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.