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MVA- What’s your action plan?

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The photo illustrates significant vehicle body damage. Consequently, emergency responders should expect decesased occupants or serious occupant injuries and a potentially lengthy extrication time. This car was involved in a high speed accident; the car hit two trees and came to rest against a third tree. This photo was taken in a salvage yard.

Photo by author

1. How will you use your resources?

2. What is your plan to make the scene safe?

3. Access the patient(s)?

4. Extricate the patient(s)?

5. Can you think of additional resources requiring “special call”?

Post your response in the Comments section. Let’s hear what you, and others, think about this extrication challenge!

A few of my thoughts:

1. My resources will be devoted to controlling hazards and determining if there are any survivors.

2. Expect hazardous fluids (gasoline, antifreeze, etc.) to be released in this accident. Are power lines involved? Control the hazards and increase responder safety.

3. Accessing portions of the vehicle to determine if anyone survived (back seat passengers) may be difficult. Tearing and/or cutting away portions of the vehicle may be necessary for access. Also, consider the need to remove the bodies of those not surviving the accident to allow access and/or extrication of survivors.

4. Expect a longer than normal extrication time and more paramedic and patient interaction. The vehicle has extreme body and frame damage. An advanced extrication consideration would be to make selective cuts to the vehicle and allow the frame and body to move, opening up the passenger compartment and allowing for more rapid patient extrication.

5. Special resources I would consider may include persons with advanced extrication knowledge and skills and a tow truck to assist with extrication operations.

Posted in command-leadership, Education/Training, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, patient-management, rescues, special-operations, Training

September 20, 2012 • 4 comments

Charleston and Columbia, SC area responders: NFPA 472 Radiation Technician (8hr) program

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If you are in these areas, this is an awesome opportunity to attend a FREE US Department of Energy Radiation Technician training program. The course uses radiation sources with significant strength; this offers an excellent opportunity to see how radiation instruments react in real radiation fields. Additional course and contact information is in the below, attached PDF (SC TMERRTT).

SC TMERRTT

Posted in Education/Training, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, hazmat, special-operations, Training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics

September 16, 2012 • No comments

I LOVE YOU, DO YOU LOVE ME? CHECK “YES” OR “NO”.

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No, this isn’t about some sixth grade love note. This is about how well YOU conduct a check-off and inspection of apparatus; about how well you look at your equipment before you place a check on the sheet, indicating the item is present and ready for service. It’s a short story about how a person made a mistake and placed an unsafe piece of equipment on a truck; how two other apparatus operators DID NOT do an adequate check/inspection of equipment and allowed an unsafe piece of life safety equipment to be available for use by firefighters.

A few weeks ago, I was conducting a training class with a hazardous materials team. The class moved from the classroom to the training ground. Time to work on practical skills and conduct fun training evolutions! Then, something weird showed up on the equipment tarp. The item on the tarp was something I hadn’t seen in about 15 years. One of the face pieces on the 4.5 SCBA units was a very old piece not approved for firefighting use. The old, outdated piece has a nylon headnet with only two tightening straps, no nose cup, and…..NO EXHALATION VALVE!! So, this face piece will melt onto your head under high heat conditions, will fog over and obstruct your vision, and (without an exhalation valve) will lift your face seal every time you exhale. Oh boy, I feel safe now!  Here’s what was found:

Here’s what should have been placed on the truck. Note the fire retardant headnet for use in high heat conditions, four tightening straps to assist with maintaining a good face seal, nosecup to prevent fogging, and exhalation valves.

Photo by author

The face piece was inadvertently placed on the truck during an equipment reload after a significant haz mat response. Rather than wait for the usual equipment to dry, someone dug into a box of old masks and pulled this one for use. It was attached to a regulator and the SCBA was returned to the truck. No one noticed the unusual item attached to the SCBA. The next two shifts, the apparatus operators visually confirmed an SCBA was occupying the appropriate space and placed a check in the box. Did the operators verify headnet straps were fully extended and the face piece was clean? Doesn’t appear so. Did they confirm air was in the cylinder? Don’t know.

When conducting daily or weekly apparatus inspections, every item must be properly inspected. If it has an engine, run it. If it contains pressure, inspect it, and record the pressure. If it has straps, verify they’re extended and ready for the next user. Life safety equipment must be given a thorough check! Don’t assume everything is okay because the piece of equipment is in the correct location. The daily or weekly check is conducted to confirm equipment is present and in proper working condition.

Apparatus operators, are you conducting adequate checks on your equipment during periodic inspections? Company officers, are you occasionally checking behind your normal and back-up apparatus operators concerning equipment checks? Do it! The safety of you and your crew depend on it.

Posted in administration-leadership, Education/Training, firefighter-safety-health, Training

September 13, 2012 • 3 comments

We Honor our Fallen Brothers and Those Who Perished On This Day

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We thank you for your service and lives you touched! You will Forever live on in our Hearts

Posted in line-of-duty, Motivation

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September 11, 2012 • 3 comments

Fire Ops

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We want you to Identify basic functions by putting yourself in the position of our brother and sisters in the videos. Remember these are videos and you could be the next week. We want to learn and grow not critcize.

Five basic points to consider.

•Size-Up

•Command

•Hose Lines ( Deployment, Number )

•Truck Functions

•Water Supply

Posted in Building Construction, command-leadership, Dispatch & Communications, firefighting-operations, training-development, videos

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September 10, 2012 • 1 comment

“I hate you, papa.”

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Those were the last words of a dying child, beaten for hours by her mother’s boyfriend. The man beat the child for most of a day; when EMS and law enforcement were finally summoned, the limp child was found in her bed. Hospital staff worked to revive the child; however, she succumbed to her severe injuries. A law enforcement officer in the ER noted the girls last, powerful words in his incident report. Another article told the story of a child beaten to death by both her mother and father. When brought to the hospital, the child was covered in bruises, old and new. X-rays showed current and old broken bones. Neighbors said the child was constantly screaming in that house. The grandparents said they were concerned for the child’s safety. No one, neither family nor neighbor, intervened for these children.

As firefighters, many of us wear our leather helmets with pride and see the fire service as protectors of all people. Without a search warrant, we have unique opportunities to see what other agency representatives rarely get to see: the inside of a home, bared to us without much attempt to whitewash living conditions. Firefighters are in houses for medical calls, public service calls, and fires. We are able to see how people are in their day-to-day lives.

On your next medical call, when examining and caring for a child, will you look a little harder at what you see? Will you assess the child and try to determine his/her wellbeing?

1. Is the child overly dirty and uncared for?
2. Condition of diapers? Changed, as needed?
3. Child look in good physical condition and well fed?
4. Appear to have an exceptional number of bruises and/or other injuries?
5. For age, appear to appropriately respond to stimuli?
6. Living conditions: acceptable or unsafe squalor?

Today, at the kitchen table, discuss this article. Ask if any member has run across anything similar in his/her past work. How was the problem handled? Does your organization have a method to report child and/or elder abuse? If there is not a policy or other method, does your organization need one? What do you think should be in the policy? Until the policy is developed, how will you and your crew handle a call similar to those in the above paragraph?

Children don’t have the necessary skills to communicate in the adult world. It’s up to us, as adults and as firefighters, to speak for those without a voice. Will you have the courage to protect a child and report a situation to social services?

Silence is acceptance; inaction is approval.

Posted in administration-leadership, Education/Training, ems-topics, Motivation, patient-management, Thoughts

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September 7, 2012 • 4 comments

Estimating hose line length tips or drill you make the call

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Often times fire departments will arrive on the scene of a building or dwelling fire and have to over come the obstacle of a long stretch when trying to reach the front door, not even including making it to the fire.

  1. Go out and stretch the lines repeatedly so that you start getting the muscle memory and are able to develop a vision for aprroximate length.
  2. Take a measuring wheel and count it out. This will also be good to add to a pre-plan during those times.

Note: Hose lines should be setup to reflect your response area and departmental policies, and not because that is what we have always done

If any has any drills or tips they use feel

Posted in Drills, Education/Training, Engine Tips, firefighting-operations, training-development

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September 4, 2012 • No comments

Fire Ops

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We want you to Identify basic functions by putting yourself in the position of our brother and sisters in the videos. Remember these are videos and you could be the next week. We want to learn and grow not critcize.

Five basic points to consider.

•Size-Up

•Command

•Hose Lines ( Deployment, Number )

•Truck Functions

•Water Supply

Posted in Building Construction, command-leadership, Dispatch & Communications, Education/Training, firefighting-operations, Training, videos

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 3, 2012 • 1 comment