3495 Firefighting

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Jean-Pierre Deriaud, on French laws: It is forbidden, but possible.

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I've been watching videos on YouTube of fire departments in action. Many are from helmet cameras, and several include entering the burning structure. Pretty interesting. (Search for "fire cam helmet" in YouTube.)

I had volunteered with the completely volunteer fire company in the little village upriver. I was an EMT on the rescue squad. The company got some money from the village and the township, but most of the budget came from donations and fundraisers. Watching these "professional" company videos, I am amazed at the equipment and procedures we had. We were pretty damn impressive!

In the video clips, when they need an ambulance, they have to call for one. Our ambulance and EMTs went to fires. We were immediately ready for injuries. Even the EMTs were in full turnout gear for fires (and for motor vehicles accidents) - you know, the helmets, liners, shields, overalls and jackets, gloves, and boots. EMTs weren't allowed close to the actual fire, weren't trained for it, but we had other duties.

In most of the videos, the firefighters seem to be in charge of their own SCBA (the air tanks). In our company, the EMTs checked the pressures before they were distributed, filled them, handed them out, and checked the masks.

Each of our firefighters had a number shield on the helmet, and a corresponding tag clipped to the jacket. They were not allowed to go into a burning building without permission of the EMTs, and they had to give us the jacket tag, which got hung on a board on hooks. When they came out, the tags were moved from the board and clipped back on the jacket, and the firefighters had to be medically checked and approved by the EMTs and have the tank checked or refilled before they were allowed to go back - after surrendering their tag again.

That way, we knew instantly who was in the building, and since the tags were hung in order, we knew approximately how long they'd been in there. Nobody went missing, and nobody could disappear. If someone had been in too long, we knew exactly who, and could radio or send someone to fetch him or her out.

On these videos, firefighters seem to be running around with nobody paying attention to who went where. If a ceiling fell in, I wonder how long it would take them to realize that Joe is missing.

On the equipment, we had a high power ladder (even though there wasn't a single building in the township over three stories), and a bucket, and powerful stadium-type lights that turned the entire area into daylight. In the videos, these guys are pulling ladders off the truck and leaning them against the eaves, and if it's a night fire it's so dark, the only exterior lights seem to be from the truck headlights and flashing sidelights, and from the fire itself - which makes everything in silhouette and strobing confusion.

Yeah, your equipment is a reflection of your budget. But we were a tiny department in a tiny village. It's not like we were rolling in money. The training is NOT a reflection of the budget, and our guys were well trained with tight procedures in place and enforced. The Chief gets all the credit for that.

I've been reading the critical comments on the videos from other firefighters, and I'm proud that our little group would have passed their inspection.
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