dispatch take from that moment until the member is out and everyone else is accounted for (NFPA 1550, 2024, cl. 18.3.1; NFPA 1407, 2020). It applies at every incident and every training evolution where a member is in a hazard zone.

• Lost or disoriented in smoke; trapped, pinned or entangled; fallen through a floor or roof; caught in a collapse, flashover or rapid fire progression; out of air or low on air without a known exit; SCBA failure; injured and unable to self-rescue; separated from the crew.
• The mayday not called, called late, not heard or not understood; radio traffic stepping on it.
• The whole fireground stopping work to look, leaving the trapped member without water and the fire uncontrolled.
• A second mayday from a rescuer.

Full structural PPE and SCBA with PASS armed; a portable radio per member on the tactical channel with the emergency button tested at the start of shift; a thermal imager, RIT pack and search rope with the RIT; a light per member.

Every operational member trained and drilled annually in calling a mayday and in self-survival; every officer trained in the command actions below and drilled with a mayday injected into the annual command simulation; a RIT in place per SWP - Two-In Two-Out and Rapid Intervention; a dispatcher trained to recognize and log a mayday and strike the additional alarm.

1. Decision point: do you think you might be in trouble? Call it now. Early is right; waiting is the error (IAFC, 2010). Triggers: lost or disoriented; trapped, pinned, entangled; through a floor or roof; collapse, flashover or rapid fire progression on you; low or out of air without a known way out; SCBA failure; injured and unable to get out; separated from your crew and not reconnected within a short time; a crew member missing.
2. Press the radio emergency button if the radio has one. Transmit “Mayday, mayday, mayday” and then LUNAR:
   • Location: floor, side, room, nearest landmark;
   • Unit: your company;
   • Name;
   • Assignment and air: what you were doing and your cylinder pressure;
   • Resources: what you need.
3. Activate the PASS manually after the message is sent. Then: control breathing and conserve air; find a wall, a window or a door; stay low; use a light or a tool to make noise or signal when the RIT is near; repeat the mayday at intervals if not acknowledged; do not change channels unless told to.
4. If you can move toward an exit without making things worse, move and tell command; if you cannot, stay put and make yourself findable.
5. A company officer calls the mayday for a member who cannot, and keeps the rest of the crew together.

6. On hearing “mayday”, stop transmitting. Keep working your assignment unless command tells you otherwise. Listen for a PAR and answer it when called.

7. Acknowledge: “Command copies mayday” and repeat the LUNAR back. Announce “Emergency traffic” to the fireground.
8. Keep the mayday on the channel it was called on. Move all other fireground traffic to a second tactical channel if one is available and announce the move. Dispatch monitors the mayday channel, logs it and confirms the additional alarm.
9. Deploy the RIT to the last known location with the pack, thermal imager and search rope (SWP - Two-In Two-Out and Rapid Intervention). Assign a second RIT from the next-arriving company. Request at least one additional alarm and advanced life support EHS.
10. Call a PAR to find out who else is missing (SWP - Accountability and Personnel Accountability Reports).
11. Keep the fire attack going. Water on the fire, ventilation controlled for the member’s benefit, interior lighting and a protected egress route are what keep the member alive. Do not pull every crew to search; command assigns who searches.
12. Assign a rescue group supervisor for the mayday and, if not already present, an ISO. Stage EHS at the exit nearest the member. Expect a second mayday from a rescuer and keep the second RIT ready for it.
13. Keep talking to the member at intervals: short, calm, tell them what is coming and from where.
14. Decision point: is the fire controllable while the rescue proceeds? If the fire is gaining and the member’s position is being lost, commit to protecting the member’s position with every line available; if the structure is failing, order crews not involved in the rescue out and reassess.

15. PAR of every crew; accountability rebuilt; strategy decided afresh and announced; RIT re-established before any further interior work.
16. The member and the rescuers to EHS and rehab; nobody who was involved goes back in that incident without a medical check.
17. Before the crews go home: a defusing led by the officer with the five hot-debrief questions, peer support offered to everyone involved, and a check-in the next day. The event is a Tier 2 Post-Incident Analysis at minimum under Incident Investigation and Learning Program; a death or critical injury is Tier 3.
18. Radio recordings, the accountability board, the PAR log and the ISO report are preserved; nothing in the learning review is used for discipline.

• Mayday not acknowledged: repeat on the same channel; press the emergency button again; activate PASS; any member who hears an unacknowledged mayday relays it to command.
• Radio dead: PASS manual activation; noise with a tool on a pipe or a wall; light at a window; stay findable.
• Second mayday: second RIT deploys; command requests further alarms; the first RIT continues unless it is the one in trouble.
• Collapse or flashover during the rescue: emergency traffic, evacuation of non-rescue crews, PAR, defensive protection of the rescue area.
• Mayday at a training evolution: the same procedure, no exceptions; the instructor in charge is command, the training safety officer is the ISO, and the evolution ends (SWP - Live Fire Training Evolutions).

Every mayday is recorded in the incident record with the radio recording, the time called, acknowledged, RIT deployed, member out, and PAR complete; the ISO report; the PAR log; a Tier 2 Post-Incident Analysis within 30 days (60 maximum) with findings to the Fire Suppression and Emergency Operations team and the JOHSC; the mayday count by cause in the quarterly indicator worksheet. Peer support activity reported in aggregate only.

Every operational member drills calling a mayday with LUNAR and self-survival skills at least once a year, in full PPE and SCBA, with a sign-off; every officer handles a mayday in the annual command simulation; dispatchers drill annually with the department; RIT skills per SWP - Two-In Two-Out and Rapid Intervention. The team reviews this procedure annually and after every mayday, with a learning-team session with the crews involved. Sign-off: the program manager; consulted: the JOHSC.

• Program: Emergency Operations Safety Program sections 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7.
• Policy: Policy - Emergency Operations Safety.
• Procedures: SWP - Two-In Two-Out and Rapid Intervention; SWP - Accountability and Personnel Accountability Reports; SWP - SCBA Donning, Use and Air Management; SWP - Rehabilitation at Incidents and Training.
• Forms: Form - Incident Safety Officer Report; Form - Personnel Accountability Report Log.

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.