Chain link Fences, part 2

Chain Link Fences, part 1

Every town has a storage unit complex, a water treatment plant, a jail or even an arsenal that has chain link fences. My departments are no different. They stand between you and your scene and sometimes, there's no night manager to help you get in with a set of keys. These two Training Minutes videos deal with how you can do the least damage to the fence (which is someone's property) and gain easy access to the scene.

Safety School

Every year, our township has two weeks of safety school in the morning for kids about to start kindergarten who get to learn all sorts of safety tips. Its also a great chance to get to know local families around town and be a little more active in the community. Good times. Thanks to Lt. Morrison for the picture.

Shout Out to a Brother...

A senior firefighter at my department just recently left the Fire Service. He's a hell of a guy, he helped me learn a ton and I thought I'd jot a few things down about him.

I first met Matt Haines on the very first day I was paid to be a firefighter. I use emphasis on the last part because although I had stumbled through EMT and Fire School and somehow was certified, I was pretty much about the opposite of qualified. I’d never been to a fire, I’d never been active on an EMS call and I’d never worked in a fire station. I also should mention that Matt was quitting smoking that week which really didn’t seem to help things in the patience department.

                Now when there’s a new guy on shift at our department, he is ultimately the responsibility of his Shift Lieutenant. But sometimes, when it comes to on-the-line training, the lion’s share of responsibility falls on the senior man. Matt had the distinct pleasure of being the senior guy on my shift when I was green as blades of grass and a second away from breaking everything I touched.

                The probationary Period at our department is a year-long and mine was pretty rough. I had to do a lot of learning and growing.  It felt like everything about this job came to me the hard way. For the guys training me, it had to be no picnic and the hazing that comes with being a new guy is something that in hindsight is necessary and understood if not provoked. I was so green that when I look back now, I feel lucky that I didn’t get fired or just plain get my ass- kicked. Where Matt found the patience for me, I have no idea, but that’s the nature of this job.

                When I look back now though on memories of my first year, I think learning from Matt is something I remember with gratitude and that’s what sticks with me. I had a lot of great people on shift I learned a great deal from but Matt just stood out a little more sometimes. Not only with his personality, which holy crap it does, but with the quality of his character and his outlook on life. Here are a few memories I have;

                Matt could stand outside and shoot the breeze about family forever. He could talk about Heather and the girls and tell everyone around him all day about how much they matter. When I was starting out, that struck a serious chord in me. He was the first guy to tell me that family is sacred and to do this job well, you need to remember what you’re coming home to at 8:00 am.

                When I was struggling to improve my skills as a medic, Matt told me to go to Youngstown and run primary EMS. It’s what he did when he was a new medic and he swore that it would make me better if I just went there for a year. I was terrified of that area and didn’t want to work at a private company but I took his advise and to this day, I owe a great deal of my confidence as a medic to the skills I developed running primary EMS in the Mahoning Valley.

                I remember at Puritan Systems which was my first large-scale industrial fire, Matt was sizing up the situation on a broad scale the entire time and was well informed of the hazards on scene. He knew the chemicals involved what kind of risk they posed to responders and the environment and could take in the whole situation that night and he understood it. He was thinking about safety and the bigger picture. That impressed me.  I was just stoked to be at any kind of fire and all I knew was that Puritan was a damned big one.

                I also remember one of my first calls to a house in Beechcrest Allotment that was a CO investigation. We were on scene with the Fire Chief and our Shift Lieutenant. I was trying to not look lost in my canary yellow gear, nervous and unsure but Matt was calm and he was a perfect representation of what our department should represent to our community. There was a toddler there and he was just a little guy but it was obvious he liked firefighters and fire trucks. Matt was the first to swoop the kid up in his arms and make it a positive experience for the kid. His parents thought we were great. Our department still has a good relationship with that family. It was good PR and it was my first experience with it.

                Another thing I’ve learned from Matt is what it’s like to stand through adversity. His back injury is something that put him through more than I can imagine. He was in a spot where he was vulnerable in ways he wasn’t used to and he is an even stronger person today because of it. To add to that, he was our Union President and he wasn’t shy about making tough decisions during some trying times to be a member of a union. He stood out in front of us all with a debilitating back injury that left him vulnerable and he went to bat for us time after time without flinching.

                There’s probably a hundred more memories like this I could write about Matt and it wouldn’t even scratch the surface.

                I’ve heard my chief and other seasoned firefighters talk about the veterans they knew that busted their asses when they were probies and how it’s not like that anymore. It never occurred to me until recently that Matt was one of those guys to me. Matt was the tough, hard-nosed, ass-kicking, always learning, ready to haze and put you in your place mentor that I needed during my first year on the job. And even though I’m still new, the type of person I want to be in this profession I owe partially to Matt. He taught me the brotherhood and I’m proud to call him my brother.

                It’s a very tough thing to see someone with so much experience and talent leave this job but I know things will be great for Matt in the future. That’s just how things are for Haines. I’m just thankful I got to learn from the guy when I did.

Extrication for the Big Rigs

We have a good section of highway in the township I work at. This is a pretty useful training minutes video in regards to that.

Keeping Up

Here's a few things we've been up to around town this Spring...

We've been doing walk-throughs.

We've been testing hoselines.

I've officially started training with our County Dive Team... and so far, it's a blast.

DFD

While we here in Ohio have Senate Bill 5 and our our own issues regarding staffing and pensions and all sorts of other stuff that we worry and bitch about, our brothers next door in Michigan have an entirely different look at the job. They know what its about. They are truly fighting a tough, uphill and honorable battle everyday to do their part for one of America's greatest and most challenged cities.


BURN Winter Sneak Peek from BURN on Vimeo.

Twister Response

So here in Ohio, we've been trapped under perpetual buckets of rain for the past three months or so. Its irritating and my yard has been ankle-deep with water but for the most part, its been a mild Spring when you compare us to other parts of the World. Truth be told, we're lucky to have very little in the way of natural disasters. We don't have tsunami's. We don't have hurricanes. Earthquakes are rare and almost always mild and I have yet to see a volcano in Ohio. Occasionally, we get some flooding but that's pretty rare, even this year.

What we are truly at risk of in our area is tornadoes. They happen here and they are destined to happen again. I can remember them as a kid, staying in my parents basement until the storm cleared. I have a friend whose childhood home was destroyed by one. If you look into Ohio history, some of the most devastating tornadoes on record have hit the buckeye state (look up Xenia, OH in 1974).

Lately, tornadoes have been all over the news with the destruction they've brought to the Southern U.S. As I've been reading about it and watching the news, I've wondered something; If these are the main natural disaster my jurisdiction  is at risk for, why haven't we trained more thoroughly for a response. So I've looked into it, read a few articles (there's a good one in the May 2011 Fire Rescue mag) and I've put together some things to think about.

So if the tones dropped tonight for an F5 nightmare blowing through a Midwestern town  like the one I work in, having an adequate response would require knowledge of how different agencies can respond and help.

Let's start with the Fire Department because we're going to be first in. Obviously, we will want to get on scene with a primary goal of identifying and mitigating hazards and using rescue equipment we have to gain access to and rescue victims. In combination departments like mine, its also going to be our job to triage victims according to injury, treat them and transport them to appropriate facilities. We're probably going to be the ones who get the incident command structure in place and start calling for the appropriate teams and white helmets (officers) that will make an incident this large run smoothly. The two main teams my county has that I would call are the Urban Search and Rescue Team and the Incident Management Team. Its also important to have dispatch contact the appropriate utility companies to eliminate hazards such as gas and power lines to the affected areas.

Police are going to have a job that may be overwhelming and difficult. That job is crowd control. People are going to gather around these scenes and many will be trying to gain access to their unsafe and damaged belongings. It's the job of law enforcement officials to keep these people out of harm's way and safe until the incident is managed appropriately.

Local Street and Road Departments may be used to put up barricades and detours as well as signage in the event of a blackout. If your jurisdiction has them, backhoes may need to be used by Road department officials to clear trees and other debris. If not, the ICS logistics officer may need to contact contractors for that work.

The Red Cross is going to be essential to these incidents. There will be many victims unharmed by the storm physically but without ready access to food, water or shelter. The Red Cross can provide assistance to these people during the incident. The organization is also a huge help to responders who may be on scene working for many long hours. When you've been dispatched for many hours working hard, sometimes in the wind and rain at 2:00 AM, a cup of coffee and a meal really helps.

As the ball keeps rolling, more and more agencies will get involved. The EMA will help organize. Animal control may be able to help with lost and scared pets. Maybe even the EPA will arrive depending on what the incident has affected environmentally.

The key for a guy low on the totem pole like me responding first would be this; Maintain safety for your crew, get an effective incident command structure rolling and start working on life safety i.e. rescue, triage, treatment and transport of victims.

If you are reporting to a command system already in place, be safe and do what the guys above you say to the best of your ability.

Lastly, I guess its important to keep it in your mind that these calls ARE going to happen and we need to just keep our possible response in mind and read up on how others have done it.

Protocols and Walk Throughs...

So this week we've been getting some good trainings in. Something we like to do from time to time, at least every other month or so, is go through our EMS protocol book in detail. Sometimes it seems like going over so much random information isn't that relevant but it has helped us be prepared for the more obscure calls we seem to get time after time. Another thing we try to do is open our drug boxes and go over each drug, its uses and dosages.

The other training this week was a walk-through and review of the fire alarm systems in our township's schools. Most of our alarm drops are at the hotels we have so it was nice to go over the alarm panels we see less often. Plus, the kids at the elementary school gave us cookies.

Training in Kent

One of the guys from my department and I went to Kent Fire Department yesterday and worked with Gary Lane on a Forcible Entry and lock-picking drill. Gary has a great forcible entry trainer that he's made and here it is;

Obviously, there was no kicking the door in or taking the K12 to it but it works great for going over proper techniques and "What if," scenerios while trying to pop a door. When it comes to this subject, the Fire Academy doesn't even scratch the surface. I feel ten times better with forcible entry after going over it with this trainer.
As for picking locks, we had the opportunity to go over several different kinds we might see at commercial structures and what we can do to gain entry without a knox box key (breaking down the door doesn't count). They have a great simulator that really helped me understand how these locks work.

Thanks again to Gary for the coffee, welcoming us to the station and the opportunity to learn a few things we hadn't gone over before.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Documentary

Tonight at 9:00, HBO will be airing a special on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in NYC that occurred 100 years ago today. It changed how modern industry keeps its workers safe and was the deadliest workplace fire in America before 9/11. It also served as a huge and unfortunate lesson for firefighters to improve the service. So watch it.

RIT Pack Review

Every morning when I start my shift, just like almost every other Fire Department, I get a cup of coffee and hit the bays with the guys to do truck checks. When we're checking trucks, we're taking part in the C.Y.A. business and checking to make sure everything works and we have plenty of the supplies and tools we need. Something I do in particular is make sure my air-pack for the day is good to go.

What I've noticed is that the RIT pack is something thats easy to overlook. But if you think about what it can do for a downed guy on your crew, its probably one of the most important tools we have. And if you're making a habit of checking the air-pack you might have to breathe out of for that day, it makes sense to put this on the list.

Stressin'

Here's our 35 footer getting its flex on at 500 lbs.

A Couple Cool VentEnterSearch Things

I came across an article that had some cool things to keep in mind as signs and symptoms you can look for if you're involved in interior operations, where we all want to be.

Here's some good signs;
1. Lifting smoke and improving visibility
2.Smoke Lightens due to steam.
3.You feel a hoseline stream hitting the ceiling beneath you if you're a floor above the fire.
4.ANY decrease in heat.

Now, here's some bad signs;
1. Smoke does not lift, change in density and in color.
2. Rolling, black smoke moving down from ceiling to floor.
3. ANY increase in heat.
4. Visible fire through the floor (duh).
5. Weakening or "spongy," floor.
6. When your crew can't find the fire.
7. When there is ANY water problem.

CO Monitor Alarm Review

Ah, Carbon Monoxide detectors; the scourge of middle-of-the-night engine call.
Its easy to get complacent about these calls since the majority are false alarms but the truth is, with fire prevention safety measures in place,  these calls are our bread and butter. More importantly, CO is pretty hazardous to people's health when it actually does pop up. So here's some review on the subject and how we can best handle it.

Here's some quick facts;
1. CO is about the same density as air and will pretty much move with air current throughout your home. If there's no smoke involved, its colorless and odorless.

2. It comes from partial or incomplete combustion. Think of the things at home that make flames... stoves, water heaters, and furnaces.

3. Its a gas that binds to the hemoglobin in your blood 100 times more than oxygen. The problem is that once its there in large amounts, it stays. To get oxygen back into your blood, you need a pressurized oxygen chamber to clear things up. It has to due with pressure gradients and all sorts of medic school jargon.

4. When you breathe this stuff in, it gives you flu-like symptoms. Think of it starting with a headache and becoming more intollerable with more exposure. Its likely that children and pets will have symptoms first. Any symptoms need transport to a hospital for further evaluation.

When it comes to monitoring with the ITX, here's some numbers to keep handy;
-Less than 9 ppm is considered background CO and once you find the source and remediate the situation, evacuation is not necessarily warranted.
- Between 9 ppm and 100 is not acceptable in a home (up to 35 ppm is acceptable in the workplace) so get people out, ventilate the area and fix the situation using your monitor. If its the furnace or the stove or the water heater, turn it off and get it serviced before it can be turned back on.
- 1500 ppm is an IDLH environment.
And while we're on the topic of an ITX...
- Keep it calibrated.
- Zero it out from outside the home.

If all else fails, follow your SOG's and treat the symptoms of occupants.

So when you get this call in the middle of the night, remember how hazardous CO can be and even if the call turns out to be nothing, its a good chance to meet the public we all ultimately work for.

Clean Your Gear and do some Pull-Ups

So lately I've been sitting around at home looking at my wife, thinking about the kids we'll have soon, and pondering about how the job I have can affect my life outside of work. Obviously, there's some inherent risks day to day when you are dealing with fires, electricity, communicable diseases, etc.. But what a lot of people don't focus on is the risks that can follow you home.

For fire calls, we wake up in the middle of the night to pure adrenaline, heavy lifting with our backs and high intensity workouts. Also, while we're engaging in these workouts, we're breathing in all sorts of crap that the EPA doesn't trust the ATMOSPHERE to absorb, let alone us. Now to be fair, we have some solid safety initiatives in place that have improved our health and safety greatly in the past several decades. Still though, I can't help but think sometimes about how many of us on this job die of heart attacks and cancer. At the same time, just as many of us go out crippled with injuries. The statistics are pretty scary and noone in this job has to look far to know someone with these issues. So lately, I've been thinking more about making sure I get home to may family after EVERY shift and here's what I think could help;

1. Train all the time. Be hungry to get better at this job.

2. Work out like you're working at a fire. Beach muscle workouts and donut curls do little on the fireground. Practice like you play. You are much less likely to get injured this way too.

3. Wash your gear after every fire you're in. The particles that your gear collects and holds will cause cancer. Whats scary is that statistics say it will be ball cancer. Plus, rolling around the public with some nasty gear smelling like hot garbage shows a lack of pride in your job. Even if you don't see a ton of fire, wash your gear every few months. You wouldn't wear the same t-shirt for six months without some detergent love.

4. See some doctors and get screened for things. I just got some moles hacked off and caught a bad one in time. We need to take care of our hearts too. Insurance covers this stuff so make time for it.

We have the best job on the planet but at the end of our shift, we owe it to the people we love to come home. And to be honest, I'm not interested in shortchanging or missing anything with my family if I don't have to. I guess thats my point.

Gettin' Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day !!!

Hydrant Races

After moving slower than I'd hoped during a hydrant race training, it is my goal to be able to flow water off our first out engine, tie into a hydrant and fill the tank in less than two minutes by 2012. It should be a fun project.

Good Training Minutes

Tying in to the last post

Pretty Good MVA

So the other night at work we had a one vehicle accident with rollover and entrapment. With all the recent safety features on vehicles, its rare for us to actually use the things we've trained with. So the fact that we got to roll on an accident where we used multiple rescue tools, extricated a patient and went to the hospital with four medics on a major trauma was pretty cool.

This call was a great reminder that even though we don't use extrication tools, rip up many cars and even run on many major traumas, we are still expected to be proficient and save peoples lives when these situations do happen. Its just like training with fire and its actually just as dangerous.
 So here's some ideas I've picked up from the internet and the smarter guys I've worked with on how to make a gnarly MVA a successful one on the rescue side;

1. Have a Good Scene Size Up. This is where you are taking in hazards to you and the patients involved as well as painting a picture for dispatch, other guys coming to the scene and responding departments. Starting out with two main goals of patient care and safety now will set the tone for the rest of the call.

2. Patient Access and Vehicle Preparation. Here is where you get a count of how many patients you have, a quick look at their conditions and have command start getting appropriate resources for transport. Its also at this time that the vehicle needs stabilized. Learning to properly crib and chock a vehicle is an art of sorts so remember to train on that. Glass should be managed and power should be cut off ASAP at this point. Keep in mind that all the while, there should be someone making continual contact with patients and preparing to give hands on medical care (this person should not be on both knees in case the vehicle rolls).

3. Medical Treatment and Making Space. As soon as there's space in a stable vehicle, someone should be delivering hands-on care to the patients inside. Starting with c-spine is good and work toward what is necessary in treating the patient's condition while crews work outside the vehicle. Covering the patient to protect them from glass and debris is important as well. The best care you can probably give though is just being a presence thats supportive with these people in a very scary moment. Don't leave them. Also, while crews continue to work outside the vehicle gaining access, cribbing should be continually modified to keep the vehicle stable.

4. Packaging, Removal and Clean Up. When access to the patient has been achieved, its time to safely remove the patient. Whether you use a rapid roll-out technique or not is going to depend on the situation. But as a rule of thumb, extrication generally requires backboarding. If possible, cover jagged areas so rescuers and patients aren't injured. When the patient is removed, if you are not helping with care and transport, its time to help clean up debris, control and take care of spills and provide a safe work zone with lighting and manpower.

Now this isn't perfect and there's no set of rules that will be applicable to every wreck but so far, these tips have helped me put it all together on some of the scenes I've worked at.

Lets Talk About S&O

In this job, we love fires. We anticipate them and can't wait to fight them. After the adrenaline of the fire runs out though, its time for salvage and overhaul. When I was in school and when I first started in the service, I think S&O was looked at as a job more for eliminating fire extension. It's grimy, its hard and its tiring. Recently, I've read a few articles that have completely changed my thinking on the topic of overhaul with more of an emphasis on property conservation.
The thing is, while fires are kick-ass for us, its easy to forget that these are traumatic and horrible experiences many times for residents(our real bosses). Losing property is a terrible thing especially when there are irreplaceable things involved. So here's some ideas on how to ruin less stuff and be more efficient once you get a good knock on the fire.
-When you get the main body under control and you think its out, use touch as well as the TIC to check for heat on the walls. I look at the TIC just like the Lifepack in EMS; its a tool. Don't rely on it as your only form of heat detection.
-Work from the seat of the fire outward to clean unburned areas.
-Know your building construction and where to look for extension. This means studying construction types and reading pre-plans for your juristiction.
-Keep a charged hoseline with you while you look for extension. This is especially important when pulling ceilings. I've seen rekindles damn near burn down buildings in my few years on the job. Many times this is because hoslines were pulled too early.
-When you are finished with overhaul, wash down the area but don't drench it with a biblical flood. And remove valuables beforehand.
A good rule of thumb is to remember customer service. Treat every structure you go to work on as if it was property of you or your loved one. Do no unreasonable harm.

Training On the Basics

So today we had our monthly Departmental Fire Training and the focus topic was the bare-bones basics of our Department. A lot of our recent trainings have been on pre-plans, table-top scenerios and walk-throughs, which I think is absolutely important, but what we did today was actually a nice refresher that I think anyone in the Fire Service could use.
We started the training by having every member take the map tests we had to take as probies focusing on our township. I thought it would be a breeze, since I was the one that made the test over a year ago, but some of the newer housing developments are pretty tough to keep organized in your head. They all look fairly similar and they're filled with young families, so we're rarely there. We reviewed the tests and answers afterward and went over some other important details pertaining to maps in our area before moving on.

Next, we went over our SCBA's in detail. We practiced everything from changing bottles to cleaning masks and went over RIT connections and buddy-breathers. This was good for our new probies, Joe and CJ and a great review for the rest of us who may not have taken one of our packs apart in a little while.

Next, we took training out to the bays and had a little donning and doffing competition among crews. I'm not tryin' to brag but my crew was the fastest  with times between 1:04 and 1:12. Its also worth noting that we also happen to have the best hair in the department as a shift. Whats probably most important though, is that everyone on the department did the donning and doffing drill in well under two minutes. And props to Lt. Richards for having the fastest time at 1:00.
 This stuff is all just review and was pretty simple but lets face it, we don't see a ton of fire in my township(or in our neighboring communities for that matter). The chance of catching a burner on shift is slim. So the chance of putting on a pack, going on air and going in is even smaller. But we NEED TO BE EFFICIENT AND READY for those small kick-ass moments when a fire does come in.

Basement Fire

So the other night I'm laying in bed at home when my minitor radio goes off and it was for a confirmed structure fire in our juristiction. Now in the township I work, we go to a decent amount of fires every year but we only get a few that are in our township. So I fly out of bed, grab my radio and get in my truck to get to the station.
On the way, I hear the dispatchers and first engine giving updates on the condition of the structure. From what I hear, it is a fire in the basement of a single family one story home. There is one occupant inside the home who states she is staying in the basement trying to put the fire out and refusing to leave. Shortly after that, I hear the first engine arrive, stating there is smoke coming from the A, B, and D side windows of the structure and that the occupant had decided to exit due to heat and smoke. I then hear our tanker go enroute.
As I get to the station, my Shift Leiutenant comes in at the same time and we go enroute to the call on our second engine. On the way, we hear command state they have extinquished any fire and would be starting ventilation with salvage and overhaul.
When we got to the scene, we set up a few fans upstairs and in the basement, opened some windows and removed burnt objects. Overall, it was a very small and simple fire but it could have easily been much worse. Here's some pics of what we saw, courtesy of our Fire Prevention Officer, Lt. Morrison.

This was the culprit. Apparently, the ventilation tube that goes from the back of this dryer to the outdoors was filled with lint, which builds up over time. So when that tube had enough heat to light off, it spread to other objects in the basement on the dryer.

There were many objects on shelves against the vent tube from the dryer as well as clothes laying on the dryer that easily went up. The fire wasn't burning very long and you can easily see that it was already becoming involed with wooden members and floor joists. It was an easy little fire but there are some important things to think about and learn from.

1. This basement was absolutely packed. There were endless piles of clothes, a maze of clothes lines, multiple rooms, a bar and I even saw one of those chairs where you can get yer hair permed. If this fire had a few more minutes of free burning and the occupant had not left, we would have some serious safety concerns for the guys that might be searching the area. The place was just plain dangerous.

2. We got there early enough that the initial crew had a member put the main fire out with a water can. It was smoky but a very small and at the time, manageable fire. The important thing though, is that the first in crew also had a charged hoseline with them ready for a bigger situation. That hoseline stayed in place until we were into salvage and overhaul operations and were sure all fire was out.

3. We had a thorough salvage and overhaul operation. We cleared the basement of the dryer, all involved shelves and any damaged or burned property in the basement.

4. We transported that occupant for what appeared to be symptoms of minor smoke inhalation but there were no other injuries during the incident.

5. In two and a half hours, we had four EMS calls and a fire and handled all of them on our own with 11 out of 13 department members responding. The only outside help we had was one auto-aid engine (not to say that we don't call for help sometimes). Now this may not seem like a big deal to larger departments with more staffing and a higher call volume. But in my opinion, with recent neighsaying and public mudslinging from outsiders, this is a huge deal and it shows that we are stepping up and handling our own.

Ice Rescue Course

So about a year ago, I took an ice rescue class put together by the PCWR team (which I recently joined). The classroom portion was great, but we had an early thaw in 2010 and there was no ice. So the practicals were just swimming in a lake. This weekend, we got to redo the practical portion of the class and this is what the lake looked like.

So we put on the gumby suits, cut a few holes in the ice with some chain saws and did some great drills. Believe it or not, the methods and tools used from throwbags to rescue techniques are very effective. How fun does this look?

Learning about 1214

Nothing like starting the day out as a brand new probie and finding a little hazing on your helmet.

After a little ball busting, we did actually get to some training. We had Joe do a detailed check of 1214, our first out engine, which included identifying and explaining usage of all tools, checking airpacks to make sure everything is ready for use, running all generators and checking fuel levels. He also ran all our saws and we had a fairly in depth review of the pump. As the weather gets warmer, we're going to get a lot of work in on the pump.

Brushing Up

So I know this blog is normally about fire stuff but my job is actually 85% EMS. So a huge part of training at our department and others like us is EMS Continuing Education. It helps to keep our skills up and its also a state requirement to keep our certs. So in that vein, I recently took a 48 hour paramedic refresher course that helped me finish up all the requirements I have to re-up my card. Not only that, but I learned some cool new skills and reviewed A TON of old ones I haven't reviewed in years.

A few new tools I learned to use in airway patients;
1. The bougie introducer- This is an awesome tool that helps a medic gain access to the vocal chords prior to intubation.
2. The Salt Airway- An pseudo-oral airway you put in prior to blindly inserting an ET tube that makes it almost impossible to miss.
3. The Grandview Blade- I've always been a mac blade kinda guy but this thing helps you see everything by moving the entire tongue out of the way. I'm checking into getting one at my department.
4. Retrograde Cricothyrotomy- If all hell breaks loose and this is your last option for an airway, its an interesting way of doing things. I also had the opportunity to practice this and other procedures on pig trachs courtesy of Kiko Meats in Akron.

I also learned an easier way to take secondary 12 leads in inferior MI's by moving the V4 lead to the opposite side of the chest, taking another read and labeling the 12-lead as V4R for the hospital.

All in all, it is an inconvenience to lose two weekends to talk EMS, but this is what we do most of the time. And who knows when we'll need the skills we rarely use but need thorough training in. I'd recommend the class to anyone looking to brush up on their skills as well as get a ton of CE.

Goodspeed's Upper Lip



New Guy

Meet Joe. Joe is the new guy on our shift. He's a brand new medic and firefighter and we have the opportunity to show him the fire service from the beginning. Its a huge task but I think it will be a huge step for my entire shift to improve ourselves and our department. Also, he brought donuts so we let the kid in the station. Here is the breakdown of his first day...



 We reviewed a two minute donning and doffing drill. We aren't testing out on it yet, just reviewing. I think firefighters should test this skill at least every couple of months to keep the muscle memory fresh. New guys need to practice this all the time.

We gave a brief overview of all the apparatus we have, then a detailed review of our ambulances, inside and out. Every piece of equipment we have on the buses got looked at. Then we cracked open a drug box, reviewed drugs, doses, how to administer them and when we would use them. The most beneficial thing a new guy can do in my opinion is know where shit is on the trucks. And it starts with the big red taxi.

We showed him a map of the township and gave some tips on studying. I feel like this is the next important thing that new guys just need to put the work in for. Half of your geographical knowledge comes from maps. The other half is driving. And this guys about to get six hours of studying on every truck we have. 

So we're going to have a ton of training coming up, shredding cars, search and rescue drills, pump ops, etc. Lets get it.

Alarm Drops at Hotels

So in the town I work, there's a handfull of hotels. Some are nice, some are not so nice and the people that stay there are similar. I can't say I've seen a real deal fire at one yet, but we go to them for alarm activations all the time. Here's a list of reasons they tend to usually drop, from my experience;
1. People smoking legal or illegal substances in their rooms. If you put enough smoke around a smoke detector...
2. Cooking, especially popcorn. Places with monthly rates cause smoke detectors to go off more often for some reason.
3. People pulling detectors off the walls to smoke or for any other reason, which triggers trouble alarms.

The key is to keep in mind that on the way to the call, you could be going to the big one. Have your gear on, have your SCBA on your back and be ready to roll.
Many times, dispatch will tell you what hotel room the alarm is coming from. If not, then check the panel and many times, it will have the room number. Have a member of your crew investigate the room of origin. If the room needs ventilated, use an electric fan in the doorway and open the windows.

When your crew has the situation under control, you need to get to the panel.Now when you get to the panel, you need to reset the system. Theres always a reset button in our township. Sometimes, there are also silence and aknowledge buttons that need pressed.

In the event that there are several alarms activated with no suspician of fire, or a trouble alarm continues to be activated, the alarm is silenced and we place hotels on "fire watch." That's where an employee is required by law to patrol the halls of each hotel floor for possible fire every hour.

Hillbilly Ventilation Drill

So my co-worker Ian is a bit "country," and decided to trade in his old chicken coup. I haven't seen the new one but I hear his chickens love it. Anyhow, he came into work and offered to have us break out the saws and practice ventilation cuts on a real roof setting. This is what it looked like;

We obviously weren't out at three in the morning hanging off the side of a roof ladder but it was the first time I got to cut into something with layers of plywood, tar paper and shingles. Most trainings just give you a piece of naked plywood to cut into and as I found out, there's a few major details that get left out. Here's some things to look at.

The shingles and tar paper are an issue. In any IFSAC or IFSTA practical test, instructors have you verbalize ripping off paper and shingles prior to even making a kerf cut. But lets look at what that really would entail. You are at a structure fire. The fire is involved enough that you need to put a vent hole approximately 4ft x 4ft. So not only are you bringing your saw on the roof, but some other kind of claw tool. Then you have at least 30 seconds to a minute of ripping the hell out of the roof trying to pull up shigles and tar paper. That's if your a bad ass. That's also an extra minute of hanging out on the roof prior to getting a vent hole, meanwhile the conditions are getting worse inside the structure. So the simple answer is just to go for it and cut through the shingles and tar paper. It saves time, but theres more to consider.

At the OFA, we were trained to make vertical cuts starting from farthest away and then every six inches back toward you, with you or your partner striking the pieces into the roof making a louver cut. On naked plywood, it works great. When you are cutting through tar, things get sticky. As the tar in the shingles paper meet the saw, they heat up, melt and wreak havok on blades. Eventually, The blades turned useless. We never used the K12 ugly blade, but we managed to sufficiently gum up a standard chain saw blade and our K12 universal. I pity our small engines repair guy that had to clean them. Here's what our chain saw looked like.

So what we learned was this; If you are called to a roof to vent, time is of the essence. There's no need to be on a roof any longer than you have to at a structure fire. SOUND THE ROOF WITH A TOOL, LOOKING FOR SPONGE-LIKE AREAS OR OTHER SIGNS OF WEAKNESS. You will die a hero if you fall through a roof into a fire but you'll look like an ass doing it. And don't be afraid of roof ladders. They work great, and for the added safety in a really dangerous setting, they're pretty light and convenient. Make your way to the spot closest to where you think the seat of the fire is below for your cut. Also, make the fewest cuts possible. If you use a standar chain saw, or a K12 with a standard blade, you are going to gum up a blade fast. You can easily create a 4ft x 4ft hole though.

Now if you want to see a guy that really knows the ropes in ventilation, check out this video with Trey Nelms of 3 Truck, Nashville Fire. He has some great techniques and impressive tools specialized for venting in the fire service. Plus, he has a kick-ass mustache.