We all know that June 17-23 was the week set aside for this year’s Fire and EMS Safety Stand Down. Tragically that same week, the Charleston (S.C.) Fire Department suffered the single largest number of line of duty deaths since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. While we watched the national coverage of the fire unfold, our numbness turned to reality and reality to action in support of the firefighters’ families and the city of Charleston. My assistant chief, who attended the memorial service, said that the outpouring of grief and gratitude by the citizens of Charleston was something he’d never forget.
For many, the Safety Stand Down became a way to honor those Charleston firefighters by placing a renewed emphasis on safety within their own departments. My department participated in three programs: “Managing the Mayday,” “Seatbelts” and “Calling the Mayday.” Unrestrained crashes in emergency vehicles and firefighters who become lost, disoriented or trapped by collapse combine to result in nearly 40% of annual firefighter operational fatalities.
“Managing the Mayday,” held in conjunction with our county fire chiefs association, outlined the specific needs an IC must incorporate into the ops plan before and after a Mayday is called at an incident. For example, more firefighters are lost in single-family dwelling fires than any other occupancy, but more multiple firefighter fatalities occur at fires in commercial or industrial occupancies. The IC needs to assemble the resources to handle a downed firefighter scenario in these specific occupancies before it occurs, and the IC has to remember that two simultaneous actions need to be a part of the amended ops plan: the firefighter rescue and continuing to fight the fire.
“Seatbelts” was an obvious safety training choice for the Stand Down. Members brainstormed at least a dozen reasons why the same firefighters who buckle up when they drive their personal cars will fail to use a seatbelt on an emergency run due to time restraints. This topic, too, had a wake-up call, as in the same week our neighboring Cincinnati Fire Department had a motor vehicle crash involving one of its responding engines and a pick-up truck. All of the firefighters were buckled, but the pick-up driver was unrestrained and had to be extricated from the vehicle with serious internal injuries.
“Calling the Mayday” not only discussed the proper technique for a firefighter to call for assistance and the IC to respond, but it also explored the fire service culture that in some ways stifles a firefighter from immediately calling for assistance before running low on air. Often by the time a Mayday is called, valuable minutes and the firefighter’s air have been exhausted. This time factor makes it more difficult to find and resupply a firefighter with air before attempting to get them out.
So here’s the question: Did your department pass the Safety Stand Down? What did you do, and more importantly what did you learn? Is your department safer today than it was last week?
June 29th, 2007 @ 3:37 pm
Our department will be a little safer after next June’s enactment into law of New Jersey’s fire-safe cigarette law. Thirteen states have enacted this law, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why all states have not introduced a fire-safe cigarette law. There will be a 10% decline in fire deaths caused by cigarettes. That means we will have knocked careless smoking out as a leading cause of fire deaths from the statistic base of the NFPA.
July 3rd, 2007 @ 11:15 am
The Wake Forest Fire Department utilized the Safety Stand Down to address building construction. Our safety motto for the week was “Look Up For Safety!” I encouraged all of our personnel to take time from their day-to-day norms and look up at the different types of buidlings that stand in our district. I also encouraged them to look up at the roof components as the entered restaurants and other commercial buildings. The primary instructions directed them to pay close attention to the truss types, whether the was building sprinklered and the number of dead loads present on the roof. In the past week, a Red Robin and Chili’s opened in our area. We watched very closely as those buildings were being built. Under fire conditions, the lightweight components utilized in both roof systems are death warrants for firefighters. This assignment proved to be very educational for our department.