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windshipper posted:Is there any specific reason given why it's OSHA compliant, but not NFPA compliant? This question isn't meant to be an rear end in a top hat question, I actually am curious and do want to know.
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Dec 30, 2013 21:27
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windshipper posted:This question isn't meant to be an rear end in a top hat question, I actually am curious and do want to know. I'm interested to hear regarding the helmet, but I'd assume it's just because NFPA tends to do anything OSHA does and then make it just that much more so. See for example NFPA rope rescue 1:15 requirements vs. OSHA 1:10 requirements.
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Dec 30, 2013 22:00
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windshipper posted:This question isn't meant to be an rear end in a top hat question, I actually am curious and do want to know. It's in my post. It's mostly about the face shield - poly helmets have the big face shield that can be put down to cover your whole face, which is in the NFPA recommendation. Leathers only have the flip-down bourkes which are pretty much useless. The good news is that this doesn't matter - you're either wearing your SCBA mask to protect your face, or you're wearing safety glasses for extrication or whatever. Both of these offer more protection that the flip-down face protector on the poly helmet. Cairns N6A (a model of leather helmet) is NFPA compliant because it comes with goofy looking Steve Urkel goggles:  The thing to remember is that NFPA standards are recommendations and are not legal requirements. Most should be followed and not doing so could result in legal trouble should something go wrong. However, plenty of them are dumb, and the newer the recommendation, the more likely it is to be a result of people trying to justify the continuing existence of their government job. Do your fire trucks have airhorns on top of the cab? Not NFPA compliant. Do they not have yellow and red chevrons covering at least 50% of the rear? Not NFPA compliant. Do they not have one red and one amber rotator light in the rear? Not NFPA compliant. Are all the warning lights on the bottom half of the apparatus the same brand, and same for the top half? If not, not compliant. Do you wear your helmet while riding to a fire? Not compliant. Does your chief have his turnout gear in the back of his SUV behind the back seat? Not compliant. Are your SCBA stored in your seat so you can get dressed on the way to a fire instead of in an outside compartment? That was going to be an NFPA recommendation but I'm not sure if that went into effect. Point is, just because something isn't NFPA compliant doesn't mean you can't use it. If you are injured because you were using something that wasn't NFPA compliant, and you would not have been injured were you using an NFPA-compliant tool, then you may not get worker's comp/medical relief/etc. This shouldn't be an issue if you're wearing proper eye protection in conjunction with your leather helmet.
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Dec 30, 2013 22:25
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Erwin posted:Point is, just because something isn't NFPA compliant doesn't mean you can't use it. If you are injured because you were using something that wasn't NFPA compliant, and you would not have been injured were you using an NFPA-compliant tool, then you may not get worker's comp/medical relief/etc. This shouldn't be an issue if you're wearing proper eye protection in conjunction with your leather helmet. Oh no, I understand that NFPA stuff is recommendations and not strict rules that are legal mandate and that they tend to be above the minimum standard as far as what they say. Thanks for the response, I appreciate it and have learned something more as a result.
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Dec 31, 2013 01:01
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interupting helmetchat (as i use poly as issued) to wish all Firefightergoons a happy new year, im on the dreaded 48hours covering new years, having all ready responded to the first two binfires related to fireworks all i can hope for is enough time to eat a nice meal before called to the next one. also i was peed on before 0600 on a call.
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Dec 31, 2013 21:22
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fjelltorsk posted:also i was peed on before 0600 on a call. The true mark of a hero.  Piss and shitstains on a uniform. 
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Dec 31, 2013 21:30
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windshipper posted:Oh no, I understand that NFPA stuff is recommendations and not strict rules that are legal mandate and that they tend to be above the minimum standard as far as what they say. Thanks for the response, I appreciate it and have learned something more as a result. The problem is that NFPA is a consensus standard. They are by no means legal, but they are agreed upon by enough people in the industry that if someone is hurt/killed and their injury/death can be attributed to something that was not up to a NFPA standard then the department can be held responsible for that. Also I know Bourke shields are likely useless, but I'd love to see some sort of study on how much worse they are then other types of helmet mounted eye protection.
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Dec 31, 2013 21:54
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senor punk posted:The problem is that NFPA is a consensus standard. They are by no means legal, but they are agreed upon by enough people in the industry that if someone is hurt/killed and their injury/death can be attributed to something that was not up to a NFPA standard then the department can be held responsible for that. Also I know Bourke shields are likely useless, but I'd love to see some sort of study on how much worse they are then other types of helmet mounted eye protection. They are especially useless when glazed/smoked over, melted, and charred so some retard can appear 'salty.' My helmet weighs enough as it is (especially when its got the TIC mounted to it!), so anything on it better be useful.
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Jan 1, 2014 02:16
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senor punk posted:The problem is that NFPA is a consensus standard. They are by no means legal, but they are agreed upon by enough people in the industry that if someone is hurt/killed and their injury/death can be attributed to something that was not up to a NFPA standard then the department can be held responsible for that. Also I know Bourke shields are likely useless, but I'd love to see some sort of study on how much worse they are then other types of helmet mounted eye protection. Oh no, don't get me wrong. NFPA is a higher standard than OSHA, and for good reasons all around. It is an industry standard for a drat good reason. All I was saying was that I wanted to know why Leather helmets were OSHA compliant and not NFPA compliant as what is usually issued, and I got an answer and learned why. Also, standard shields are complete poo poo. Crazy Dutchman posted:They are especially useless when glazed/smoked over, melted, and charred so some retard can appear 'salty.' This, basically. I haven't had a TIC mounted to mine before, but they are terrible. In just one fire they can be damaged enough to be useless. When I went to the state academy, we had ours removed, just because they would do nothing but melt, be glazed, or be damaged in some way during the course of the academy. They also do not count as proper eye protection as they have far too large openings on them in order to properly protect below and from the sides. Edit: The only proper eye pro is that which your fire department gives you separate from your helmet or you buy on your own. The exception to that is this helmet, which was issued with separate eye-pro as well. This at least complied with doing roof work or other work which required safety glasses in bunks:  My current issues the pacific helmet with the visor, which also 1.) Doesn't count as proper eye pro and 2.) is a loving visor, which doesn't protect from below at all and also allows projectiles from the side to enter if not wearing proper eye-pro underneath. windshipper fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Jan 1, 2014 |
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Jan 1, 2014 02:58
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My county's first call of the year was a box, reported smoke in the basement, odor of burning. Ended up being a malfunctioning vacuum. Still counts, right? 
Paramemetic fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Jan 1, 2014 |
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Jan 1, 2014 06:59
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Paramemetic posted:My county's first call of the year was a box, reported smoke in the basement, odor of burning. Ended up being a malfunctioning vacuum. Still counts, right?
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Jan 1, 2014 08:24
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Our first call for the year was a "dwelling fire" which turned out to be a malfunctioning heater that was smoking slightly.
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Jan 2, 2014 02:22
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Our first call (yesterday) was a working dwelling fire  It was a mutual aid assist, but we still got some work.
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Jan 2, 2014 18:02
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Nothing like being off, but thanks to a fire buff page on Facebook I know there was a 3rd alarm high rise fire in my house's first due area this morning 
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Jan 5, 2014 19:30
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http://bigstory.ap.org/article/health-law-leaves-volunteer-firefighting-limbo *All* volunteer firefighters should be covered and vested members should get it for life. Why is this even an issue?
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Jan 7, 2014 00:03
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Kashew posted:http://bigstory.ap.org/article/health-law-leaves-volunteer-firefighting-limbo I'm not sure what your take on this, but the issue isn't healthcare, it's whether volunteer stations are required to meet the burden of providing health insurance for their members under the Affordable Care Act. Because volunteers are considered "employees" for the purposes of OSHA, worker's comp, and so on, the current law says that a volunteer station must provide healthcare insurance at a certain level to all volunteers on it's own dime, and pay a flat fee for any already insured volunteer. This is a gigantic financial burden for any non-profit organization to meet, but even moreso for fire departments that don't usually have a way of soliciting funds. While one hates to agree, this really is an "adverse and unanticipated impact." And it looks like Congress is fine pretending the issue doesn't exist. But the takeaway is exactly accurate - it's a horribly partisan issue so it's almost impossible to do anything without someone taking it and running, be it Republicans going "see how Obama hates even our local fire departments" or Democrats going "look at Republicans using firefighters to try to take your freedoms" or whatever.
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Jan 7, 2014 01:51
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So learning that your wedges aren't going to work because a place has recessed sprinklers is an unpleasant thing to figure out when trying to stem the flow out of a broken head. With this cold continuing I can only imagine we're going to get more. At least I know what to do for next time and be a little less soaked.
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Jan 8, 2014 18:03
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Hey y'all. I'm beginning to consider moving to Austin for work, and I'm wondering what the closest volunteer opportunities are in the area. Does anyone know if there are any departments in Travis county with volunteers, or would I have to go further out? Thanks!
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Jan 10, 2014 20:51
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Volunteer firefighters will not be considered employees for the purposes of insurance provision by the IRS.  Link pending. Paramemetic fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 23:26
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dexter6 posted:Hey y'all. I'm beginning to consider moving to Austin for work, and I'm wondering what the closest volunteer opportunities are in the area. There are definitely Travis county Volunteer departments. However, I'd also check things in Williamson county, since there are more smaller departments there and that's where a lot of people end up living in Austin anyway.
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Jan 10, 2014 23:43
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dexter6 posted:Hey y'all. I'm beginning to consider moving to Austin for work, and I'm wondering what the closest volunteer opportunities are in the area. The Driftwood VFD just on the other side of the Hays county line is good times. Have gotten more funding and new equipment in recent years. Most calls you get are burn ban violations or car accidents. One highlight that stands out in my memory: setting up in some poor fucker's front yard with lawn chairs and drinks to make sure that the fire didn't spread outside his straw-bale house. Eugene V. Dubstep fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Jan 11, 2014 |
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Jan 11, 2014 00:35
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at the date posted:The Driftwood VFD just on the other side of the Hays county line is good times. Have gotten more funding and new equipment in recent years. Most calls you get are burn ban violations or car accidents. One highlight that stands out in my memory: setting up in some poor fucker's front yard with lawn chairs and drinks to make sure that the fire didn't spread outside his straw-bale house. I helped out at a fire in a bale stack (those big round bales) on a farm near me. We ended up pushing them through the side of the corrugated tin barn and into a pond with a JCB. The pond was mostly filled with poo poo, and the bales kept it steaming for a good long time, so the smells were...interesting. I assume if actual firefighters had been called rather than it just being people who lived nearby the response would have been less fragrant, but we wanted to avoid getting the other bales wet, to avoid the risk of more fire from rotting straw.
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Jan 11, 2014 02:55
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Had a working fire last night just after the snow stopped (I haven't seen the totals yet, but we're outside of Philly so we got at least 10 inches). I drove one of the engines, which is always fun in the snow. It was around 3 degrees, so we had to circulate the pumps, keep an eye on the handlines, and the street turned into an ice rink within minutes. Luckily we were only there for about 3 hours. For those of you who aren't in a place where it gets cold in the winter, you're missing out 
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Jan 22, 2014 15:20
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Erwin posted:Had a working fire last night just after the snow stopped (I haven't seen the totals yet, but we're outside of Philly so we got at least 10 inches). I drove one of the engines, which is always fun in the snow. It was around 3 degrees, so we had to circulate the pumps, keep an eye on the handlines, and the street turned into an ice rink within minutes. Luckily we were only there for about 3 hours. For those of you who aren't in a place where it gets cold in the winter, you're missing out Have you tried ventilating a roof thats glazed with ice yet? Great fun
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Jan 24, 2014 09:45
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Erwin posted:Had a working fire last night just after the snow stopped (I haven't seen the totals yet, but we're outside of Philly so we got at least 10 inches). I drove one of the engines, which is always fun in the snow. It was around 3 degrees, so we had to circulate the pumps, keep an eye on the handlines, and the street turned into an ice rink within minutes. Luckily we were only there for about 3 hours. For those of you who aren't in a place where it gets cold in the winter, you're missing out Have you tried ventilating a roof thats glazed with ice yet? Great fun E: sorry for double post. Phoneposting
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Jan 24, 2014 09:45
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Winter firefighting certainly adds a lot of "fun" to the job. Especially on the highway when you're fighting a vehicle fire. Portions of the highway vibrate a lot when vehicles drive by, which is awesome when you're trying not to faceplant into the road. Getting leverage to pry open a hood isn't exactly easy either. Of course the first time this happened we neglected to put rock salt on the truck. Turns out the oil dry stuff works just as well in a pinch.
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Jan 24, 2014 15:43
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Can't say I've had any real fires in this weather, but plenty of our seasonal stuff related to it: burst pipes, and manhole fires. Both suck.
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Jan 25, 2014 01:25
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I figure some of you guys might dig this article: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/24/how-new-yorks-fire-department-uses-data-mining/?mod=djemTECH_h NYFD is using data mining in order to try and predict/prevent fires. It's actually kind of cool, though some of it is obvious stuff that you'd expect. Old buildings, buildings with bad electrical, etc. are all more likely to burn sooner.
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Jan 26, 2014 01:57
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CHP, Fire Department Make Peace In Chula Vista After Testy Exchange, Arrest http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/02/05/chp-fire-department-make-peace-in-chula-vista-after-testy-exchange-arrest/ quote:A CHP officer handcuffed and detained a Chula Vista firefighter on Tuesday and the incident sparked a heated online debate between police and fire personnel around the country about proper protocol.
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Feb 6, 2014 20:51
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Guess that cop didn't take too kindly to being told no. I understand their priority is to keep the road open and traffic flowing, but that's a little extreme. All the PA state troopers I've dealt with so far seem pretty chill when we get to a scene. I can't even imagine that they'd go so far as to detain one of our crew.
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Feb 6, 2014 21:08
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It's lovely when that kind of thing happens. In this semi-famous video from 2003 you see the arresting officer physically pull the responder away in the middle of providing care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O0O0TaQBE0
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Feb 6, 2014 21:09
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Thats not even taking it too far on a cops vs firefighter friendly rivalry, thats just some guy being being a dick. I hope he got a good screaming infront of his coworkers.
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Feb 7, 2014 04:42
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Dealing with highways is frightening enough, personally. I grew up in a Volunteer Fire Department where we didn't really have a highway to be worried about, just a bigass lake, which was awesome. Then I moved in with my girlfriend and had to change departments, lots of highway action now and I'm not a fan. So, to deal with that and then have a Cop complaining about traffic and how he needs to open up a lane because he feels the need too is infuriating to me. As far as I am concerned a scene involving patients and not perpetrators is under the jurisdiction of the Fire Department and needs to be run accordingly, with the PD assisting. Also on a different note, I really liked my Defender visor. yeah the bottom not having anything to protect you sucks but I really enjoyed having it for general use. My original helmet was a Metro with the large front visor and I liked that, but interior uses the Cairns 1044 with bourkes so I had to make the change. After making LT I got a brand new 1044 with the Defender setup. Worked good on overhaul, and exterior ops. Nowadays I have a Bullard Traklite with ESS goggles on the back. Works alright I guess. Light works well for PCR's and such at night. Gargoyle fucked around with this message at 06:55 on Feb 7, 2014 |
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Feb 7, 2014 06:47
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Who is our Dallas firefighter?
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Feb 11, 2014 06:49
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I work locally, but not actually for DFD.
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Feb 12, 2014 00:56
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Had a mobile home collapse last night due to ice and snow buildup. Luckily no one was inside. This winter sure is bringing on a lot of new experiences. Do you guys know what software your officers use to keep track of calls? Our station uses Firehouse Software. I was shown a little bit of how to use it and boy does it seem convoluted. For example to add one firefighter to an apparatus I would have to through around 4 screens and 15 clicks.  I suppose due to liability issues detailed records have to be kept, but man does it seem overly complicated.
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Feb 20, 2014 19:47
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We write it down on a piece of paper.
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Feb 20, 2014 19:55
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Yes, we use FireHouse as well. Not just for run reports, but for maintenance logs, training, staffing, etc. It is also setup to automatically fill in times and apparatus/personnel information on run reports. This is great when it works, but sucks when they update the server and screw it up. And don't tell anyone until I have several weeks worth of run reports I have to go fix.
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Feb 24, 2014 05:03
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In Onondaga County, New York we have an Enhanced 911 center that has a CAD (Computer assisted Dispatch) which is obviously common to everyone everywhere. Most apparatus have an MDT (Mobile Data Terminal, think like a toughbook laptop) running software that shows all information on calls, location, map, GPS, and hotkeys to send a message to Fire Control about what you're doing so you are not tying up the radio traffic (Every F* Key has a function, like En Route, On Scene, Available Mobile, Avail in Quarters, etc)I think thats the current industry standard but I haven't been outside of Onondaga county and obviously Paid Fire Departments run their own thing their own way. Now per fire department (There are 58 in Onon County) each Dept has it's own shin-dig. Both the place I grew up at and was a LT at and the place I joined once I moved in with my Girlfriend a year ago use a program for logging information and managing things called RedAlert, a system by Alpine Software, which again I assume is common across all FDs. It does the mundane things, makes reports, has all the basic information and what-have-yous to run a Volunteer Fire Department. Now on a per firefighter basis, we use a program called IamResponding, which is becoming a standard along side a few other programs/apps. Basically your fire department signs up, and when there is a call it sends out a text message with call information and location. From there you can fire up the IamResponding app and hit 'Respond', you pick where you're responding too and it updates the web-page in near-real time with who is responding, what they are (Interior Firefighter, EMT, Fire Police, etc) and about what time they will arrive. At the fire station there is a monitor typically above the Radio Room that everyone can see that always has the IamResponding page open. it shows just that, everyone who is responding. It does some other things like Shift-stuff but we don't really have a need for it. It's nifty and can help put a truck in route a minute ahead (seeing nobody else is responding) or allow you to get the full crew (thats a minute out or at least on their way) Our E911 center also sends out Text Messages too, so I actually get 2 text messages a dispatch. Not a huge deal. Of course I still have a Minitor IV, which I prefer over the V honestly, but the Cell Phone helps out tremendously. I am curious, though. Everybody is using the Motorola XTS 2500 Digital Radios... Right? Digital Trunking came into my county in like, 2008-2009ish. What other radio systems other then Low-Band do departments use? the 800 system?
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Feb 25, 2014 03:35
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Gargoyle posted:In Onondaga County, New York we have an Enhanced 911 center that has a CAD (Computer assisted Dispatch) which is obviously common to everyone everywhere. Most apparatus have an MDT (Mobile Data Terminal, think like a toughbook laptop) running software that shows all information on calls, location, map, GPS, and hotkeys to send a message to Fire Control about what you're doing so you are not tying up the radio traffic (Every F* Key has a function, like En Route, On Scene, Available Mobile, Avail in Quarters, etc)I think thats the current industry standard but I haven't been outside of Onondaga county and obviously Paid Fire Departments run their own thing their own way. I'm pretty sure Texas is pushing for 800 state-wide for interagency operability. Also moto radios are way expensive and super proprietary and a gigantic pain in the rear end, so a lot of places use non-moto radios just to keep costs down.
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Feb 25, 2014 09:07
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