Detroit FD

Similar to its city, the City of Detroit Fire Department has been plagued with a variety of issues. With the financial woes of the city, the fire department suffered using broken equipment and apparatus that sorely needed replaced. Firefighters at times are forced to buy equipment on their own when the department doesn't pay. There is also a manpower shortage that has also had effects on the fire service. 

In January 2013, dispatch redirected an ambulance going to a structure fire to another medical call for back pain. Two children were injured in the fire, and firefighters had to perform CPR in the fire engine to transport the children to the hospital, one of whom was in cardiac arrest. One of the children died. It is not Detroit protocol to send an ambulance to every structure fire.   

Detroit also has more structure fires than any other US city, approximately 33. Ninety percent of those are estimated to be set intentionally. 

Back in March, the city announced a plan to reinvest $82.1 million dollars into the fire department as part of its proposed adjustment plan.

It is important to recognize the source that showed the nation what the Detroit Fire Department was truly facing. A documentary called "Burn," released in 2012, showed the world what Detroit faces every day. New York Magazine called it "haunting" and said that it shows "the toughest guys in the world." 

The project stemmed from the 2008 line of duty death of Detroit firefighter Walter Harris, who died fighting an abandoned house fire. Tom Putnam and Benna Sanchez knew that there was a story to be told and went after it. They were told that it wasn't possible, there wasn't an audience. So donations funded it. They distributed and screen it themselves. Now, it has made an impact across the nation, breaking records with its appeal. People wanted to know what was going on. A portion of the sales goes to the Leary Firefighters Foundation to buy turnout gear and equipment for Detroit firefighters. Because of their ambition, there is more awareness to their challenges. And Detroit firefighters are the toughest around. God bless them. Thanks to "Burn," a few more firefighters may be safer today. Let's keep each other safe.

Firefighter Fitness

Staying fit is an important consideration for firefighters, but it isn't necessarily a priority for some firefighters. Others may want to stay fit or get in shape but don't know where to start. Just getting started at all can be a challenge, but sometimes you don't want to overhaul your life all at once for fitness. Implementing fitness into your life can be a small change, just start off going for walks throughout the week.

How many line of duty deaths are caused by heart attacks? How many of those heart attacks could have been prevented by living a healthier lifestyle? The introduction of exercise will help make you a safer firefighter and contribute to the safety of others.

Firefighting is a high intensity, high demanding job. Cardiovascular endurance is key to physically performing the job. What many do not necessarily consider is that exercise can impact the mind is well. As I said, firefighter is a high demanding job. That goes for the mental side too. A lot of people find working out beneficial to their mental state.

What type of exercises should firefighters do? I think it is important to not give a cookie cutter answer. I’m not going to say that every firefighter should do CrossFit or yoga. I think every firefighter should consider their needs and their bodies. As well, for exercise to remain effective, you have to continue to challenge yourself and stay motivated. Staying motivated means you need to stay interested.

With that being said, consider the demands of the job. You are working with heavy equipment, carrying people, and wearing pounds of gear. What does that do to your body? What do you need to perform those jobs? Building up endurance is a key element to this. But that doesn’t necessarily mean simply running miles every day. Adding repetitions or adding weights can build up endurance too.

Here are a couple articles that get more in depth on certain types of exercises-http://firefightertoolbox.com/yoga-firefighters/  http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2010/03/fire-cardio-training.html

Remember to keep yourself motivated too. Exercising will be much easier if you want it. Consider your health, your safety, and the safety of your crew. Maybe you won’t necessarily see results physically at first, but you might just notice the difference on the fire ground. And that’s what is important. Everyone goes home. Stay safe. 

SCBA Training

Obviously, the SCBA is your lifeline. Proficiency with the SCBA is absolutely necessary to any firefighter's success. The SCBA is your access to air, making it an essential resource. However, it's heavy and cumbersome. Turnout gear is already heavy and cumbersome, so this just adds to it. You have to maneuver on your hands and knees, over, under, through tight spaces, carry more equipment, and do so much more all the while wearing a pack and on air. What ways are there to become proficient?

Actually, a lot. Honestly, I think the 60 second drill is great. It makes you familiar with the SCBA. You figure out how it best fits you, you make it work for your body. By timing it, you have a guide to how you are improving with it, how well you know. Your equipment is only as good as you are.

A quick search into YouTube brings up a variety of SCBA drills on the first page. I love the ideas of climbing around a playground or playing a game of basketball in your turnout gear while on air. It makes it different. You are challenging yourself to be adaptable with your equipment and testing your endurance.Here and here are two examples of the playground drill where they had a charged hoselines to follow as well.

This video shows an obstacle course to build confidence in SCBAs. As well, it present many potential, realistic challenges that you could face. Managing your air to get the job done is another vital aspect of SCBA proficiency. This requires more equipment, but can be a very effective drill. This obstacle was really developed, but use what you can for your needs/wants.

There are many other ways to train with the SCBA, such as buddy breathing or emergency procedures. Your drills can help in other areas as well. Keep an open mind and use your resources for different drills. Some of the more unique drills may have more of an impact in your firefighter's memories.

Stay safe!

EMS versus Athletic Trainers?

"Fire Engineering" recently reported that the University of Minnesota is completing a study to understand the relationship and differences between certified athletic trainers and emergency medical personnel.

This is an interesting study, especially because it says about the understanding of each other's profession. When I was in high school, I was a student athletic trainer and considered going to college for it. Ultimately, I didn't, but I was lucky enough to gain experience. My student athletic training years taught me a lot. During that time, I also obtained my EMT-B. What is interesting to me is that the study questions how much either side knows about the other's educational background. I know several athletic training programs, albeit most of them in Pennsylvania, required their Bachelor of Science athletic training students to take an EMT course and become certified EMTs.

From my experience, athletic trainers and EMTs have a professional relationships. Athletic trainers know when to call the EMTs, and EMTs are willing to help. My EMT class didn't teach me to tape ankles just like athletic training experience didn't teach me how to suction. However, there is a overlap in the skills sections. I think because of that, the two professions automatically have respect for one another. It's a working and professional relationship. Working together only helps the other. I hope to be able to find the study when its finished. I would love to hear perspective from EMTs or ATs. I also wonder what prompted the study. Overall, I find it fascinating.

Boston LODD

On March 26, a nine alarm fire which grew more dangerous due to high winds took the lives of two of Boston's firefighters, Lieutenant Edward Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy. Usually, the news of a line of duty death makes only local news and through the firefighting community. However, this caught the attention of the nation. Over 150 firefighters battled against the blaze and 17 firefighters were sent to the hospital due to injuries sustained during the fire. New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady even commented on the fire; the fire was at a house just a few down from where he lives. Brady was photographed observing firefighters work.

There is so much more to consider with these line of duty deaths. It is always hard to lose a comrade to the beast, we always want to fulfill "everyone comes home." Walsh left behind a wife and three young children, Kennedy had served as a Marine in the Iraq War and leaves behind a girlfriend who plans to run in the Boston Marathon with his initials painted on her leg this week. Both are described as jakes dedicated to the job and all-around good guys.

Their funerals were attended by thousands. Thousands of firefighters from across the country came to pay their final respects to these two men. From small town USA to Pittsburgh to New York City and everyone in between, firefighters wanted a chance to pay their final respects.

Boston Deputy Chief Joseph Finn said that "In 30 years, I have never seen a fire travel that fast, escalate that quickly, and create havoc in such a short period of time." (CBS Boston)

This fire was ferocious. Often, after injury or death, we ask why or what we could have done to prevent it. It will be a valuable read once the official report comes out, but this fire was simply nasty. In the attempt to rescue the fallen firefighters, other firefighters were injured and blown back by a backdraft. The incident commander had to decide to pull out the rest of the firefighters in order to keep the rest of the crews safe. Nothing about this fire was routine. Everything was hard.

We, as a brotherhood, recognize the sacrifice these two men made that March afternoon. As well, we know everything that their comrades are going through as they try to move forward. Even though Boston lost two, the next call, the crews had to be ready. And Lt. Walsh and Firefighter Kennedy would not expect anything else. Rest in peace brothers, we got it from here.

Consolidation

Consolidation. It is considered one of the most dreaded words in the fire service. It takes two or more departments and merges them into one, under a new name, new identity, and creates a new culture. There are a variety of reasons why consolidations occur, such as manpower or financial issues. It can be determined that ultimately, it is best to pool the resources. However, one reason is known to continually cause consolidations to fail: Culture. And when I mean culture, I mean pride and egos.

For a job so loved, it is not surprising how much pride goes into. We are proud of our departments and what we do. However, sometimes we let this overshadow what we are meant to do. Why are you a firefighter? This is the firefighter's purpose: To protect life and sustain property. Make a hazardous situation safe. The job of a firefighter is not about the individual firefighter. It is about everyone else, the people that you protect.

For volunteer firefighters, it can be a struggle. Not only are you balancing an outside job and family while responding to calls, you also have to put in time for training, meetings, and fundraisers. For some departments, fundraisers can be what keeps the department going. It is also common for there to be more than one department per municipality, often for reasons stuck in the past as in white collar versus blue collar or terrain issues that past fire apparatus (or horses) could not get through.

We are content in our history. We see each other struggling, with money, worrying about paying department bills, or with manpower, worrying about crewing the truck the next time the pager goes off, and it is still hard for us to admit that it is time to change history. Consolidations pool resources together. Sometimes you can get rid of a station or apparatus piece in consolidation. There could be less fundraisers or less donation letters being sent out, possibly enticing more residents to attend or donate more, since they do not have to choose. It is not easy at all starting from the beginning. You have to create new by-laws, new standard operation procedures, guidelines, and more.

You also have to deal with people. You are changing the way things have been done. People do not always respond well to change.

Without a doubt, there is an overabundance of fire departments and a continual decrease in manpower. There are times that departments cannot answer calls. A variety of recruitment methods have been and will continue to be tried. But right now, we have to use the resources that we have in the most efficient manner that we can. And that very well may be pooling our resources together.

But then you have to worry about this guy not liking that guy and wondering who's going to be Chief, what's the name of the company, what color of the fire trucks and not necessarily the things that matter. The question should be will this improve our services to our community? How can we best prepare to fulfill our mission?

Instead of thinking about themselves, people need to look at the situation and think about others. Think about the community. How prepared are you for your community? To hell with the pride. It's not about trying to dominate. It amazes me how quickly multimillion (or billion) corporations can consolidate with each other and there are still fire departments bickering over who is responding to what.

A lot of municipalities cannot afford paid departments. We are what they got. We have to do what's right. It is not going to be easy. But would you rather work through the problems or watch them get worse? And know that it was a fear of change that kept those problems from working out? You have to try. Not a half assed effort either. It is not easy. It never will be. You are making two into one. There will be arguments. You won't win every disagreement either. But who is it for-your pride and potential of a position or the people you protect?

It is a very touchy subject. But someone needs to be willing to state their stance and go with it.

Stay safe.

RIT Drills

I've talked about RIT in the past, but today I am going to discuss drills and techniques concerning rapid intervention team response. The Benjamin Franklin quote about prevention versus cure is easily applicable to the fire service. Practice like you play. RIT is not easy. In order to extricate one downed firefighter from a hazardous situation, multiple firefighters are required, divided into teams all with specific purposes.

This is a great review on how RIT should be established with important key points. As well, it gives examples of drills to practice RIT skills. It shows that RIT drills do not always requires a lot of equipment or special considerations, and it also tests firefighter skills in other areas.

If you are dispatched as a RIT team, do you have key components in place to consider once you arrive on scene? RIT is preparing for the worst; you need to have a mental checksheet to know that everything is in place in case the worst were to happen. Is everything crossed off? RIT is a lot more than just bringing hand tools and a TIC and staging on scene. You constantly have to be aware of the situation surrounding you and recognizing hazards.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Benjamin Franklin. What the hell does that even mean? Train. If we train, we can PREVENT the situation from getting worse. Firefighting is dangerous, people. It is always going to be dangerous. We can only prepare ourselves for the situation and keep our skills consistent and sharp enough to evaluate each situation and respond accordingly. Athletes practice daily. Responding to emergencies and performing rescues have a lot more variables than a sporting event, so why shouldn't we keep ourselves prepared?

I found some great training videos to consider for RIT. This video  looks at the technique of converting the air supply and harness. It establishes that the firefighter has an air supply, and that the SCBA waist belt can be used as a harness to assist in dragging the firefighter, while also providing control of the SCBA that the firefighter is wearing. Imagine for a minute that they aren't in an open bay, but in a dark, cramped hallway. This extrication doesn't look easy to begin with, and now you're in cramped quarters. You and your crew are trying to manipulate this in much less space, and now it is going to be a lot darker, plus your adrenaline/emotions will be running high. See why we train? We can't create the moment as its going to be. Entanglements and obstacles can be thrown at you, PASS devices can be going off all over the place, but it won't create the scene as it will be when you actually have to implement RIT (or any skill really). But training can help you prepare. You can learn your strengths and weaknesses. Better to make mistakes while training rather than during the real deal. Everyone goes home.

There are drills that challenge a firefighter in more constrained environments and require more exertion. These include the Denver Drill and the Pittsburgh Drill. These exercises were developed in response to past mistakes. And they are extremely useful teaching tools and well-known throughout the nation. Both drills show how extricating a firefighter is a team effort and a process. The Denver Drill requires firefighters to maneuver through cramped spaces and lift the downed firefighter through a window. The Pittsburgh Drill has a variety of obstacles-a small wall breach, an A frame up and over, and a tube to navigate through with the downed firefighter at the end. The firefighter is low on air and entangled, so the firefighters need to extrication him from the entanglements and put him on an alternate air supply. After that, along with him being packaged, the team goes back through the obstacles with the downed firefighter. It really tests your skills. While props are involved with these drills, it isn't anything too extensive and should be fairly easy to obtain. Again, RIT uses skills that you need for other aspects of firefighting. These drills help you develop these so that hopefully when you use the skills-whether it be for RIT or in another situation-you are able to effectively apply them to the situation.. It's all about surviving.

Stay safe!