CFJ Vol. 30.1 (Summer 2015)

From the Eye of the DRONE

You pull up on scene, smoke is billowing and firefighters are everywhere. You are a chief, you have no clue where your people are. You are supposed to establish IC (Incident Command), but you feel that you are already behind the power curve.

Relevant Tags: TECHNOLOGY

Indoor Pot Farms Can Be Electrical Houses of Horror for Firefighters

Responding to fires at illegal indoor pot farms, or “grow houses,” is deadly serious business.

Illegal marijuana growing operations, which can be electrical houses of horror, were among the many electrical hazards taught at a recent electrical safety class for first responders.

Relevant Tags: CFJ

Viking Ship Rowing or Tug-of-War

For so long now I have struggled with an issue that I hear about often as I converse with firefighters and fire officers from across the nation. That concept or issue is a profound struggle between the leadership and the troops of organizations. As it is frequently described is that we are working profoundly against each other and it is on purpose! I find myself each time this occurs scratching my head and thinking, really, this is so stupid and counter productive. Are we not on the job for the same reason? Are we not brothers and sisters separated only by rank?

Relevant Tags: CFJ

Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’

Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, philosopher, and strategist who wrote “The Art of War,” an extremely influential book on military strategy. Although the book was written around 500 B.C., there are a number of military strategists, business management professors, and public administration theorists that utilize its teachings still today.

Relevant Tags: FIRE FIGHTING

The cost of pencil whipping your maintenance checks

When money and time are stretched to their limits, shortcuts proliferate. Overtaxed fire crews may begin pencil whipping what they believe are routine tasks involving equipment and apparatus maintenance. While this may seem like a minor issue, in reality it is an insidious disease — because overlooking a small check can explode into big trouble.

Relevant Tags: ALL ABOUT TRUCKS

Shield Review

Like most firefighters do, at least occasionally, I recently started to get the itch to get an addition to my turnout gear. I was not sure what I wanted but I just had the itch. Ever happen to you?

I am sure this pleased the wife as I started looking at random things from a leather helmet to a new flashlight. But luckily I have a very supportive wife who suggested an idea of finding something personalized. So it was then that I decided that I wanted to get a personalized shield for my helmet.

Relevant Tags: TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Waterfall Rescues and Water Dynamics

For those rescuers lucky enough to live in the mountainous regions of the state where waterfalls commonly exist, you have the added responsibilities and challenges of having to perform rescues from cascading waterfalls and/or the pools below them. In western North Carolina, typically each year, several rescues, or body recoveries, can be expected to occur. It almost never fails that we will have rescues to perform at a set of falls.

Relevant Tags: RESCUE A-Z

Hazmat training can be fun!

Of all continuing education topics that firefighters are required to attend over the course of a year, hazardous materials probably ranks near the top — if it isn’t number one. Why is this? In some cases the individual joined the fire service to “fight fires and save lives” and has absolutely no interest in hazardous materials. In other cases, they may have grown tired of seeing the same topics and presentations repeated over and over again. Maybe the instructor was or is the problem. As training officers and Hazardous Materials instructors, how do we combat this? The answer is easy. As with many problems in the fire service, the answer lies in thinking outside the box and getting creative with our presentations.

Relevant Tags: HAZMAT

The Golden Hour: When Time is Critical

I was fortunate early in my career to work as a part-time counselor-therapist for a reputable Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that served many cities, towns and county entities. I spent eight years working part-time at the EAP while continuing my career fire position as a ladder company captain. It is my hope that this experience with EAPs will assist the emergency services community in better understanding the EAP process.

Relevant Tags: CFJ

Why Would You Want a CERT?

In 1985, the Los Angeles Fire Department developed a program called the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) when they realized how quickly their department could become overwhelmed in the face of a large-scale disaster. That original curriculum was adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1993, and became part of President Bush’s Volunteer Corps Initiative in 2002. Today there are over 2,600 registered programs in every state in the U.S., five U.S. territories and six foreign countries.

Relevant Tags: CFJ

When I Say Stay, I Mean It!

In the old west there was a code of honor that applied to the horse that was tied up outside of the local saloon — if it wasn’t yours, you left it alone. Today, the unfortunate reality is that the same code doesn’t always apply to our ambulances. Periodically, there are high profile stories in the news of ambulances not staying where we left them and an end result that none of us want to experience ourselves.

Relevant Tags: EMS 2015

Optimal Care for the Drowning Patient

This time of year EMS personnel will likely see an increase in the number of drowning patients. It’s important for all EMS responders to review the care of the patient who has drowned. In this column we will quickly review what drowning is, the incidence of drowning, and the optimal care of the drowning patient. 

Relevant Tags: NEWS FROM THE NC OEMS MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Moulage — Complex Wounds Simplified

Moulage Minute — is a value based training for those times when your scenario calls for quick, cost effective and convincing moulage application.

Neurotrauma:
Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak

Rescue at the Rock Quarry

Time: 1 minute

Skill Level: Beginner

Relevant Tags: EMS 2015

Episode 11 — a Review

Episode #11

Well, its summer; schools out and everyone is thinking of a vacation at the beach or the mountains. You’re looking to relax and not do anything too serious, so nothing heavy from me this issue, just a little light reading. Here is a review and update of the last 10 issues in short bursts of topics and information.

Relevant Tags: THE STATION HOUSE

Industry News

Mark Lamplugh Joins Station House Retreat

The Station House Retreat www.stationhouseretreat.com in Delray Beach Florida is happy to announce the addition of Mark Lamplugh as Sr. Vice President of Business Development. Station House Retreat is a 15 bed all first responder addiction treatment program and Lamplugh brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the first responder treatment industry. “I’ve had the pleasure of assisting first responders in many different capacities throughout the years,” states Lamplugh. He helped launch an all responder treatment track and worked with American Addiction Centers and the National Volunteer Fire Council on the Share the Load program. “Working with the Fire/EMS helpline gave me the insight on just how important having a program that’s dedicated to first responders is,” says Lamplugh.

Station House Retreat opened in January of this year with the goal of giving first responders a program that addresses the unique needs of first responders. All Station House staff are former first responders and know first-hand what their clients are experiencing. Unlike traditional drug and alcohol treatment programs Station House makes sure that first responders are in a peer support setting. Lamplugh being a former fire captain himself knows the hurdles that first responders face.

Station House is an initiative from Aion Recovery (www.aionrecovery.com), a healthcare organization that builds treatment programs centered on peer-supportive communities. Peer-supportive treatment allows the therapists and therapy topics to be specialized to the clients, providing an individualized approach to group therapy.

For more information, please visit www.stationhouseretreat.com, or email [email protected].

Relevant Tags: Industry News

Can You Become Firefighter Fit?

Whenever I talk with a firefighter about improving fitness, the most common comments I hear are:

• “I walk everyday. Isn’t that enough?”

My answer: Walking every day is a good foundation, however it is not enough to improve or maintain the level of fitness that is recommended for a firefighter.

• “I don’t have enough time.”

My Answer: You can get quicker and better gains if you do the right program in just 20-30 minutes. We waste more time talking about why we can’t than it takes to see the benefit. Just put it on your calendar and do it.

• “We don’t have any exercise equipment here at the station.”

My Answer: Everything you need is at the station: ladders, hoses, sledge hammers, foam buckets and most importantly your body weight.

Relevant Tags: FIREFIGHTER FIT

Tools of the Trade

The GUTS HM1 mounting system is used to mount a variety of flashlights, cameras or tools to your helmet or hardhat. The helmet mount works as it says in the literature. It is easy to install and comes with the tool to make the installation quick and simple.

It mounts securely to the helmet and the strap holds median to larger flashlights without difficulty — the type typically used on helmets.

Relevant Tags: TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Time and Sacrifice

Doing what we do as firefighters is a rewarding sacrifice of our time, and the commitment that we make when we sign up to be a part of something that, over time, grows within us and becomes part of who we are. Such as time spent helping strangers, time spent training and being a part of a family outside of your home. Time away from your home and loved ones, at times, can put a stress on those relationships. For some people, time away from your regular job — or second job — can become a financial burden on us. Add into the equation the effects of PTSD, which is always a possibility lurking in the shadows of what we do.

Relevant Tags: BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Experience the Carolina Renaissance Festival

Photos Courtesy of the Carolina Renaissance Festival

The Renaissance Festival is a 16th century European style art and entertainment festival combining outdoor theater, circus entertainment, arts and crafts marketplace, a jousting tournament, a feast fit for royalty, and so much more.

Relevant Tags: TRAVEL THE CAROLINAS