There is 2 Tactical Support Units in the FDNY. TSU 1 is on Roosevelt Island covering Manhattan, Bronx, Northern Queens & Northern Brooklyn. TSU 2 is on Staten Island at Rescue 5 quarters covering the rest of the city. They are each staffed by 1 Firefighter from Rescue Operations and must be Rescue Qualified. They respond to a various amount of Rescue Operations Calls, such as Collapses, Trench, Subways, Water Emergencies, Blind Shaft Elevators, Debris / Bricks from a Building, Beach Rescue, Scaffolding, Window Washer Rescues, Any Technical Rescues, Heavy Pin Jobs, SCUBA Calls, 1076 Commercial High Rise Fires, 2nd Alarms Citywide, Airport Emergencies and any special calls. Tactical Support Units support the Rescue & Squad companies and assist them with operations. During Fires the TSU Firefighter Teams up with Rescue Battalion and his aide and form a team, called Rescue Ops Division. When the TSU arrives on scene before the Rescue Battalion he will assist in helping one of the Rescue companies usually getting tools they may need and teaming up with the Outside Team. TSUs both have a 14 foot Zodaic boat that they can utilize. Mainly TSU 1 uses the boat on Rosevelt Island and Randall’s Island to access the East River. They also use the boat Central Park in Manhattan and even Orchard Beach in the Bronx. TSU 2 may use the boat for the numerous Lakes, Ponds on the Island. They may utilize the boat in the rockaways and in Coney Island for Beach Rescues. It has 4x4 capability so it can drive on sand and During rain and snow storms they may use the TSUs & BFUs along with the High Water Units as they can drive thru high water. So of the tools that are kept on the Tactical Support Units that are not carried on Rescues, Squads or SSLs are the Transit Level which goes on a tripod and magnifies 20 times for a 200 feet range. It allows the user to determine vertical angels. “For example a wall is leaning off a building they can put the transit and mark a spot and monitor the location to see if the wall is moving or shifting.” They have a Zistos camera which is a pole camera that also have a thermal camera. Which can be used for tight areas, Hazmat Scenes, Person Trapped in a tight area to see better visual of something. They carry extra SCUBA equipment as they support the rescues in dive operations. They have numerous types of Large LED Lights. Compliment of Technical & Water Rescue Ropes. Night Vision Googles, All kinds of cordless saws, All kinds of Hazmat Meters, Radiation, Dewatering Equipment as they are dispatched to assist in Dewatering operations and assist Dewatering Unit. All Kinds of Jacks, airbags, extrication equipment jaws. Water rescue line gun, all types of saws and chain saws. Go jacks to move a car. They have a 85 foot tall light tower for scene lighting. There is also a Marine Tactical Unit that is coming in a different fleet Friday they carry more Water Rescue Equipment compared to Rescue Equipment on this unit. Tac 1 Responds to about 1,500 calls a year and Tac 2 Responds to under 1,000 calls a year on average.


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