The Importance of Wearing Your Personal Protective Equipment as a Firefighter

by Mark van der Feyst

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is essential for all firefighters. PPE for firefighters is not only required, but it is extremely important as it protects them from many dangers that they will face within the scope of their job. Some of the dangers that firefighters will come across within their job include heat and flames, hazardous materials, injuries, burns and possible death. While safety is the main reason why proper PPE should be worn, they are needed by firefighters to prevent them from inhaling hazardous fumes, toxins, and debris that could harm their lungs, respiratory system, as well as a shield to prevent the skin from absorbing harmful toxins and particles that might otherwise lead to chronic health conditions.

Firefighter helmet and boots

Firefighter's PPE, also known as turnout gear or bunker gear, is a critical component as it is made with different layers of fabric for optimal fire protection. The outer and thermal layer protects the firefighter from radiant heat, and it can also serve as protection from partial flame. The moisture barrier serves as a protection from the sprayed water to prevent the body from getting soaked, thus saving them from injuries due to steam burns. The gloves and boots that firefighters wear are made from fire-resistant materials to protect their hands and feet from sharp objects, radiant heat, and other dangers that might occur. The helmet is made from durable and fire-resistant materials as well as it includes a mounted flip-down shield to protect their heads and faces from extreme temperatures and falling debris. Likewise, it also prevents the firefighter from getting drenched from the sprayed water. The PPE also includes a face mask, air pack, and an air cylinder so that they are able to regulate air pressure and breathe clean air.  

The proper fit of a firefighter's PPE is crucial to their safety as well as endurance. PPE that fits properly enhances the firefighter's ability to carry out their duties effectively while minimizing the risk of accidents and injuries. Gear that is not fitted properly can impede movement, restrict flexibility, and compromise overall functionality, posing potential hazards on the fire ground. Firefighters who are properly protected have a greater chance of survival than those who are not.  

In addition to wearing PPE correctly, proper cleaning and maintenance of this gear is also essential. Carcinogens are present on the fireground so as a carrier of contamination, wearing inadequately cleaned or uncleaned PPE results in the transfer of that contamination to any surface or person the firefighter encounters. The equipment should always remain in good condition and be ready to be worn for the next emergency. 

PPE is the only equipment that is used in every emergency. Wearing the appropriate PPE is heroic. A firefighter cannot help or save someone else if they themselves are hurt, injured, or worse, dead. Simply put, PPE is as important a tool as anything else in the fire service.

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Mark van der Feyst has been in the fire service since 1998, currently serving as a firefighter with the Fort Gratiot Fire Department in Michigan. He is an international instructor teaching in Canada, the United States, and India. He is a veteran of two AFM trips to Kenya.

Hazmat Awareness

by Brad Banz

In our world, we are surrounded by chemicals. From the fuel we use to power our vehicles and cook our foods to the pesticides used to keep insects away from crops, chemicals are everywhere. Chemicals benefit all of us, unless they are used improperly or released from their containers when they shouldn’t be. That’s when they become hazardous materials. As first responders, all of us need to know how to recognize possible sources of hazardous materials and signs that a release has occurred.

I want to start by introducing some locations to be aware of that might have the presence of hazardous materials. As a first responder, it is important to be knowledgeable of your response area. If you are dispatched to a specific occupancy, you should have an idea they may have hazardous materials just by recognizing their name and address. Perhaps you may even know what types of materials are involved.  Chiefs and station officers, it’s your responsibility to preplan. Occupancies to watch for include factories, processing plants, warehouses, agriculture, transportation routes, and water treatment. These are not the only ones, but the most common. Sometimes potential hazardous materials at some of these occupancies may be identified by the type of manufacturing or processing they do. That’s why it’s important to preplan your area. Roads can even be preplanned by doing vehicle counts for container types and placard information at specific locations. Agriculture will have pesticides and herbicides, which are poisons. They will also have fertilizers and fuel. Water treatment facilities will have chlorine gas. 

Different kinds of vehicles may have different materials inside.

Sometimes large container shapes can help us determine what product type might be inside. At fixed facilities, there are several different types of tanks to be concerned about. A tank with rounded ends will contain liquified, compressed gas such as LPG. A spherical tank could contain the same products as well. Sloped roof tanks can contain liquids of any type. The occupancy type may help determine the type of product in the tank. Large, round tanks with a floating roof indicate petroleum storage. A cylindrical, vertical tank at a medical facility or manufacturing plant indicates a cryogenic such as oxygen or nitrogen.

Trailers with rounded ends indicate the presence of a liquified, compressed gas. An oblong-shaped trailer usually carries petrol, diesel, or jet fuel. Small diameter, tube shaped trailers with reinforcing rings and splash protection on top are indicators of an acid. Larger tanks with splash protection on top may contain combustible liquids, bases, toxic liquids, or waste material. 

Forms of non-bulk packaging you might see include drums, boxes, bags, carboys, bottles, and dewars. Drums can contain flammable, toxic, corrosive, and waste materials. Boxes can carry the same types of materials, as well as oxidizers, explosives, and radioactive materials. Bags will hold explosives, toxic materials, and fertilizers. Carboys and bottles can carry corrosives. Bottles will also hold toxic materials as well.  Dewars typically contain cryogenics. Labels and shipping papers are very important when attempting to identify contents in non-bulk packaging.

Senses are important in detecting a possible release. Hearing a boom, a hiss, or a loud roaring sound are all clues. Seeing sights such as a vapor cloud, liquid on the ground or water, dead fish, dead animals, or dead vegetation are indicators. If you smell a peculiar odor, it may be time to relocate.

I alluded to shipping papers and labeling earlier. Placarding and labeling on large and small containers are very important. They can have the 9 hazard classes, which can help guide you to initial actions.    Containers may have a 4-digit UN number. Shipping papers, such as manifests, are also very helpful because they will tell you exact product information. These can be found with a vehicle driver.

I would like to discuss the US DOT Guidebook briefly. The DOT Guidebook is a reference for first responders and is used as a guide for initial actions in a hazmat incident. It can be found in paperback form as well as online and in Google and iPhone apps. Products can be researched by container shape, hazard class, product name, or 4-digit UN number. Spill information, fire information, PPE information, first aid, and evacuation distances can all be found. The online address is: www.phmsa.gov/hazmat/training. The app for Android phones is in the Google Playstore-ERG for Android. The app for iPhone is in the iPhone App Store-ERG for iOS.

Finally, if you have identified a hazmat release, I want to share some initial response actions. Your responsibility as a first responder is not to mitigate the incident but to help keep the public safe. To keep the public safe, you must stay safe. If you are responding in an outside area, approach the scene from an uphill and upwind direction if possible. In a building, stay out of the suspected area. Your responsibility is to secure the area. In an outside area, set a perimeter. A good starting point is 100 meters, although common sense must be exercised to either increase or decrease the size as necessary. If you have access to the Emergency Response Guide, use it as a reference to establish your perimeter. In a building, isolate the room or floor as necessary.  Inside your perimeter, make sure that all occupants are evacuated. It is also your responsibility to notify additional resources to help with the incident.

This is a very quick size-up of what any first responder should expect when assessing for a possible hazmat release. If you suspect a possible release, always be cautious about your size up and response. Thank you and stay safe out there.

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Recently, Brad Banz led a virtual training session about Hazmat Awareness. If you would like to learn more about this topic, listen to the AFM virtual training session here. For additional virtual trainings, subscribe to our YouTube page and register for our virtual trainings today!

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Brad Banz has been involved in the fire service for 40 years, serving with the Colwich Fire Department as a volunteer from age 20, including a 10 year term as Chief. Brad Banz has served with AFM on several mission trips.

Facing Electrical Issues

by Brad Banz

As firefighters, we respond to a wide variety of scenarios involving electrical hazards. Immediately, downed lines calls come to mind to most responders because of the obvious hazards they pose. In this article, I would like to discuss other types of incidents in which electrical hazards could be encountered and address our response as first responders.

Since I started the conversation by bringing up the topic of downed electrical lines, what should you do if you encounter such a situation? As in many other emergency situations, your job is to secure the area and keep people out. Electrical lines can carry many thousands of volts of electricity, with cross-country transmission lines carrying up to 345,000 volts. What does that mean to you? That means that you don't have to be in contact with the line for an electrical path to be established. Electricity from energized high voltage lines can jump several meters to things such as ladders if they are establishing a path to ground. The area around an energized downed line can also form a ground gradient, an area which is energized, and which will still be a shocking hazard.  That's why it's important to secure the area in between poles and keep all ladders a minimum of 3 meters away from energized lines. Treat all lines as energized. Also have the contact number available for your local electrical utility so they can be notified of the situation. If electrical lines are downed across vehicles, have the passengers jump to become free from the vehicle if they can do so. If they cannot, then make them stay in the vehicle until the electrical lines have been shut off by the electrical utility. 

Structure fires are another common instance when electricity can be an issue. While electrical service may not always be involved in the fire, regardless of cause, it's a good idea to secure electrical power to ensure that it doesn't become a hazard. Electrical power can usually be secured by turning it off at a circuit breaker if safe to do so. If electrical service is a major issue, the electrical utility must be notified so they can secure power outside the structure. The utility company should also be notified in areas such as informal settlements where illegal wiring arrangements are involved. The illegal wiring can be dangerous, especially with the iron sheet construction of many of these homes. Finally, one last consideration is hidden fire. If you have an electrical fire, or suspected electrical in wiring, open the wall up. 

Many machines, especially in industrial settings, use lots of electrical power. Many times, an electrical fire or smoldering electrical fire can be controlled by simply securing electrical power to the machine. Even if the machine has any fire involvement at all not involving the electrical systems, it's still good to secure power. If power cannot be secured, a powder extinguisher suitable for electrical fires should be used. One set of machines in which powder should not be used on are computers or other types of electronics. Many computer centers have their own halon extinguishing systems. CO2 extinguishers are the preferred agent for use on computers and electronics. 

While there are other electrical issues that you as a first responder may run across during your career, I tried to come up with the ones that you would be most likely to come across. I hope that everyone has gained something from this article. As always, stay safe out there.   

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Brad Banz has been involved in the fire

service for 40 years, serving with the Colwich

Fire Department as a volunteer from age 20,

including a 10 year term as Chief. Brad Banz

has served with AFM on several mission trips.

The First Five Minutes

The First Five Minutes

by Mark van der Feyst

Every day in North America, fire departments are responding to structure fires that involve residential buildings. The bulk of the workload for the fire department will be the residential home as statistics show that every 86 seconds a fire department is responding to a residential fire. Once a fire department arrives on scene, they need to act quickly as the number one priority on the fire scene is life safety. This involves the occupants inside the residential building as well as the responding personnel. In 2014, there were 2,860 civilian fire deaths attributed to a structure fire.

The time a fire department’s first arriving officer and crew have to affectively size up situation and decide on what action to take in order to address the life safety priority is less than 2 minutes. Within that timeframe, many factors need to be considered, evaluated, processed and then decided upon based upon priorities. The first five minutes are crucial to any fire ground operation and sets the tone for the remainder of the call – it will either set the tone for a successful outcome or it will set the tone for a not so favourable outcome.

Studies have shown that fire grows at a rate that doubles in size every minute. Modern fuel loads and heat release rates add to the fire’s intensity. Every minute that we are indecisive on scene is another minute of rapid-fire growth. By using information gathered during pre-planning and from Dispatch updates, coupled with situational awareness and a strong size-up, the Incident Commander should be able to formulate tactical decisions that have positive influence on truck placement and task assignments taking into consideration manpower issues that face many smaller departments.

The First Five Minutes starts with how to correctly size-up an incident scene, and then how to get the information clearly and concisely to incoming units and Dispatch. As we all know, size up begins when the call comes in and ends when all are back at the station. How can we prepare ourselves ahead of time so that our size up will be streamlined and efficient when arriving? We can do this by sizing up our response districts during our down time or when we are driving around in our response areas. By observing the present clues that are in front of us on a daily basis, we can build a data bank within our minds of what we know exists within our boundaries.

One such area is knowing your response district and the types of residential buildings that comprise it. Knowing the common construction types, the common layouts, the average age of the homes and so on will help with creating different rescue profiles. By having these different profiles, the firefighter and company officer can gauge ahead of time what exactly they are dealing with and when the call comes in, they will have a better understanding of where they are going to and what they are getting into.

Another factor that can be added into the equation of knowing the area is with the demographics. Knowing who in terms of average age, in terms of type of population such as seniors or retirement type of people or maybe students will help with creating a rescue profile. This can be accomplished by searching for this information from local government or from just observing the response district.

Other aspects of the size up is with knowing common locations of where fire victims are found within the residential structure. They are usually found in exit areas such as windows, doors, top of stairs, bottom of stairs, middle of stairs, and in the hallways, at the fire location or in their beds depending upon the time of day. Knowing these common locations helps with the effective rescue and where to begin the search or which tactic to use.

The fire apparatus is another area that can be addressed for the first five minutes. One focal point is with the equipment options available to the membership. This involves setting up the apparatus for quick and easy access of required hand tools for any rescue operation. This involves utilizing compartment space effectively and placing certain tools on the right side of the apparatus.

Along with this is the aspect of combat ready tools. This is where the fire department can have certain tool combinations pre-made or pre-arranged and then placed in a spot on the apparatus that will be sensible and quickly grabbed. Such examples may be the hailgan and the axe, the haligan and the roof hook, the haligan and the maul, or the hailgan and the water can. There are many different tool variations that can be pre-arranged ahead of time.

Having pre-arranged seating assignments is also a good idea to quicken the rescue operation. This is where no matter who sits in what certain seat in the back or the front of the apparatus, they have a specified job function that is standard. This cuts down the time and decision making ability on who will do what – instead allowing firefighters to react based upon their assigned function.

One last area that can be looked at is our tactical options. There are many tactical options that are available for any one fire department to use – it is just a matter of using the right one for the right situation and being efficient with it. Tactics starts with training and becoming familiar with how they are beneficial, the reasons why they are different from each other and how they can be incorporated into the department’s operational capabilities.

Tactical options include things such as VES or VEIS, PPA, tactical ventilation, transitional attack, offensive attack, defensive attack, fast attack, blitz attacks, all hands rescue and so on. Tactics are a great tool for the firefighter and enable them to be effective on the fire ground – but only work when they are trained on time and time again. The place to use a tactic for the first time is not on the fire ground, it is to be used for the first time on the training ground.

By focusing upon these areas and others such as communications, the culture of the department, rescue plans and SOG’s and SOP’s, the fire department can be effective within the first five minutes.

Mark van der Feyst has been in the fire service since 1999 working in both Canada and the USA. Currently he works for the Fort Gratiot Fire Department in Michigan after taking early retirement from his career department at the end of 2020. He is an international instructor teaching in Canada, USA, India and many large and regional conferences such as FDIC, Firehouse World & Expo. He holds an MS in Safety, Security & Emergency Management from Eastern Kentucky University and has been providing virtual training sessions for Africa Fire Mission for two years.

Serving In Nigeria with FCT Fire Service and IHVN

It was great to be back in Abuja, Nigeria in January and early February!

An AFM team of six provided training to FCT firefighters, IHVN staff and partners from the “Committee of Stakeholders on the General Safety & Security of Cadastral Zone C00 Abuja FCT.” The training allowed the AFM team to assess the capabilities of the firefighters as well as gain a better understanding of the community’s perspective of firefighters. Training for the FCT Fire Service focused on enhancing fire response capabilities, promoting utilization of available equipment and tools for firefighting, and enhancing community awareness.

Team member Mike Kull elaborated that “we were able to provide quality training on a wide variety of topics - Breathing Apparatus, Ladders, Hose Drills - Firefighters from FCT Fire Service were eager to learn and we expect to see rapid and positive results from this training. We realize that development is a slow process but we have high hopes for the firefighters here in Nigeria.”

Head of Operations, FCT Fire Service, Engr. Adesina Abioye, stated that the training has updated Fire Service Staff with modern professional ways of rescue and firefighting, and served as a refresher course on fire prevention and administration for the Senior Staff who participated. “The importance of the partnership cannot be overemphasized; it has brought tremendous benefits to the partners and the stakeholders community. What would have cost the FCT administration a huge sum of money was made available at no cost due to partnership,” he said.

AFM also conducted a needs assessment to identify tools and equipment needed to further develop the FCT Fire Service and donated firefighting equipment. This equipment included firefighting coats, boots, gloves, suspenders and helmets for enhanced effectiveness in responding to fire incidents and saving lives, property, and critical infrastructure.

We are grateful that IHVN is committed to collaborating with FCT Fire Service to enhance the capabilities of the fire service and look forward to continued collaboration in Nigeria.

The Five C’s of Radio Communications

The Five C’s of Radio Communications

by Mark van der Feyst

The essential elements of effective incident scene communications fall into five categories. Understanding these attributes of successful communication and engaging in the suggested strategies will enhance your communication effectiveness, as well as that of the overall communications on the emergency incident scene. These are known as the Five C’s of Radio Communications: Conciseness, Clarity, Confidence, Control and Capability.

Conciseness

·      Keep the messages short and concise. This will help in reducing radio traffic.

·      Keep the messages specific. Think about what you want to say before you speak and then say it.

·      Condense the message as much as you can while still keeping it complete. This will help in eliminating any confusion by the receiver.  

Clarity

·      Use standard terms as defined in your department’s procedures. This will avoid any confusion on the incident scene.

·      Use plain-text language in all radio communications. Avoid using ten-codes, acronyms, or technical jargon.

·      Avoid multitasking. Describe and assign one task at a time to company members. Do not overload a company with multiple tasks to be completed at one time.

Confidence

·      Communicate on the radio in a calm manner. This helps to maintain calmness on the incident scene and does not create or add to hysteria.

·      Be audibly received. Speak in a voice loud enough to be heard by the receiver. Do not speak in soft tones or yell into the radio. Yelling will distort the message, whereas speaking too softly will require repeating of messages.

·      Use a good vocal pitch to communicate. This will help to be audibly received. Having a high pitch or a low pitch will have the same impacts as in the previous point. 

Control

·      Take control of the radio communications on the incident scene. Follow established departmental procedures and protocols.

·      Minimize unnecessary radio chatter. Prioritize messages to be sent and received.

·      Keep your emotions in check. This will help with establishing confidence and allow for more sensible direction to be given.

Capability

·      Use active listening skills. Be sure to hear all the messages that are being transmitted to you. This may require being in a quiet place versus being outside near a working engine.

·      Know how to use the communications equipment. Know where to hold the radio or microphone in relation to your mouth, SCBA face piece, or other radios nearby that may produce feedback.

about the author: Mark van der Feyst has been in the fire service since 1999 working in both Canada and the USA. Currently he works for the Fort Gratiot Fire Department in Michigan after taking early retirement from his career department at the end of 2020. He is an international instructor teaching in Canada, USA, India and many large and regional conferences such as FDIC, Firehouse World & Expo. He holds an MS in Safety, Security & Emergency Management from Eastern Kentucky University and has been providing virtual training sessions for Africa Fire Mission for two years.