firefighter

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The After-Action Review

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by Nicholas J. Higgins

The size-up is, for all intents and purposes, our game plan or battle plan against the structure we are working at. The size-up is where firefighters and fire officers gather information in order to make safe, efficient, and effective fire ground decisions. Fire ground decision making, as we know, is meant to be quick, with an emphasis on safety and ensuring the tactics are done efficiently and effectively.

One aspect we do not stress enough is the fact we do not take into account the culmination of the incident. After fire command is terminated and all units are back in quarters and in service, we must remember the pre-planning is not over just because we cleared the incident and everyone is back in the station and safe. This is where the add-value work is put into place and now it is time for the after-action review or post-incident size-up.

Firefighters review a building’s fire prevention equipment

After-Action Review

During the after-action review (AAR), firefighters and fire officers can discuss and share information obtained from the alarm and also discuss the success and failures they have experienced during the incident. This is a time to ask a few questions:

• What did we expect to happen?

• What actually occurred?

• What went well and why?

• What can we improve upon and how?

The benefit of asking these questions allow for strengths to be easily identifiable, making it easier to uncover areas of weakness. By uncovering areas of weakness, you can develop ways to improve them!

If you do not identify what went wrong, how could you ever expect to improve? On the contrary, if you do not understand what went right and why, duplicating that same success in the future will not be easy. Ensure necessary changes discussed in the AAR are implemented sooner than later, as the longer it is on hold, the likelihood of any changes being implemented diminishes. 

The size-up as a whole is a valuable step by step process for all firefighters to obtain knowledge of their response district, riding assignments, and strategy and tactic implementation. By beginning this process, formally or informally, it will allow for continual growth for each firefighter and fire officer. The key to success as an individual and team is to get ahead of the game and prevent ourselves from being reactive, rather proactive.

Until next time, work hard, stay safe & live inspired.

Nicholas J. Higgins is a firefighter and district training officer for Piscataway Fire District #2 in Piscataway, New Jersey. He is a New Jersey State Level 2 Fire Instructor, a National Fallen Firefighters Foundation state advocate, and a member of the Board of Directors for the 5-Alarm Task Force—a 501 (c) (3), non-profit organization. Nick is also the founder and a contributor of The Firehouse Tribune website and has spoken at various fire departments and fire conferences nationwide. He is the author of both “The 5-Tool Firefighter,” a book that helps firefighters perform at their highest level and the companion book, “The 5-Tool Firefighter Tactical Workbook” along with being the host of “The 5-Tool Firefighter Podcast”.

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Advocacy and Action After Disaster

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by Mike Kull

If you've been in the Fire Service for long enough, your Fire Brigade has experienced an incident that overwhelmed your capabilities. It's happened to all of us. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t perform at the level we wanted, or the level we were expected to perform at. It may have been a technical rescue that you didn't have the proper equipment to make the rescue, or it may have been a large fire that you couldn’t stop because you didn’t have enough fire engines, enough manpower, or enough water. The result after the incident may be the loss of life or a large value of property damage. So, what do we do now?

Fire Brigades everywhere are facing challenges with funding, equipment and manpower. Some places are much better off than others but there are very few places in the world where firefighters will tell you they have everything they need. A Fire Brigade must be prepared for every possible disaster or emergency that you could ever imagine. Accidents, vehicle crashes, fires, electrical emergencies, agricultural emergencies, industrial accidents, weather related emergencies, victims trapped or lost, water rescue -- the list goes on and on. It is almost impossible to have specialized equipment and training for absolutely every type of incident you may be called to. Again, we must ask ourselves, what do we do now?

One of the first things that we need to do is to take care of ourselves. The job of a firefighter is stressful and can be very detrimental to our mental health. We need to look after each other, we need to talk to someone if we are feeling depressed and we need to support each other in both our professional and personal lives. Make sure everyone is alright and staying healthy, both physically and mentally. Once we are sure everyone is alright, we need to make ourselves better.

Learning is a lifelong process. There will always be new skills and new knowledge to learn. Technology is always changing, and the world is always changing so there will always be something new that will help us to be better firefighters. There is a vast number of resources available to firefighters that have access to the internet. Simple internet searches will turn up large volumes of information on every topic imaginable. Read and learn as much as you can about the types of threats you will face. After an incident where you’ve faced something new or something you’ve never seen before, you need to research it. Learn as much as you can about it so that you are better prepared to handle it in the future. This makes for some great Company Level Drills during which you can share this knowledge with everyone in your Fire Brigade.

Finally, what can fire service leaders do after an incident that overwhelms your Fire Brigade. The first step is to ensure that you utilized all the resources that you had available. Ensure that you have mutual aid agreements with other resources in your area that may have equipment or resources that you may need. This could include other Fire Brigades, police agencies, military units or civilian resources with access to heavy machinery, water bowsers or other resources. Arrangements should be made to outline how to activate or call upon these resources and other details such as how billing or payments will be managed if necessary.

Once you have ensured that all local resources available have been accounted for, advocacy must begin. Many times, these types of incidents will be reported in the media and on social media. The Fire Brigade may be blamed for the outcome of the incident even if they have done everything to the best of their ability. It is critical to accurately document every shortcoming experienced. Did you have enough manpower? How many more were needed? Did you have enough of the proper equipment? What equipment do you need to change the outcome? Did you have enough resources such as water? What would have helped with a lack of water?  Everything must be documented, and that list of needs must be provided to the local authority having jurisdiction over the Fire Brigade. To supply you with the equipment you need, the local government must know exactly what your needs are, as well as having justification for the expense. Try to find reports or news stories about other similar events that had a better outcome due to the Fire Brigade having the resources it needs. Use these as an example of how your incident could have had a better outcome with the appropriate resources. Advocate for whatever your needs may be, whether it is more manpower, more fire engines, more fire hose, breathing apparatus, rescue tools or an adequate water supply. Make your list and prioritize it, starting with the needs that will have the biggest impact. Provide information about locally available resources that can be quickly acquired.  Give them as much information as possible so that they can make informed decisions and stress the need for a plan to reach full operational readiness.

Fire Brigades may face incidents that overwhelm their resources, leading to significant loss of life or property due to insufficient funding, equipment, or personnel. To mitigate these issues, it is essential for firefighters to prioritize their mental and physical health, pursue continuous training, and document deficiencies encountered during emergencies. Fire service leaders are encouraged to optimize local resource use and advocate for improvements by clearly communicating their needs to local authorities. By highlighting documented gaps and comparing them with better-resourced responses, they can underscore the necessity for adequate support to improve operational readiness for future incidents.

Mike Kull is a retired Fire Chief from Central Pennsylvania. Mike has over 25 years of experience in the fire service and teaches firefighting in both the US and Africa. Mike now serves as Programs Director for Africa Fire Mission and as a firefighter at his local volunteer fire company.

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Facing Electrical Issues

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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.   

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.