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We have two Hursts on the back of our main engine. Got to use them during extraction training. Was lovely.
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Nov 2, 2013 16:50
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Continuing pack chat, we do our air management techniques for all fires. Residential or commercial, it doesn't matter (we don't have any industrial in town, and very little industrial anywhere nearby). Our updated SOP calls for us treating a low air alarm the same as a pass device going off - find and evacuate whoever's alarm is sounding. We will likely update it again in some way for the 33% alarm when we replace our SCBA.
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Nov 4, 2013 17:46
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Regarding the one and done thing, in my department, we have medical monitoring during rehab. We measure vitals including carbon monoxide levels. If you exceed them you get to rest longer and get retested.
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Nov 6, 2013 07:22
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The Gardenator posted:Regarding the one and done thing, in my department, we have medical monitoring during rehab. We measure vitals including carbon monoxide levels. If you exceed them you get to rest longer and get retested. Minus the CO levels, it was basically the same for my old department as far as medical monitoring. You went to rehab, you got fluids, etc. and had your vitals measured and all by the medics and were either deemed fit to return or not. I'm not sure what the, "Wow just wow," by Loco was for... You left the fire, got checked out by the medics, and either went back in or didn't. We just never had the man power to support a one and done philosophy. Small town ( >25k people) fire departments with a mostly volunteer fire department just can NOT do that in most cases.
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Nov 10, 2013 06:27
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windshipper posted:Minus the CO levels, it was basically the same for my old department as far as medical monitoring. You went to rehab, you got fluids, etc. and had your vitals measured and all by the medics and were either deemed fit to return or not. I'm not sure what the, "Wow just wow," by Loco was for... You left the fire, got checked out by the medics, and either went back in or didn't. We just never had the man power to support a one and done philosophy. Small town ( >25k people) fire departments with a mostly volunteer fire department just can NOT do that in most cases. Yeah, a lot of departments don't have that luxury. I've been through 4 bottles on a fire before, it sucks, but you gotta do what needs doin' sometimes.
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Nov 10, 2013 08:20
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invision posted:Yeah, a lot of departments don't have that luxury. I've been through 4 bottles on a fire before, it sucks, but you gotta do what needs doin' sometimes. Minimum staffing for my former department was 7. For a full 48 hour shift. That's including volunteers. That's (at headquarters station) 1 captain, 1 medic, 1 FF/EMT who was the medic unit driver, 2 FF/EMTs on an aid car (or engine, depending on the call), and then at the southern station 2 FF/EMTs who would take the engine or the aid car depending on what was going on. That's absolute minimum staffing if/when no volunteers were available and the other medic wasn't for one reason or another. Also, this usually required a volunteer to be around in order to be on one of the aid cars/engine. If one aid car was out, it was not uncommon for the other station to straight up take the next call that came out no matter what it was. If it was an aid/medic call? They'd go in the aid car (and be there with the medic[s] if need be). Even if it wasn't in their section of the city. That's what I mean by a small town fire department staffed with mostly volunteers. I'm not picking on you, invision (by any means, I mean, you get it), but I'm not sure that everyone understands what it means by saying, "We just didn't/don't have the man power." Safety is obviously paramount in any operation. In EMS, it's ALWAYS BSI/Safety first, and then the rest. The same is true of the fire service when it comes to fighting fire: Safety first. In some cases though, it is necessary to do what you can safety-wise, and then just dive in to work once those minimum standards are met. There are some safety things that other departments do that simply aren't feasible when it comes to working towards the end goal that larger departments are able to do. Are the minimum standards the best? No. Should a department/individual strive for better? Always. But when it's your brothers and sisters in there fighting fire, and there is no one else there to back them up... There's really very little else you can do (or, in my opinion, should do) beyond going and doing the damnedest you can to help them out if you're medically/physically able to. I'm not trying to pick on anyone or preach too much so much as trying to give perspective on what it is like and can be like in a very small department. edit 2: I just realized I had a grammar error that made a sentence mean the opposite of what it should be 
windshipper fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Nov 12, 2013 |
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Nov 12, 2013 04:31
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Yeah, we (usually) don't have trouble with staffing since we are in the suburbs surrounded by other fire stations just begging to be brought in as mutual aid. It's easy to get enough staffing to go one and done when your "typical" fire is a 2 story residential and your first alarm is bringing you 15-20 people from your station, plus another 4-6 from three other stations. Unless it is daylight and we can't count on volunteers showing up, we've usually got a 35 or so personnel on scene for that room and contents fire. On the other hand, because the area is filled with volunteer departments, I remember going out on a third or fourth alarm to a fire three towns away during the daylight. We were the third company there, because we were the third company that (as the alarm kept getting bigger) actually managed to get enough personnel in our station to respond.
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Nov 12, 2013 06:53
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Staffing discussions always make me realize how fortunate I am. Our biggest problem is usually the insane traffic that slows us down on runs.
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Nov 12, 2013 20:34
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Yeah, we were an all-vol department covering 150 square miles (mostly wildland). Active roster of ~20 people. Closest mutual aid, at a minimum, 15 minutes away. I've been to structure fires during the day that literally just myself show up, and three different mutual aid tones dropped before I finally found a department with enough people to respond. We didn't have automatic mutual aid, but if tones dropped for structure fire or anything serious, the first person on the radio would always say "Dispatch, go ahead and tone out xxx for mutual aid". The good news is that on weekends/during the night, you could count on at least 10 people showing up. The active members were extremely active, and that's what it takes to keep a department like that alive. e:lol at having staffed stations. The only staffing we had was sundays during football when everyone's hanging out at 1's watching the big screen.
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Nov 12, 2013 22:19
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windshipper posted:Minus the CO levels, it was basically the same for my old department as far as medical monitoring. You went to rehab, you got fluids, etc. and had your vitals measured and all by the medics and were either deemed fit to return or not. I'm not sure what the, "Wow just wow," by Loco was for... You left the fire, got checked out by the medics, and either went back in or didn't. We just never had the man power to support a one and done philosophy. Small town ( >25k people) fire departments with a mostly volunteer fire department just can NOT do that in most cases. Bread and butter stuff very rarely has rehab. You have some drinks on the TSU you get when your switching tanks. We get extra companies in extreme cases but our first alarm assignment can handle it most of the time. Our average is like a hour on single dwelling fires. Sometimes people make this poo poo way too complicated. Why do you need CO2 monitoring if you have your pack on? I was saying the wow to the 1/4 thing. If you can see the outside there is no reason to not stay and put in work. I guess its a culture thing. Ours is get in fast, get the job done, and leave because you might miss another fire. Its still not a big deal to see the old timers without their mask on. Our light extrication task forces ( we have 18 which are a engine and ladder ) are getting the Hurst battery powered tools. Our heavy extrication companies are keeping their gas and vehicle powered models ( we have 4 which are a heavy rescue, engine, ladder, ALS light rescue ). They really seem to like them. http://www.jawsoflife.com/ Our single dwelling response is 3 engines ( 4 firefighters ), 2 ladders ( 4 firefighters ), ALS Rescue Squad ( 2 firefighters ) and BC ( one chief and aide ). Once marked working you get your 3rd ladder(RIT) , TSU ( air truck ), Safety Chief ( one chief ) and second BC ( chief and aide ), PIO car ( on duty car ), and arson ( one fire guy and one cop who work together ), EMS duty officer, and shift commander ( if above extra companies ). We send like 35ish firefighters.
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Nov 12, 2013 23:56
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Loco179 posted:Bread and butter stuff very rarely has rehab. You have some drinks on the TSU you get when your switching tanks. We get extra companies in extreme cases but our first alarm assignment can handle it most of the time. Our average is like a hour on single dwelling fires. Sometimes people make this poo poo way too complicated. Why do you need CO2 monitoring if you have your pack on? There are reasons why rehab is important. If you have been working in a fire on a 30 minute bottle you should be given 10 minutes of rest with some fluids. If you have been working for 60 minutes you should be given 20 minutes of rest, fluids, and medical monitoring. This is now a requirement if your department follows NFPA 1584. The gas you monitor is not CO2, but CO (carbon monoxide). Best site I can find with further information that doesn't have a pay/login wall is http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-rehab/articles/327047-Making-Rehab-a-Requirement-NFPA-1584/
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Nov 16, 2013 02:53
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I believe we're required to have CO levels checked if it's a 3rd alarm or greater. Otherwise I think it's only checked if need be.
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Nov 16, 2013 05:52
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The Gardenator posted:There are reasons why rehab is important. If you have been working in a fire on a 30 minute bottle you should be given 10 minutes of rest with some fluids. If you have been working for 60 minutes you should be given 20 minutes of rest, fluids, and medical monitoring. This is now a requirement if your department follows NFPA 1584. Sorry I knew it was CO but typing too fast. We have CO meters on lots of trucks. They work like our SpO2 monitors. NFPA really isn't followed 100% by anyone. What I am saying that departments are taking this poo poo way too far. Sometimes making a hour incident into 4 hours. I guess our pace is pretty high paced. If you get one good fire the chances of another good one in a few hours is pretty drat good. Get your job done fast and get back in.
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Nov 16, 2013 20:56
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Loco179 posted:Our single dwelling response is 3 engines ( 4 firefighters ), 2 ladders ( 4 firefighters ), ALS Rescue Squad ( 2 firefighters ) and BC ( one chief and aide ). Once marked working you get your 3rd ladder(RIT) , TSU ( air truck ), Safety Chief ( one chief ) and second BC ( chief and aide ), PIO car ( on duty car ), and arson ( one fire guy and one cop who work together ), EMS duty officer, and shift commander ( if above extra companies ). We send like 35ish firefighters. Jesus... I'm lucky to get ten guys and two beat to poo poo pumpers. I wouldn't even know what to do with so many people.
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Nov 26, 2013 13:34
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Anyone familiar with the selection process in Massachusetts? I have an orientation session on Thursday and I am wondering if the process is going to include an interview at this point or if the background/drug test comes first, interview comes later. Also the amount of information required in the background check is impressive.
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Dec 10, 2013 17:55
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Orientation for the process? Normally we host a dozens or so orientation sessions. Our processes normally go written test ( need to score in the high 90s ) then the first cut. Second is CPAT with like the top 300 or so. First interview with board interview. Second large cut like only top 150 or so are kept. Second round of interviews with larger different board. Final cuts and maybe the third interviews. Background checks are next done by our police ( anything will get you bumped ). Normally physical is after your conditional offer of employment. The physical costs around 2k and is like a 6 hour affair. Drug tests include hair, blood and urine samples. Alcohol is done by blood as well. Hope this gives you more insight. This is for my state but this gives you a good idea of how it works.
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Dec 15, 2013 05:31
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Thanks! The orientation went well and included a 30 page background info packet and three written essays. I did the written test and PAT back in April 2012 and got a letter just before Thanksgiving this year inviting me to orientation. They are hiring 10 reserve positions, it looked like they called up all the guys with veteran status and civilians with a 99 or better exam score. No interviews at this session, fingers crossed I get called up to come in and interview soon!
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Dec 15, 2013 16:39
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I finished my Firefighter 1 course, so I guess it's time for my actual learning to begin! Thanks to everyone in here for posting in general and to the people who recommended for me to wait on gear until I passed the class and so on, all those live fire evolutions with water put some noticeable wear on my issue gloves and I'm glad I wasn't using my own poo poo for that.
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Dec 19, 2013 17:39
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Hey guys, I just wanted to let everyone know that reddit's r/firefighting is doing a community Best Of awards for photos and what not: http://www.reddit.com/r/Firefighting/comments/1t6rbl/community_best_of_2013_awards/ Hopefully someone here has a really sick photo to share.
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Dec 19, 2013 20:59
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Kashew posted:Hey guys, A few weeks ago one of those whackers said they thought their dirty helmet was a badge of honour and they never wanted to clean it. gently caress those idiots.
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Dec 20, 2013 02:15
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smooth.operator posted:A few weeks ago one of those whackers said they thought their dirty helmet was a badge of honour and they never wanted to clean it. gently caress those idiots. how is not proper maintaining your PPE/kit a badge of honor? dont these guys have to muster their gear every now and then? anyhow, going of this shift im off until new years eve. Huzzah, And Merry christmas FF-goons
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Dec 20, 2013 17:58
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fjelltorsk posted:how is not proper maintaining your PPE/kit a badge of honor? dont these guys have to muster their gear every now and then? Hell if I know but there's one or two people who come around my station who intentionally buy NFPA non-compliant leather helmets then act proud as hell and continue to wear them after they burn up. I totally understand keeping a hosed up piece of equipment around as a keepsake after a close call or something, but continuing to wear it? Anyhow I just leave it alone since I'm a rookie but I'm glad to see this sentiment is out there.
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Dec 20, 2013 19:06
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That's definitely a thing around here, but only for some people. Our gear gets inspected and cleaned professionally every 6 months, but that's just the bunker gear. I guess we're on our own with helmet. Personally I'd clean mine if it got real lovely, but so far I haven't been to anything crazy enough to require cleaning. Leather helmets are a rare sight where I am.
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Dec 20, 2013 19:16
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smooth.operator posted:gently caress those idiots. Oh yeah, pretty much that. Cancer and premature equipment failure is real cool these days.
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Dec 20, 2013 19:19
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I switched my burned to hell leather shield from my helmet to helmet after I hosed them up. Does this make me bad y/n
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Dec 20, 2013 20:20
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invision posted:I switched my burned to hell leather shield from my helmet to helmet after I hosed them up. Does this make me bad y/n im Norwegian and we dont don shields on the helmets, but i can sort of seeing a shield being more of a "memento" to show some battlescars rather then leaving your gear covered in soot,smoke and toxins
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Dec 20, 2013 20:24
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The stations surrounding mine are crazy over the leathers. Our station however switched over to these a while back: Heros-XT We get funny looks and names from other departments, but at least our guys are easy to spot at any scene. I've only ever been with this department, so I couldn't tell you if I'd prefer a regular style one over this one.
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Dec 20, 2013 20:24
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Ironsights posted:The stations surrounding mine are crazy over the leathers. Our station however switched over to these a while back: Stuff is developed right next to my city, I have one myself and they are so much better than most other european helmets even.
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Dec 20, 2013 20:55
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I wash my gear after every fire, since that's required by our department. However, I usually just hit my helmet with some water and call it a day. I like my kinda-melted leather front...
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Dec 20, 2013 21:06
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dexter6 posted:I wash my gear after every fire, since that's required by our department. However, I usually just hit my helmet with some water and call it a day. I like my kinda-melted leather front... Same, in all honesty. I do my best to clean it, but having the slightly melted/curled/fire worn shield on the front is pretty cool in my opinion.
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Dec 20, 2013 21:27
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windshipper posted:Same, in all honesty. I do my best to clean it, but having the slightly melted/curled/fire worn shield on the front is pretty cool in my opinion. The salty front piece is totally acceptable regardless of how you feel about cleaning a helmet. It's funny, due to OSHA requirements the city has pretty much been forcefully replacing helmets that are more than 10 years old. So now it's easy to tell who the senior guys are because they all have shiny brand new helmets with crisp/burnt front pieces.
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Dec 21, 2013 03:03
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One other thing I don't get is the wearing of leather helmets. I'll admit I've never seen one in person, but how is that protective other than keeping water off your neck and all? I get the whole nostalgia, "This is how it used to be," thing, but there's a reason why they're not worn anymore. How is that going to protect your head from something falling on it, or from heat in any meaningful way? 
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Dec 21, 2013 21:10
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windshipper posted:One other thing I don't get is the wearing of leather helmets. I'll admit I've never seen one in person, but how is that protective other than keeping water off your neck and all? I get the whole nostalgia, "This is how it used to be," thing, but there's a reason why they're not worn anymore. How is that going to protect your head from something falling on it, or from heat in any meaningful way? It's not meant for that and as far as I can tell the dudes wearing them are doing it entirely because they feel like it's badass and not at all for dome protection. Then again, if we were looking for the most protective gear, and taking a step away from the tradition thing, we'd all be wearing the Euro style helmets. Which, incidentally, I really really like, but will probably never get to see at my company.
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Dec 21, 2013 23:23
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Hello thread, how did I not notice this in all the years of being a goon. Company officer in San Jose, CA. edit: to add to the convo, I have a Sam Houston helmet, it protects just like any other helmet, but it is noticeably heavier than a standard issue cairns/bullard whatever. After a few hours of wear, between the bottle and the helmet, my neck gets pretty sore(I'm old). pyrometer fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Dec 22, 2013 |
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Dec 22, 2013 01:02
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Paramemetic posted:It's not meant for that and as far as I can tell the dudes wearing them are doing it entirely because they feel like it's badass and not at all for dome protection. Then why wear a helmet at all? I mean, I'm not quite a rookie anymore (barely more than a rookie, so, take anything I say with a grain of salt), but, it just seems like trying to be macho for the sake of being stupid at that point. The job is dangerous enough as is, why try to make it more so? posted:Then again, if we were looking for the most protective gear, and taking a step away from the tradition thing, we'd all be wearing the Euro style helmets. Which, incidentally, I really really like, but will probably never get to see at my company. Those helmet styles are bitching and I will not hear otherwise.  (and no, I will never see them around here, either. Former fire department used Traditional style, current uses Pacific style)
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Dec 22, 2013 01:21
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windshipper posted:One other thing I don't get is the wearing of leather helmets. I'll admit I've never seen one in person, but how is that protective other than keeping water off your neck and all? I get the whole nostalgia, "This is how it used to be," thing, but there's a reason why they're not worn anymore. How is that going to protect your head from something falling on it, or from heat in any meaningful way? Yeah, it's pretty clear you've never seen one. They are hardened leather around a standard interior impact cap - it's not like you're wearing a catcher's mitt on your head. They offer just as much impact protection as a poly helmet. Cairns N5A New Yorkers are OSHA compliant, but not NFPA 1971-2007 compliant because they don't have a full face shield, and I think a small percentage (less than 1%) of them fail puncture testing recommended by NFPA. The face shield doesn't matter much, since you're either wearing your SCBA mask or safety glasses. Cairns N6A Sam Houstons are NFPA compliant if you wear the goofball goggles that come with them. There's no reduction in safety when wearing a leather helmet vs a poly helmet, besides the break-away skull cap interior that comes out of a poly helmet if you fall and get your bill caught on a ladder. But, feel free to make fun of people who wear leathers anyway, because they're expensive as poo poo and heavier on their head. Full disclosure: I wear one so feel free to make fun of me. Was it dumb in that it was expensive and it's heavy? Yup, but I have disposable income and whatever, tradition is fine as long as you're safe. Am I as safe as someone wearing a poly helmet? Yup, and if my helmet gets heat or impact damaged, I will replace it. I don't wear it during burn drills. I may have my head up a cow's rear end all the time, and when we're all standing around with our leathers on, we're the herd of whackers that spent money on a heavy helmet, but we're just as safe as with a poly helmet, and, sorry, but we don't look as goofy as someone in one of those Heros-XTs.
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Dec 22, 2013 02:37
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windshipper posted:Then why wear a helmet at all? I mean, I'm not quite a rookie anymore (barely more than a rookie, so, take anything I say with a grain of salt), but, it just seems like trying to be macho for the sake of being stupid at that point. The job is dangerous enough as is, why try to make it more so? That's pretty much how I feel. I could care less what I look like as long as I have the most protective gear I can possibly have.
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Dec 22, 2013 03:06
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Erwin posted:sorry, but we don't look as goofy as someone in one of those Heros-XTs. People just can't admit they're jelly of the spaceman helmet 
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Dec 22, 2013 03:08
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I had a leather for a while. It was awesome, but pretty heavy. Sold it to some kid for what I paid and went back to my traditional style poly lid. I really really wish we could get the euro space helmets going over here though. Wore a bunch at FDIC and fell in love. I will say though, that they dont look near as cool.
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Dec 22, 2013 03:58
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Erwin posted:Yeah, it's pretty clear you've never seen one. They are hardened leather around a standard interior impact cap - it's not like you're wearing a catcher's mitt on your head. They offer just as much impact protection as a poly helmet. Cairns N5A New Yorkers are OSHA compliant, but not NFPA 1971-2007 compliant because they don't have a full face shield, and I think a small percentage (less than 1%) of them fail puncture testing recommended by NFPA. The face shield doesn't matter much, since you're either wearing your SCBA mask or safety glasses. Cairns N6A Sam Houstons are NFPA compliant if you wear the goofball goggles that come with them. Ok, that's more than I expected (safety wise, I've only ever seen pictures. Again, never having seen one in person), but still, I dunno, it just seems kind of silly to me. If that's what you like and it's still just as safe, then go ahead and rock it. I wasn't trying to be a dick about it, sorry if it came off that way. Is there any specific reason given why it's OSHA compliant, but not NFPA compliant? invision posted:I had a leather for a while. It was awesome, but pretty heavy. Sold it to some kid for what I paid and went back to my traditional style poly lid. I would kill to rock one of those euro space helmets or a Heros-XT. That poo poo looks awesome.
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Dec 22, 2013 04:37
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