Robert Tutterow

For the most part hose dryers, drying racks, and washing went away with the demise of cotton jacket hose. However, there could be a renaissance of this practice in the North American fire service. The major focus for decontamination has been on personal protective equipment (PPE). But, what about the other contaminated equipment? Is there anything nastier than an interior fire attack hose? What happens to that hose after use? I suspect that in most departments it might get rinsed off before it is placed back on the truck. This is only a practice that has been in place for the past 40 or so years. Prior to that, with cotton jacket hose, the hose had to be dried - either in a hose dryer or hung from a hose tower - and received some washing before it was dried. For younger readers, cotton hose could not be stored on the apparatus wet because it would rot.

It appears it is time to reconsider washing and drying hose but for a different reason. That reason is to decontaminate the hose from the carcinogens that attach and embed in the jacket. Contaminated hose is not just contaminated when it is removed from the fire scene; it continues to off-gas for several hours - if not days. Washing fire hose is critical.

It is interesting to note that the German fire service has always washed each section of hose after each use. And, they test each section of hose after each use. I am not advocating testing hose after each use. German hose is much thinner and not nearly as robust as hose in the North American fire service.

Current Equipment

How do the Germans and other European fire brigades wash hose? It is a lot more than a rinsing at the scene, though that is a good initial practice. They use machines with stiff bristle brushes to wash their hose. In the United States, Circul-Air Corporation has been making a hose washing machine - the Roto Jet Hose Washer - for decades. Of course, Circul-Air is known for its hose drying cabinets, which some departments now use to dry PPE. More recently, Groves Ready Rack also introduced a hose washer, and it also offers a PPE drying cabinet. Perhaps your department has one and uses it. If so, your department is the health-conscious exception.

At FDIC International 2017, the Barth company introduced its MONDIALE hose washing machine. It is a German-made machine that also can perform hose testing. The unit is available with a soak tank and uses high-pressure nozzles as well as bristle brushes to clean the hose. The unit can accommodate two sections of hose at a time if the diameter is three inches or less. For anything larger, just one section at a time can be cleaned.

With washing comes the need for drying. Hose drying cabinets are an option with Circul-Air. Other companies, such as Groves Ready Rack, have drying cabinets. However, they also have portable hose towers. No, these are not 30 or 60 feet high. They are racks, on casters if desired, to flake hose from hanging rods to allow for plenty of ventilation.

If hose washing becomes the normal practice in North America, how will it evolve? What are the ramifications? Obviously, there will need to be clean and dry hose stored in the station to replenish hose that is being decontaminated and drying. Will the concept of hot zones in fire stations become accepted practice? If so, then cleaning and drying fire hose should occur in the hot zone.

Regardless of tradition and the strain on budgets, there is no mistake that good basic hygiene suggests we should wash all hose w

Robert Tutterow

For the most part hose dryers, drying racks, and washing went away with the demise of cotton jacket hose. However, there could be a renaissance of this practice in the North American fire service. The major focus for decontamination has been on personal protective equipment (PPE). But, what about the other contaminated equipment? Is there anything nastier than an interior fire attack hose? What happens to that hose after use? I suspect that in most departments it might get rinsed off before it is placed back on the truck. This is only a practice that has been in place for the past 40 or so years. Prior to that, with cotton jacket hose, the hose had to be dried - either in a hose dryer or hung from a hose tower - and received some washing before it was dried. For younger readers, cotton hose could not be stored on the apparatus wet because it would rot.

It appears it is time to reconsider washing and drying hose but for a different reason. That reason is to decontaminate the hose from the carcinogens that attach and embed in the jacket. Contaminated hose is not just contaminated when it is removed from the fire scene; it continues to off-gas for several hours - if not days. Washing fire hose is critical.

It is interesting to note that the German fire service has always washed each section of hose after each use. And, they test each section of hose after each use. I am not advocating testing hose after each use. German hose is much thinner and not nearly as robust as hose in the North American fire service.

Current Equipment

How do the Germans and other European fire brigades wash hose? It is a lot more than a rinsing at the scene, though that is a good initial practice. They use machines with stiff bristle brushes to wash their hose. In the United States, Circul-Air Corporation has been making a hose washing machine - the Roto Jet Hose Washer - for decades. Of course, Circul-Air is known for its hose drying cabinets, which some departments now use to dry PPE. More recently, Groves Ready Rack also introduced a hose washer, and it also offers a PPE drying cabinet. Perhaps your department has one and uses it. If so, your department is the health-conscious exception.

At FDIC International 2017, the Barth company introduced its MONDIALE hose washing machine. It is a German-made machine that also can perform hose testing. The unit is available with a soak tank and uses high-pressure nozzles as well as bristle brushes to clean the hose. The unit can accommodate two sections of hose at a time if the diameter is three inches or less. For anything larger, just one section at a time can be cleaned.

With washing comes the need for drying. Hose drying cabinets are an option with Circul-Air. Other companies, such as Groves Ready Rack, have drying cabinets. However, they also have portable hose towers. No, these are not 30 or 60 feet high. They are racks, on casters if desired, to flake hose from hanging rods to allow for plenty of ventilation.

If hose washing becomes the normal practice in North America, how will it evolve? What are the ramifications? Obviously, there will need to be clean and dry hose stored in the station to replenish hose that is being decontaminated and drying. Will the concept of hot zones in fire stations become accepted practice? If so, then cleaning and drying fire hose should occur in the hot zone.

Regardless of tradition and the strain on budgets, there is no mistake that good basic hygiene suggests we should wash all hose w

Robert Tutterow

For the most part hose dryers, drying racks, and washing went away with the demise of cotton jacket hose. However, there could be a renaissance of this practice in the North American fire service. The major focus for decontamination has been on personal protective equipment (PPE). But, what about the other contaminated equipment? Is there anything nastier than an interior fire attack hose? What happens to that hose after use? I suspect that in most departments it might get rinsed off before it is placed back on the truck. This is only a practice that has been in place for the past 40 or so years. Prior to that, with cotton jacket hose, the hose had to be dried - either in a hose dryer or hung from a hose tower - and received some washing before it was dried. For younger readers, cotton hose could not be stored on the apparatus wet because it would rot.

It appears it is time to reconsider washing and drying hose but for a different reason. That reason is to decontaminate the hose from the carcinogens that attach and embed in the jacket. Contaminated hose is not just contaminated when it is removed from the fire scene; it continues to off-gas for several hours - if not days. Washing fire hose is critical.

It is interesting to note that the German fire service has always washed each section of hose after each use. And, they test each section of hose after each use. I am not advocating testing hose after each use. German hose is much thinner and not nearly as robust as hose in the North American fire service.

Current Equipment

How do the Germans and other European fire brigades wash hose? It is a lot more than a rinsing at the scene, though that is a good initial practice. They use machines with stiff bristle brushes to wash their hose. In the United States, Circul-Air Corporation has been making a hose washing machine - the Roto Jet Hose Washer - for decades. Of course, Circul-Air is known for its hose drying cabinets, which some departments now use to dry PPE. More recently, Groves Ready Rack also introduced a hose washer, and it also offers a PPE drying cabinet. Perhaps your department has one and uses it. If so, your department is the health-conscious exception.

At FDIC International 2017, the Barth company introduced its MONDIALE hose washing machine. It is a German-made machine that also can perform hose testing. The unit is available with a soak tank and uses high-pressure nozzles as well as bristle brushes to clean the hose. The unit can accommodate two sections of hose at a time if the diameter is three inches or less. For anything larger, just one section at a time can be cleaned.

With washing comes the need for drying. Hose drying cabinets are an option with Circul-Air. Other companies, such as Groves Ready Rack, have drying cabinets. However, they also have portable hose towers. No, these are not 30 or 60 feet high. They are racks, on casters if desired, to flake hose from hanging rods to allow for plenty of ventilation.

If hose washing becomes the normal practice in North America, how will it evolve? What are the ramifications? Obviously, there will need to be clean and dry hose stored in the station to replenish hose that is being decontaminated and drying. Will the concept of hot zones in fire stations become accepted practice? If so, then cleaning and drying fire hose should occur in the hot zone.

Regardless of tradition and the strain on budgets, there is no mistake that good basic hygiene suggests we should wash all hose w

Richard Marinucci

Auto extrication requires teamwork, practice, staffing, and the proper tools. The job is getting more complex as automobiles and other vehicles on the road have more options and variances.

This challenges firefighters and officers who act as incident commanders to continually learn as much as they can while struggling to find the time to prepare for all types of emergencies. Regardless, organizations that want to make a difference must commit to improvement through preparation. This includes staying current on the latest tools and finding opportunities to practice, preferably on newer vehicles.

Extrication Objectives

There are two main objectives for extrication: rapidly removing and properly treating the injured. Both require skills, though not necessarily the same ones. Treatment probably is the more frequent application as medics, emergency medical technicians, and first responders take care of patients regardless of how they suffered the trauma. Extrications are generally not as frequent and therefore require more practice to obtain and maintain competence. To make it even more challenging, many crashes today involve fewer entrapments because of improvements in vehicle construction.

Training

Most, if not all, firefighting operations require teamwork whether for a medical call, fire, or extrication. Creating teamwork can be a challenge regardless of the type of department - all career, combination, or volunteer. In career organizations, between leave time, shift trades, and reassignments, it can be challenging to get the same crews together consistently to improve teamwork. It is not better in other organizations where personnel response is not likely to be the same from day to day. The only way to overcome this is to have very consistent policies and procedures and train to competence on these policies and procedures. Simplified, it means that as personnel are assigned, the expectation of performance is reliable. To put it another way, take a sports team. Members must know their roles. If there is a need for a substitution, the rest of the team can expect little, if any, drop-off in performance.

Practice, practice, practice! This is much easier said than done. Even in organizations with exemplary training programs, there is the ongoing challenge of finding the time to repeat skills enough to become as close to unconsciously competent as possible. Members expected to use particular tools must know their operation, indications of when they are best used, and their limitations. You will need to be good with power tools and hand tools. Proper shoring is essential for both safety and expedience. Departments should inventory all tools that are likely to be used during an extrication and create a spreadsheet to track training on all tools. There are some who will require more frequent training to maintain competence than others. But, all need occasional review.

Staffing on apparatus in many departments may not be adequate for the complex nature of some extrications. This can slow an operation or even create some situations where certain techniques cannot be performed because there are not enough hands. Some initial dispatches are made with a very basic response. Those who arrive first should receive training so they recognize sooner that a particular event will require additional resources. This is not any different than a structure fire that calls for multiple alarms. Many times, senior officers are not dispatched to crashes if there is not specific dispatch information. As such, ju