I found this video of a typical suburban America neighborhood....As you notice the fire is well advanced upon arrival of the first officer and well, let's just say it gets alot worse. These guys were up against alot when they got there, but there are some improvements they could have made. Watch the video and think about how you would address this fire. For those of us that work and/or volunteer in this type of area, it is only a bedroom fire away on a windy day from happening to us. As with any post on here, I am not here to sharpshoot others, but to present the situation and to ask what would YOU do not how would you change what they did.
Sit down and address this with your crew as a strategy and Tactics scenario, because its a great one.
These type of fires will become more and more common as building codes are changed to benefit developers attempting to fit as many houses in a development as they can. Well until the next time....Stay Safe and Stay Trained.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Chance Zobel
Take a moment today to reflect on the LODD from my former department that occurred a year ago today. Cahnce Zobel was killed fighting a brush fire on the interstate and his partner Larry Irvin Sustained massive injuries that he is still recovering from today. This tragedy could happen to any of us and was my motivation for my last post on roadway safety. Please take a moment to remember them and the Columbia Fire Department today or during your next shift.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Roadway Safety a Lost Art
Well, I guess its time for another installment of my thoughts. One topic that gets plenty of attention (with high visability vests) but not enough attention on the emergency scene is that of roadway safety. I feel like the most dangerous thing we do on a regular basis is operate on the interstate and roadways at emergency incidents. There are so many variables that we can't control out there and many times I am terrified when operating on the interstate. Put distracted drivers, speed, and add some red lights and you have a great recipe for an injury or LODD.
We all have our wonderful high visability, retroreflective, break away vests that DOT requires us to wear and most departments require on all roadway incidents (not just on federally funded roadways). However, those sometimes seem to be more like targets for drivers than a safety mechanism for us. Firefighters, police, and medics continually underestimate the stupidity and lack of care that drivers have while passing through an emergency scene. We have so many distracted drivers on the roads now a days that hardly ever do we run a call where someone doesn't almost cause a wreck while we are enroute to a call or while we operate on scene. So why don't we protect ourselves better when on the roadways?
With all of that said, we still operate with such a sense of security while we stand around at accidents. We often position our apparatus based on how we can get out most quickly, what is easiest, or where ever the police tell us to. Too often we fail to consider personnel safety when considering apparatus placement. We need to be looking at how to best protect the scene for our people. The police may give you a hard time, but a hard time is better than having to knock on a door and tell someone that their husband, dad, or brother is dead or hurt. In my area we have a generally good relationship with the HP and the PD, so this is never an issue, unless the incident is of an extended nature.
Last November, in my former department a firefighter was tragically killed and another firefighter was severely injured in a interstate incident. If I laid out the whole scene for you and explained what happened, you wouldn't believe how a car hit them but it did. Two trucks were positioned to protect the scene at proper angles and what one would think were proper distances, but a car somehow snuck in between the guardrail and the tailboard of an apparatus and struck two firefighters. In speaking with some who were there, they weren't sure they could have done anything differently to prevent the incident, which terrifies me. But we all know that our job is the only job where sometimes you do everything right and get killed, and that day was a testament to that.
The point of this post is to cause some conversation concerning roadway safety, to make sure if your department responds two trucks to interstate calls to use one to block traffic well ahead of the scene, and to ensure that no one reading this takes their safety on any call on a roadway for granted. In case you haven't noticed people don't care about us, they are worried about facetweeting about how their day was so long and hurrying home. They forget that emergency workers have families we like to go home to. So next day you work, sit down and discuss how safety at roadway (interstate and others) incidents can be improved on your company, how can you deal with distracted drivers, and most of all how can we all make it home in the morning. Take the time to eliminate the non chalante attitude on your next roadway incident, because complacency on the road could lead to a tragedy in your town.
Until the next time, stay safe and stay trained.
We all have our wonderful high visability, retroreflective, break away vests that DOT requires us to wear and most departments require on all roadway incidents (not just on federally funded roadways). However, those sometimes seem to be more like targets for drivers than a safety mechanism for us. Firefighters, police, and medics continually underestimate the stupidity and lack of care that drivers have while passing through an emergency scene. We have so many distracted drivers on the roads now a days that hardly ever do we run a call where someone doesn't almost cause a wreck while we are enroute to a call or while we operate on scene. So why don't we protect ourselves better when on the roadways?
With all of that said, we still operate with such a sense of security while we stand around at accidents. We often position our apparatus based on how we can get out most quickly, what is easiest, or where ever the police tell us to. Too often we fail to consider personnel safety when considering apparatus placement. We need to be looking at how to best protect the scene for our people. The police may give you a hard time, but a hard time is better than having to knock on a door and tell someone that their husband, dad, or brother is dead or hurt. In my area we have a generally good relationship with the HP and the PD, so this is never an issue, unless the incident is of an extended nature.
Last November, in my former department a firefighter was tragically killed and another firefighter was severely injured in a interstate incident. If I laid out the whole scene for you and explained what happened, you wouldn't believe how a car hit them but it did. Two trucks were positioned to protect the scene at proper angles and what one would think were proper distances, but a car somehow snuck in between the guardrail and the tailboard of an apparatus and struck two firefighters. In speaking with some who were there, they weren't sure they could have done anything differently to prevent the incident, which terrifies me. But we all know that our job is the only job where sometimes you do everything right and get killed, and that day was a testament to that.
The point of this post is to cause some conversation concerning roadway safety, to make sure if your department responds two trucks to interstate calls to use one to block traffic well ahead of the scene, and to ensure that no one reading this takes their safety on any call on a roadway for granted. In case you haven't noticed people don't care about us, they are worried about facetweeting about how their day was so long and hurrying home. They forget that emergency workers have families we like to go home to. So next day you work, sit down and discuss how safety at roadway (interstate and others) incidents can be improved on your company, how can you deal with distracted drivers, and most of all how can we all make it home in the morning. Take the time to eliminate the non chalante attitude on your next roadway incident, because complacency on the road could lead to a tragedy in your town.
Until the next time, stay safe and stay trained.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Breathing Equipment School
On Thursday, I will have the pleasure of assisting in one of the greatest and most beneficial classes I have taken or will ever take. As a firefighter, I have taken multiple classes, seminars, and participated in many roundtable discussions with many so called experts on everything fire department. One area that I have always made sure I stayed up on is the area of self survival. I have always figured that who better to get me out of trouble than me. Of course, I realize that there may be situations where I need help from someone else, but why not prepare myself ? Alot of my thinking goes back to me post a little while back which can be found here:
http://hosejockey.blogspot.com/2011/09/redmond-symposium.html
It talks about controlling variables, and that what I feel some of the self survival classes are always about. However, one class that stands out head and shoulders above all classes on the subject that I have taken is NC Breathing Equipment School, held at Gaston College. One of my fellow bloggers, Jason Jefferies has mentioned it on his blog "Working the Job" (Link on the right side). This class is a must take for any firefighter, and while I say that, I understand that many people who call themselves firefighters who really don't have what it takes wouldn't make it through this class. The "Firefighters" (Notice the quotes) who wear their pagers all around, have a 72" light bar on their '86 Chevy s-10 and can tell everyone how to fight fires aren't the kind of folks who have the courage or the drive to take this class.
This class is filled consistently with the best firefighters in the State of North Carolina and throughout the country. This class isn't your standard, "here's the UAC connect this with a blackout mask and oh your pack just failed so buddy breath and get out" type of class. The instructors tell you on day 1, "We will not make up problems for you, you will create enough of your own". That statement was consistently true the entire week. It never fails we as firefighters get ourselves into more problems than we get out of. This class is not for the faint of heart or pretender within the fire service. During this class, you will run out of air, you will have to buddy breath, you will have to make connections in real heat and smoke, you will breath real nasty smoke, you will realize that you aren't superman, but most importantly you will learn things that may save your life or life of someone on your crew.
Some departments in the state require this class as a condition of employment, other firefighters throughout the state take it to become better and safer firefighters. The point is this class took me completely out of my comfort zone, there were times I wondered if I would get out without having to call a real mayday. How many classes have you ever taken that may take you out of your comfort zone? If you haven't you should, because you don't want to be out of your comfort zone for the first time when someones life, including your own may be hanging in the balance. This class also taught me that I could control many of the variables that directly effect me on the fire ground. I can control how well I know my equipment, how to call a mayday, and how to help others that may be trapped that I go to help.
So my advice is go take a class that gets you outside of your comfort zone, challenge yourself with a class like breathing equipment school, that truly teaches recognition primed decision making. Don't let yourself and other brother firefighters down by wasting away on the couch at the station. Get up and take control of your destiny on the fire ground.
Until the next time,
Stay Safe and Stay Trained
http://hosejockey.blogspot.com/2011/09/redmond-symposium.html
It talks about controlling variables, and that what I feel some of the self survival classes are always about. However, one class that stands out head and shoulders above all classes on the subject that I have taken is NC Breathing Equipment School, held at Gaston College. One of my fellow bloggers, Jason Jefferies has mentioned it on his blog "Working the Job" (Link on the right side). This class is a must take for any firefighter, and while I say that, I understand that many people who call themselves firefighters who really don't have what it takes wouldn't make it through this class. The "Firefighters" (Notice the quotes) who wear their pagers all around, have a 72" light bar on their '86 Chevy s-10 and can tell everyone how to fight fires aren't the kind of folks who have the courage or the drive to take this class.
This class is filled consistently with the best firefighters in the State of North Carolina and throughout the country. This class isn't your standard, "here's the UAC connect this with a blackout mask and oh your pack just failed so buddy breath and get out" type of class. The instructors tell you on day 1, "We will not make up problems for you, you will create enough of your own". That statement was consistently true the entire week. It never fails we as firefighters get ourselves into more problems than we get out of. This class is not for the faint of heart or pretender within the fire service. During this class, you will run out of air, you will have to buddy breath, you will have to make connections in real heat and smoke, you will breath real nasty smoke, you will realize that you aren't superman, but most importantly you will learn things that may save your life or life of someone on your crew.
Some departments in the state require this class as a condition of employment, other firefighters throughout the state take it to become better and safer firefighters. The point is this class took me completely out of my comfort zone, there were times I wondered if I would get out without having to call a real mayday. How many classes have you ever taken that may take you out of your comfort zone? If you haven't you should, because you don't want to be out of your comfort zone for the first time when someones life, including your own may be hanging in the balance. This class also taught me that I could control many of the variables that directly effect me on the fire ground. I can control how well I know my equipment, how to call a mayday, and how to help others that may be trapped that I go to help.
So my advice is go take a class that gets you outside of your comfort zone, challenge yourself with a class like breathing equipment school, that truly teaches recognition primed decision making. Don't let yourself and other brother firefighters down by wasting away on the couch at the station. Get up and take control of your destiny on the fire ground.
Until the next time,
Stay Safe and Stay Trained
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