A Little Self-Reflection

I was interested to see this item in FirefighterHourly.com this morning on recommendations from a recent NIOSH report; how ARE we are doing in comparison to others relating to safety?

Fire Department NIOSH Comparison

Here are recommendations from a recent NIOSH report released on a Line of Duty Death. How does your department stack up?

• Fire fighters conducting an interior search have a thermal imaging camera
• Ventilation is coordinated with interior fireground operations.
• Mayday protocols are developed and followed.
• The Incident Commander receives pertinent information during the size-up (i.e., type of structure, number of occupants in the structure, etc.) from occupants on scene and that information is relayed to crews upon arrival.
• Fire fighters communicate interior conditions and progress reports to the Incident Commander develop, implement, and enforce written standard operating procedures (SOPs) for fireground operations.

In our department, some of the items are works in progress, but they are being performed and we are seeing the fruits of these labors. Our organization has TICs for a number of companies and has a plan in place adding more to the list until all primary companies have one; new and more comprehensive Mayday protocols have been developed and the final touches are literally being put on these so they can be implemented; and other procedures (guidelines in our department) are also either being implemented or are in various stages of development.

The other items on this list, however, are incumbent upon the personnel on scene. As part of our jobs on the fireground, we need to insure that ventilation is well-coordinated, that we get good size-up information, and that interior crews verbally send a good picture of what is going on inside the structure to the IC.

These items come from practicing your craft; by looking at buildings daily, rehearsing “scripts” of good size-up procedures, and knowing what conditions indicate changing conditions for operating crews and knowing when and how to describe these to command officers.

The Chief and his staff can get you all the tools in the world, but if you don’t have a proficient knowledge of fireground operations, they won’t do you a bit of good. Train often and train like your life depends on it – because it does.