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IERRTA Emergency Response Alliance
Course catalog · Coming soon

Technical rescue courses in development.

Two new IERRTA courses are being designed with reference to NFPA technical rescue standards: an Operations-level rope and surface water rescue course for responders, and an awareness-level community course for adults, veterans and youth. Coming soon: enrollment is not yet open.

Join the interest list Current training
Coming soon: enrollment not yet open. Course content, schedules and locations are still being finalized. Completing a course will not by itself qualify anyone to perform rescue; your agency, employer or the authority having jurisdiction decides who may respond.
Course A · Responders · Coming soon

Rope Rescue & Surface Water Rescue: Operations level

Designed with reference to NFPA 1006 (Standard for Technical Rescue Personnel Professional Qualifications), the Awareness- and Operations-level requirements of the rope rescue and surface water rescue chapters.

Purpose

Prepare people whose agency expects them to work at the Operations level to size up rope and surface-water incidents, build and run rope systems, manage and move a victim, and carry out shore-based and boat-based rescues in calm water, safely and as a team.

Audience

  • Career and volunteer firefighters, rescue squad members and EMS personnel
  • Industrial emergency response teams, park and lake staff, search-and-rescue volunteers
  • Veterans moving into emergency services
  • Adults only (18+). Not for minors or the general public: see Course B.

Hours

64 hours in two parts that can be taken separately: A1 Rope Rescue (40 h) and A2 Surface Water Rescue (24 h). Mostly hands-on practice. Calm or very slow water only; swiftwater, floodwater, ice, surf, dive and helicopter-deployed rescue are not covered.

Prerequisites

  • Age 18 or older
  • Current CPR/AED and first aid (or EMR/EMT)
  • FEMA IS-100.c, IS-200.c and IS-700.b (free, online)
  • Medical self-declaration and physician clearance for strenuous activity (A2: swimming and cold water)
  • A2 only: IERRTA water-competency screen before any open-water work; A1 recommended first
  • Recommended: hazardous-materials awareness training

A1 · Rope Rescue (40 h)

  1. Orientation, safety culture and course rules
  2. Rope rescue awareness
  3. Size-up, planning and risk/benefit
  4. Rescue PPE and equipment: selection, inspection, care and records
  5. Knots, bends and hitches
  6. Anchors (single- and multiple-point)
  7. System safety checks and edge protection
  8. Belay systems
  9. Fixed rope and lowering systems
  10. Mechanical advantage: simple and compound
  11. Edge transitions
  12. Victim management and low-angle litter operations
  13. High-angle lowering (capstone)
  14. Termination, documentation, debrief and written exam

A2 · Surface Water Rescue (24 h)

  1. Orientation, water-safety rules and competency screen
  2. Surface water awareness
  3. Site survey and search parameters
  4. Water-rescue PPE
  5. Shore-based rescue: reach and throw
  6. Survival swimming and self-rescue
  7. Watercraft-based rescue
  8. Rope systems around water and support operations
  9. Helicopter support (classroom/tabletop only)
  10. Termination, documentation and written exam
  11. Integrated open-water scenarios and practical evaluations
Course B · Community · Coming soon

Community Technical Search & Rescue Awareness

Aligned with the awareness-level content of NFPA 2500 for technical search and rescue: water and flood, rope (height), wilderness search and structural collapse. Ground-based only.

Purpose

Give community members the awareness to recognize, stay safe, isolate, notify and support: spot a technical rescue situation, keep themselves and others out of danger, call 9-1-1 with good information, hold the scene and help responders when asked. The course deliberately stops short of hands-on rescue.

Audience & hours

  • Adults 18+ (16 hours): neighborhood, faith and community groups, CERT and VOAD volunteers, facility staff, outdoor-recreation leaders
  • Veterans and service members (16 hours): same core content, plus a session on how military skills map to civilian roles and limits, and a peer-support resource briefing
  • Youth ages 14–17 (10 hours): with parent or guardian consent; age-appropriate activities

Ground-based only: no water entry, no boats, no work at height or near unprotected edges, no loaded rope systems, no entry into damaged structures.

Prerequisites

  • Adults and veterans: age 18+; signed waiver and emergency contact
  • Youth: age 14–17; parent/guardian consent and waiver; medical/allergy form
  • Able to walk on uneven ground
  • Recommended free pre-work: FEMA IS-100.c; FEMA IS-317 (Introduction to CERT); first aid/CPR (youth: Hands-Only CPR video)

Modules

  1. Welcome, safety briefing and the "rescuer becomes victim" problem
  2. Technical search and rescue capability levels and the community's role
  3. Hazard identification and risk assessment (including the Katy/Houston hazard profile)
  4. Incident response planning, ICS basics and making the 9-1-1 call
  5. Equipment awareness and life-safety rope care
  6. Water and flood awareness: "Turn Around, Don't Drown", Reach-Throw-Row-Don't Go, dry-land throw-bag practice
  7. Rope rescue (height/slope) awareness
  8. Wilderness search and rescue awareness
  9. Structural collapse awareness (post-storm)
  10. Capstone tabletop: neighborhood flash flood and missing hiker
  11. Knowledge check and course evaluation

Optional add-on: animal technical rescue awareness.

Interest list

Tell us which course interests you and we will email you when enrollment opens. Joining the list does not register you for a course. If you are under 18, please ask a parent or guardian to submit this form.

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