Fire Rescue EMS News

Bob Twomey | 10/14/2011

Rescuing a seriously injured fall victim, or worse, recovering a fatality in a waterfall setting is likely one of the most technically challenging rescues a rescuer will ever perform. If the victim has fallen and is caught in a crevasse, or is on a rock outcropping or in light blush on the face of the waterfall, without having fallen all the way to the bottom, the logistical challenges and technical skills needed to accomplish such a rescue — also used here for a body recovery — will call upon all the rope and rigging training you have ever learned. Annually, we receive between two to four such calls in Transylvania County, with surrounding ... Read More...

Relevant Tags: rescue, waterfall, fire, training, rescues, gear, rescues recoveries, fall victim, recoveries waterfalls, team members, search rescue, water flows

Brad Maness | 10/14/2011

When was the last time your department trained with high pressure airbags? Most departments will probably say several times a year, assuming you have that equipment. Now, when was the last time your department conducted training with those same airbags and a forklift? If we are honest, many of us will probably say seldom or never. With so many different responsibilities in the fire service, sometimes it’s difficult to cover all aspects of potential emergencies. When our department was given the opportunity to use a forklift in training we knew it would be a great experience for our members to train in a low occurrence/high priority situation... Read More...

Relevant Tags: rescue, fire, training, forklift, equipment, high pressure, safety manager, preparing industrial

Jason Krusen | 04/29/2011

The hazardous materials response community can be very political, and it is important that a team or organization be able to function accordingly. The team must be proactive and engage whenever possible. Hazardous materials incidents can be quite large and involve multiple agencies that do not ordinarily work together. Get involved and network with other agencies and teams, as well as market the team based on its abilities. There are infinite possibilities available to a hazmat team if the initiative is made. Initially, the organization or host agency must determine several things; the scope or capacity it will operate, the expectations of t... Read More...

Relevant Tags: team, hazmat, response, fire, community, training, facility, hazmat team, hazardous materials, vulnerability assessment, search rescue

David Pease | 04/29/2011

I hope everyone has survived the winter. The weather is starting to warm up and that means folks will be ready to jump in and start training again. I can’t emphasize how important training can be. We saw how quick and unexpected Japan was hit with an earthquake and tsunami. Things can happen here just as quick and just as unexpected. That bad wreck can come at anytime day or night. I continue to see folks driving down the road engaged in either talking on their cell phone or texting as hard as they can go. Driving is a full attention endeavor, and doing other things while driving only invites disaster, one that we have to be ready for, 24/7. Read More...

Relevant Tags: EXTRICATION EDUCATION, training, extrication, extrication strategies

Bob Twomey | 04/29/2011

A few weeks ago while at my hangar doing general maintenance, an officer from another fire-rescue agency called to discuss using aviation in rescue support roles. A couple years ago he had taken the class “Helicopter Use in Search and Rescue Support” offered through the Western North Carolina Fire and Rescue College and McDowell Fire and Rescue College. Since this class, he had been working through his local department to see if the general aviation community could offer, or supply aerial assistance to them during lost person searches, flood searches and damage assessment, aerial scene management, personnel transport, and so forth. Read More...

Relevant Tags: rescue, aviation, department, general aviation, search rescue, aviation resources, fire rescue, rescue support, aviation resource, local pilot

| 03/10/2011

The International Auto Extrication Competition (NAVRC) will be held this year, June 8-10, 2011 in Myrtle Beach, SC. This is the 27th annual NAVRC and the first in South Carolina. The event is an opportunity for rescue workers to share best practices, strategies and new technology required to save lives. Read More...

Relevant Tags: extrication, auto extrication competition, NAVRC, rescue, rescue workers, EMS, rescue strategies, rescue equipment, South Carolina Firefighters Association, emergency rescue, incident commander, incident command, medic, extrication specialist, car ac

Glenn Clapp | 07/25/2010

Hazardous materials personal protective equipment (PPE) is one component of the hazmat response that is often taken for granted. Civilians, for instance, think that a fully encapsulating vapor protective suit (often referred to as a “moon suit” by persons not in emergency services) is a veritable suit of armor that will protect responders against any chemical threat. We as Hazardous Materials Technicians should know that is not the case, however do we know as much as we really need to about our PPE? In addition, do we train as much as we should on PPE and receive as much “suit time” as we should on a regular basis? And think carefully about ... Read More...

Relevant Tags: HAZMAT,protective, protection, suit, hazmat, vapor, ppe, ensemble, vapor protective, protective ensembles, protective suit, respiratory protection, hazardous materials, splash protective, liquid splash, prot

Michael P. Dallessandro | 07/25/2010

Everyday during my ride to work I take note of all of the school buses on the roads today. After all, it is my job to know as much about them as I can. I am a firefighter and in my full time career I am a school district manager responsible for the safe operation of over 80 buses that travel nearly one million miles annually and transport just under 3000 children to and from school daily. Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE,school, bus, incident, buses, school bus, school buses, school district, bus related, responding school, district manager, bus extrication

David Pease | 07/25/2010

In 1975, I was recruited to help start the rescue squad in Garner, N.C. The irony is, I was recruited as a diver, and ended up going to EMT school, the first class in our county. I ended up riding on an ambulance as well as doing rescue. Back in 1973, when I was certified as a diver, there were only a handful of dive organizations and they only offered open water scuba certification. The only diving I had done prior to becoming part of the rescue squad was in the Florida Keys and the rock Quarry in Rolesville. Soon, I found myself in black water diving in lakes and ponds around the county, as I was the only “Rescue and Recovery” diver in the... Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE,rescue, diving, diver, dive, team, water, recovery, certification, training, fire rescue, recovery diving, dive team, advanced level, diver certification, rescue recovery, open water, rescue squad

Tim Wojcik | 07/25/2010

In 2009, Executive Fire Officer Paul Melfi published the following statement, “Giving a firefighter a portable radio is an investment in saving lives. But you must also provide proper training, policies for radio operations, and equipment maintenance. Personnel must know all the intricacies of the portable radio in addition to being able to operate it, maintain it, and ensure that it is ready for use at all times.” While many departments do have a Radio Operations SOG (Standard Operating Guideline), many do not have an SOG that covers the use/assignment of radios by firefighters in the IDLH environment. So, what does the NFPA have to say abo... Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE,radio, radios, firefighter, idlh, firefighters, department, safety, idlh environment, portable radio, one radio, training policies, proper training

Lee Junkins and Billy Leach, Jr. | 07/25/2010

With vehicle technology constantly changing, it is virtually impossible for responders to keep abreast of each and every change. Therefore, we should strive to create a s-i-m-p-l-e procedure that is applicable to all vehicles. In doing so, we will create a safer rescue operating environment. Read More...

Relevant Tags: VEHICLE COLLISION,responders, vehicle, srs, vehicles, scene, window curtain, curtain srs, approaching vehicle , responders must, vehicle collisions

Tim Deppen | 07/25/2010

I’m pretty much like every firefighter believing in the ideology of, “we should train like we’re in it.” Everything we do should be mimicking the incidents we respond to. As firefighters we must be equipped, trained and physically able to do this great job of ours. I’m not saying that we need to be marathon runners, or have the body of mister universe to do our jobs, but rather maintain a high level of fitness; ready physically to respond to our community’s call for help. I read somewhere that firefighters use as much energy in a major incident as football players do in a game. That’s quite a bit. For the most part we lead sedentary lives at... Read More...

Relevant Tags: FITNESS TRAINING,training, functional, fire, exercise, train, train like, functional exercise, targeted towards, fire ground, functional training

Ed Henry | 07/25/2010

In today’s fire service the art of forcible entry is dying. Any numbers of reasons are the cause of this. This article is to review some truck company concepts of forcible entry. We will discuss conventional forcible entry, which is the oldest and most used in today’s fire service. This will consist of the halligan tool and a flat head ax or sledge hammer. Your first priority needs to be that of, establish the swing of the door. You would look pretty funny pulling on a door when all that was needed is to push on it to have it open. Read More...

Relevant Tags: FORCIBLE ENTRY,door, forcible, entry, force, doors, tool, forcible entry, force door, truck company, gap set, set force, steps force, end tool, art forcible, adz end, door frame

David Hesselmeyer | 07/25/2010

How many times have you wished that you could tell the future? Maybe to win the lottery. Maybe to see if that hard decision would be the best one. Maybe to see if that job opportunity would be the correct choice. Nevertheless, we all have probably wanted to see into the future. Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE,future, fire, ems, extrication, fire rescue, into future, tell future, break wear, side door, seeing into

Mike Coffey | 07/25/2010

In this section, we will look into fire streams. Noticing that this is a large “can of worms” that evokes strong feelings, let’s choose to keep an open mind and use this as a training topic. More or less — why do fire streams exist? They are our main battle tool against “old man fire.” There are as many uses for different streams as there are different fires. Some fires require smaller lines with low gallon per minute flow; some fires require more water application than we can provide with equipment on scene or requested. Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE,fire, attack, hose, streams, attack lines, fire streams, inch hose