Firefighters

A firefighter is a person who is trained and				an IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or
equipped to put out fires, rescue people and pets,				Health) environment.
aid and assist during natural disasters and,				Tools are generally carried at all times and are
increasingly, provide emergency medical services.				important for not only forcible entry but also for
The fire service, also known in some countries as				self rescue. A Self Contained Breathing Apparatus
the fire brigade or fire department, is one of the				(SCBA) delivers air to the firefighter through a full
emergency services.				face mask and is worn to protect against smoke
Fire fighting is the process and profession of				inhalation, toxic fumes, and super heated gasses.
extinguishing fires. Firefighting and firefighters have				A special device called a Personal Alert Safety
become ubiquitous around the world, from urban				System (PASS) is commonly worn independently
areas to wildland areas, and on board ships. Not all				or as a part of the SCBA to alert others when a
firefighters are paid for their services. In some				firefighter stops moving for a specified period of
countries, including the United States, Canada,				time or manually operates the device. The PASS
Finland, Australia, and New Zealand, there are				device sounds an alarm that can assist another
often paid, or "career" ("professional" is falling out				firefighter (Firefighter Assist and Search Team), in
of popular usage due to the perception that				locating the firefighter in distress.
non-paid volunteers would thus be termed				Firefighters often carry personal self rescue
"unprofessional"), firefighters working alongside				ropes. The ropes are generally 30 feet long and
volunteer and "call" or "retained" (firefighters who				can provide a firefighter (that has enough time to
are paid for the specific time they are responding				deploy the rope) a partially controlled exit out an
to emergencies) firefighters. In the United				elevated window. Lack of a personal rescue rope
Kingdom and Ireland, the use of retained				is cited in the deaths of two New York City
firefighters (who are part-time, but are paid when				Firefighters, Lt. John Bellew and Lt. Curtis Meyran,
on duty) rather than volunteers is standard. In				who died after they jumped from a fourth floor
Germany, volunteer fire departments are				of a burning apartment building in the Bronx. Of
standard: even the biggest German city, Berlin,				the four firefighters who jumped and survived
with more than 3 million inhabitants, has volunteer				only one of them had a self rescue rope. Since
fire fighters. In fact, only 101 German cities have				the incident the Fire Department of New York
a career fire service, called "Berufsfeuerwehr" in				City has issued self rescue ropes to their
German. . Most of the so called volunteer				firefighters.
departments, except in rural areas, are in fact a				In the United States, 25% of fatalities to
mixed service of a core of career firemen who				firefighters are caused by vehicle accidents while
are supported by true volunteer firefighters				responding or returning from an incident. Many
should need arise. However, the official title of				firefighters are also injured or killed by vehicles
those departments is nevertheless "volunteer fire				while working at an incident (Paulison 2005).
service".				Rescue
The three main goals in firefighting are (in order)				Rescue operations consist of searching for and
life safety, incident stabilization, and property				removing trapped occupants of hazardous
conservation. Firefighting is an inherently				conditions. Animals may also be recovered, if
dangerous occupation. As such, the skills required				resources and conditions permit. Generally triage
for safe operations are regularly practiced during				and first aid are performed outside, as removal
training evolutions throughout a firefighter's career.				from the hazardous atmosphere is the primary
In the United States, the preeminent fire training				goal in preserving life. Search patterns include
and standards organization is the National Fire				movement against room walls (to prevent
Protection Association (or NFPA). Often initial				rescuers from becoming lost or disoriented) and
firefighting skills are taught during a local, regional,				methodical searches of specific areas by
or state approved fire academy. Depending on				designated teams.
the requirements of a department, additional skills				Many fire departments follow a "two-in, two-out"
and certifications such as technical rescue and				rule, which states that:
Paramedicine may also be taught at this time.				a) teams made up of a minimum of two
Firefighters work closely with other emergency				firefighters will enter and leave hazardous areas
response agencies, most particularly local and				together (to prevent single rescuers from
state police departments. As every fire scene is				becoming lost);
technically a crime scene until deemed otherwise				b) for every team of two (or more) rescuers
by a qualified investigator, there is often overlap				currently inside a hazardous area, another team
between the responsibilities of responding				of two (or more) rescuers will be stationed (or
firefighters and police officers such as evidence				"staged") immediately adjacent to the entry to
and scene protection, initial observations of first				the hazardous area, ready to immediately enter
respondents, and chain of evidence issues.[citation				should the first team require assistance.
needed] The increasing role of firefighters in				Such teams are commonly known as Rapid
providing emergency medical services also brings				Intervention Teams (abbreviated RIT). The only
firefighters into common overlap with law				time it is permissible for a team of firefighters to
enforcement. One example of this is a common				enter a burning structure without RIT in place is
state law requiring all gunshot wounds to be				when they are operating in what is known as
reported to law enforcement agencies.				"Rescue Mode". Rescue Mode occurs when
Most career (full time, paid) firefighters in North				firefighters have arrived at the scene, and it is
America are represented by the International				readily apparent that there are occupants trapped
Association of Fire Fighters				inside who need immediate rescue. At such a
Fire fighting has several basic skills: prevention, self				time, firefighters may enter the structure
preservation, rescue, preservation of property				proceed directly to the rescue scenario, and RIT
and fire control. Firefighting is further broken down				can be established as soon as possible.
into skills which include size-up, extinguishment,				Searches for trapped victims are exhaustively
ventilation, and salvage and overhaul. Search and				detailed, often including searches of cupboards,
Rescue, which has already been mentioned, is				closets, and under beds. The search is divided into
performed early in any fire scenario and many				two stages, the primary and secondary. The
times is in unison with extinguishment and				primary search is conducted quickly and
ventilation.				thoroughly, typically beginning in the area closest
Prevention				to the fire as it is subjected to the highest risk of
Prevention attempts to ensure that no place				exposure. The secondary search only begins once
simultaneously has sufficient heat, fuel and air to				the fire is under control, and is always (resources
allow ignition and combustion. Fernando Cardona,				and personnel permitting) performed by a
the leading researcher in fire prevention is				different team from that which did the primary
accredited with much of the advancement and				search.
improvement to modern fire fighting technique.				Rescue operations may also involve the
Most prevention programs are directed at				extrication of victims of motor vehicle crashes
controlling the energy of activation (heat). Fire				(abbreviated MVC). Here firefighters use
suppression systems have a proven record for				spreaders, cutters, and hydraulic rams, tools more
controlling and extinguishing unwanted fires. Many				commonly known as the Hurst tools to remove
fire officials recommend that every building,				metal from the patient, followed by actually
including residences, have sprinklers. Correctly				removing the patient, usually on a backboard with
working sprinklers in a residence greatly reduce				collar, and transferring to a waiting ambulance
the risk of death from a fire. With the small				crew in the cold zone. More technical forms of
rooms typical of a residence, one or two				rescue include subsets such as rope rescue,
sprinklers can cover most rooms.				swiftwater rescue, confined space rescue, and
In addition, a major duty of fire services is the				trench rescue. These types of rescue are often
regular inspection of buildings to ensure they are				extremely hazardous and physically demanding.
up to the current building fire codes, which are				They also require extensive technical training.
enforced so that a burning building can sufficiently				NFPA regulation 1006 and 1670 state that a
resist fire damage.				"rescuer" must have medical training to perform
Self-preservation				any technical rescue operation. Accordingly,
Self-preservation is critical. The basic technique				firefighters involved in rescue operations have
firefighters use is to know where they are, and				some kind of medical training as first responders,
to avoid hazards. Current standards in the United				emergency medical technicians, paramedics, or
States recommend that firefighters work in				nurses
teams, using a "two-in, two-out" rule whenever in

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Firefighters

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