Post by WebBoss on Dec 13, 2007 8:48:56 GMT -5
Even though this topic area was asked for by BC Bickmore, the safety of us and ours is something that every single member of this forum... better yet, every single member of the fire service needs to be concerned with. First and foremost we need to all worry about ourselves. Let me repeat this... WE NEED TO WORRY FIRST AND FOREMOST ABOUT OUR OWN SAFETY! Now, since we're all worried about ourselves, we need to keep an eye on our compadres as well. Just remember, we need to keep a focus on what's going on... prioritize.
1 - YOUR Personal Safety
2 - YOUR Comrads Safety
Sounds simple so far... right?
My question to all of you, trying to start an open dialouge here with everyone. What have you done that was unsafe, or could have degraded the safety of your crew, and why did you do it or why did you allow it to be done?
I consider myself to be one of the more daring firefighters amongst the people I surround myself with. There really isn't much I wouldn't do, or situation I wouldn't attempt to take on. Nowdays though, I look back on some of my less desireable moments and wonder "What was I thinking?!?!?" Did I do this unsafe act to accomplish something productive? Did I do it to look like the cooler, bad-ass fireman to my peers? Did I have any brain activity in the big head when I did that? This is something to really think about. I guess it's perfectly fine to be "Ballsy", but then again, there has to be a line drawn between "Stupid" and "Ballsy." I know by looking at my past that I crossed that line a few times, and I now consider myself lucky to be here to talk about it.
I'm not trying to start a rant by any means here. I'm simply trying to encourage some open thinking and conversation amongst all of us. Maybe even consider this a chance to bag about your luckiest moments... and reasons to never have to test that degree of luck ever again.
In closing, I'm sharing this article with you. This article is something I have referred to numerous times as a glaring example that we don't need to change our culture, but to at least learn from the other cultures from across the sea.
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Lesson in safety from across the pond
Nov 1, 2002 12:00 PM
Glenn D. Usdin
By the fourth day of our London family vacation during Christmas break in 1999, my wife finally allowed me to set a course for the closest fire station. The folks at the hotel gave us walking directions, and off we went to the Knightsbridge Station of the London Fire Brigade. I brought some T-shirts for the crew in anticipation of the visit.
The station looked like any other station in an upscale high-density area. We knocked on the door, were quickly let in, and I introduced myself as a chief fire officer from the United States on vacation with my family. At the mere mention of the U.S. fire service, the firefighter pointed to the apparatus, told us to take a look and abruptly walked away.
The kids and I looked at each other and, after waiting a few moments, decided to make the most of it and check out the place. We all had showered that morning, so we weren't sure what was up. My wife stayed in the corner, none too thrilled to be wasting valuable vacation hours at a darned fire station.
The rig was well equipped and much of the equipment was either made in the United States or manufactured in the style of our stuff. Coming from so far away, it was neat to see that their stuff (SCBA, PPE, nozzles) looked pretty much like our stuff. Despite a few obvious differences, such as a rear-mount pump and hose rolled rather than in a hose bed, it could have been any city in the United States.
We continued to look around until we felt the presence of another person in the room, and turned to see a firefighter standing and staring at us from the corner. His glare was intense. He walked over without cracking the hint of a smile. “You American firefighters just don't get it, do you? How many more are you going to kill next year?”
Wow, what a greeting! I quickly put the shirts away, as nothing I brought as a peace offering was going to please this guy. My family stared at me, wondering what my next move was going to be. They didn't know they were traveling with a murderer.
“You know, that fire you folks just had where you killed six firefighters in a warehouse? That wouldn't have happened over here. You should be ashamed of yourselves,” he said. Have you ever wanted to crawl under a rock and wait for a very long time? I knew he was referring to the tragic Worcester, Mass., fire.
The firefighter never offered his name, but we were drawn to him as he led us to the back of the engine. He opened one of the rear roll-up doors and brought out a board with all kinds of gauges and dials. It was not unlike one of our yellow command/accountability boards, but much more complicated. Setting it on his knee, he proceeded to lecture us as if the kids and I were responsible for the entire American fire service.
“You see this board? We dial in the cylinder pressure of every single SCBA cylinder at the start of each shift for each firefighter in the station. We also put in a tag with their name and their SCBA unit number. When we get to a fire we assign this board to an officer, and that officer is responsible for starting the timer when the member starts using air. And the timers click off when the bar (psi) goes down.
“The next thing we do is assign an officer to track the location of every crew by radio inside the burning structure. If the crew goes left 15 meters, we write it down. If they go right 10 meters, we write it down. If they go up a double flight of stairs and then go down a hallway left 5 meters, we write it down. And then our air officer tells them when they are running low and it's time to get out. Our crews stay together, not like you Americans, running all over on your own, nobody knowing who is where and who is running out of air and where they are!
“You Americans are just a bunch of unsafe firefighters and your chief officers are not doing their jobs by allowing it to continue. No U.K. officer would keep his position if they allowed this type of stuff to continue!”
With that, he packed the stuff back onto the rig, closed the roll-up doors and walked away from us. Not even a quick goodbye. Just turned, walked away and disappeared into some other room. We were all stunned. We had never gotten a reception like that in any station we had ever visited. Another firefighter was in the kitchen, we gave him our shirts as quick as we could and took off. I never felt so uncomfortable at any station I've ever visited.
But then I took what the man said and started thinking about it. Maybe the guy was right. Just imagine how many excuses we make to each other and ourselves. Do we really do all we can to protect the firefighters under our command? Be honest with yourself. We're just kidding ourselves and slapping each other on the back and praying that nothing goes seriously wrong when we are in charge. That mean guy in London was not so far off, now that I think about it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn D. Usdin is chief of the Lancaster Township (Pa.) Fire Department and the founder of Command School Inc., co-sponsored by the IAFC and Fire Chief. Usdin is also the founder and former president of Northeast Fire Apparatus. His e-mail address is <glenn@commandschool.com>.
1 - YOUR Personal Safety
2 - YOUR Comrads Safety
Sounds simple so far... right?
My question to all of you, trying to start an open dialouge here with everyone. What have you done that was unsafe, or could have degraded the safety of your crew, and why did you do it or why did you allow it to be done?
I consider myself to be one of the more daring firefighters amongst the people I surround myself with. There really isn't much I wouldn't do, or situation I wouldn't attempt to take on. Nowdays though, I look back on some of my less desireable moments and wonder "What was I thinking?!?!?" Did I do this unsafe act to accomplish something productive? Did I do it to look like the cooler, bad-ass fireman to my peers? Did I have any brain activity in the big head when I did that? This is something to really think about. I guess it's perfectly fine to be "Ballsy", but then again, there has to be a line drawn between "Stupid" and "Ballsy." I know by looking at my past that I crossed that line a few times, and I now consider myself lucky to be here to talk about it.
I'm not trying to start a rant by any means here. I'm simply trying to encourage some open thinking and conversation amongst all of us. Maybe even consider this a chance to bag about your luckiest moments... and reasons to never have to test that degree of luck ever again.
In closing, I'm sharing this article with you. This article is something I have referred to numerous times as a glaring example that we don't need to change our culture, but to at least learn from the other cultures from across the sea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson in safety from across the pond
Nov 1, 2002 12:00 PM
Glenn D. Usdin
By the fourth day of our London family vacation during Christmas break in 1999, my wife finally allowed me to set a course for the closest fire station. The folks at the hotel gave us walking directions, and off we went to the Knightsbridge Station of the London Fire Brigade. I brought some T-shirts for the crew in anticipation of the visit.
The station looked like any other station in an upscale high-density area. We knocked on the door, were quickly let in, and I introduced myself as a chief fire officer from the United States on vacation with my family. At the mere mention of the U.S. fire service, the firefighter pointed to the apparatus, told us to take a look and abruptly walked away.
The kids and I looked at each other and, after waiting a few moments, decided to make the most of it and check out the place. We all had showered that morning, so we weren't sure what was up. My wife stayed in the corner, none too thrilled to be wasting valuable vacation hours at a darned fire station.
The rig was well equipped and much of the equipment was either made in the United States or manufactured in the style of our stuff. Coming from so far away, it was neat to see that their stuff (SCBA, PPE, nozzles) looked pretty much like our stuff. Despite a few obvious differences, such as a rear-mount pump and hose rolled rather than in a hose bed, it could have been any city in the United States.
We continued to look around until we felt the presence of another person in the room, and turned to see a firefighter standing and staring at us from the corner. His glare was intense. He walked over without cracking the hint of a smile. “You American firefighters just don't get it, do you? How many more are you going to kill next year?”
Wow, what a greeting! I quickly put the shirts away, as nothing I brought as a peace offering was going to please this guy. My family stared at me, wondering what my next move was going to be. They didn't know they were traveling with a murderer.
“You know, that fire you folks just had where you killed six firefighters in a warehouse? That wouldn't have happened over here. You should be ashamed of yourselves,” he said. Have you ever wanted to crawl under a rock and wait for a very long time? I knew he was referring to the tragic Worcester, Mass., fire.
The firefighter never offered his name, but we were drawn to him as he led us to the back of the engine. He opened one of the rear roll-up doors and brought out a board with all kinds of gauges and dials. It was not unlike one of our yellow command/accountability boards, but much more complicated. Setting it on his knee, he proceeded to lecture us as if the kids and I were responsible for the entire American fire service.
“You see this board? We dial in the cylinder pressure of every single SCBA cylinder at the start of each shift for each firefighter in the station. We also put in a tag with their name and their SCBA unit number. When we get to a fire we assign this board to an officer, and that officer is responsible for starting the timer when the member starts using air. And the timers click off when the bar (psi) goes down.
“The next thing we do is assign an officer to track the location of every crew by radio inside the burning structure. If the crew goes left 15 meters, we write it down. If they go right 10 meters, we write it down. If they go up a double flight of stairs and then go down a hallway left 5 meters, we write it down. And then our air officer tells them when they are running low and it's time to get out. Our crews stay together, not like you Americans, running all over on your own, nobody knowing who is where and who is running out of air and where they are!
“You Americans are just a bunch of unsafe firefighters and your chief officers are not doing their jobs by allowing it to continue. No U.K. officer would keep his position if they allowed this type of stuff to continue!”
With that, he packed the stuff back onto the rig, closed the roll-up doors and walked away from us. Not even a quick goodbye. Just turned, walked away and disappeared into some other room. We were all stunned. We had never gotten a reception like that in any station we had ever visited. Another firefighter was in the kitchen, we gave him our shirts as quick as we could and took off. I never felt so uncomfortable at any station I've ever visited.
But then I took what the man said and started thinking about it. Maybe the guy was right. Just imagine how many excuses we make to each other and ourselves. Do we really do all we can to protect the firefighters under our command? Be honest with yourself. We're just kidding ourselves and slapping each other on the back and praying that nothing goes seriously wrong when we are in charge. That mean guy in London was not so far off, now that I think about it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn D. Usdin is chief of the Lancaster Township (Pa.) Fire Department and the founder of Command School Inc., co-sponsored by the IAFC and Fire Chief. Usdin is also the founder and former president of Northeast Fire Apparatus. His e-mail address is <glenn@commandschool.com>.
