By Carl J. Haddon

Last week, I got a visit from a very competent, young, rural officer who was extremely frustrated and looking for some advice. The night before his visit, he and his crew responded to a mountain road vehicle rollover with entrapment. During the call, this officer observed his people yelling and barking to and at each other while trying to effect a fairly difficult extrication and extraction—with the large SUV upside down, on the side of a rather steep embankment. He explained that his crew was seasoned and knowledgeable, but that the normally expected amount of chaos at the scene quickly and continually seemed to escalate throughout the course of the rescue operations. He said that despite his attempts to keep order and calm, both older and younger (than him) members continued to bark and yell.

I knew right away that this was not going to be a comfortable conversation for either of us to have, but in light of this officer’s desire to better himself and his crew, I felt that I owed it to him to tell him the hard truth, straight up. After all, his life, his crew’s lives, and their patient’s lives depended on it. I asked him two simple questions that got him thinking. The first question was: Has this type of crew behavior occurred on scene before? And the second (and much more difficult) question was: Who was in charge?

It dawned on me, after this gentleman’s visit, that I see this type of situation in many departments where I offer training throughout the United States and abroad. Is this an issue in your rural department? If so, do you know what causes it and, more importantly, do you know how to constructively rectify the situation. Unfortunately, this very issue has been the demise of many a rural volunteer fire department.

Brad (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) answered my first question by telling me that indeed this type of behavior seems to happen during high-intensity/low-frequency responses such as violent vehicle wrecks with entrapment, rollovers into the river, lost or missing children, etc. He also said that it seems to be happening more frequently. In answer to my second question, Brad sheepishly told me that he was in charge the night of the call mentioned above, but that it doesn’t seem to matter who is in charge when this happens.

I am no expert in or on any subject. I am still a student of my craft—I just happen to have more than 35 years on the job and see this type of thing more than I’d like to. That said, in my opinion, there are two simple deficiencies that typically cause unexplained yelling and screaming during operations: lack of training and lack of leadership, which can also be attributed to lack of training.

How much training do you get? How much training do your officers get? Please forgive me, as I know this is a sore subject, but if your department only does training one evening for a couple of hours each month, you are not getting enough training to remain proficient. Two hours x 12 months (provided that you make every training) = 24 hours per year. For the purposes of Brad’s issue, how many of those 24 hours are dedicated to vehicle rescue, high-risk stabilization, and possibly high- or low-angle rope rescue? See where I’m going? The old saying holds true: What we don’t use, we lose.

Career departments have a distinct advantage in this situation as most career departments require some sort of training or drill each and every shift. My math says that is an average of roughly 24 hours of training and drilling each month. Rural, suburban, and urban volunteer fire departments alike share the challenges of getting their people to training.

This situation was not lost on my depa

As the Tri-Cities area continues to grow so does the need for first responders. And after weeks of training, thirty-three new recruits are on their way to filling the empty positions. "This is the first time that there's been live fire in the buildings for us," said Sam Monds, a firefighter recruit. Monds is one of the recruits going through the fire structure academy.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2016 11:14:17 AM - SOURCE: KEPR-TV CBS 19

By Ricky Riley

I’ll be the first to admit that rural water supply and tankers are not my top skillset. But in the past year or so, I’ve seen a number of departments that have to use this operation, and they do a fantastic job operationally for their communities and on the firegrounds. So when I initially saw this unit, I almost passed it by because it was really big, carried a lot of water and, finally, it looked like a tanker.

Well I was way off on this department’s thought process and design for what I coined the other day as an “enhanced urban engine.” The unit was purchased and operates with the Prince George’s County (MD) Fire/EMS Department in Maryland. The area it serves and responds to on the initial alarm has a number of rural areas. These rural areas require carrying a lot of water, and the department uses additional tankers to maintain a constant water supply. Its response area also has populated suburban areas with plenty of hydrants and no water supply concerns.

The department took a unique approach to the design of this apparatus and did not follow the standard designs for a unit that most of us would call a pumper-tanker. It identified its response area and operational needs and designed the rig around those needs. The apparatus carries 1,500 gallons of water that provide the much needed water capacity for their rural areas. This capacity obviously will make the unit long and tall in order to accommodate this amount of water. The department did not want to sacrifice the functionality of an engine company when responding to the townhouse and housing developments that are well covered by hydrants. So, it worked with the manufacturer and kept the water capacity but incorporated a low hosebed that carries a full complement of supply line and attack lines that mirror the regular urban engines in its fleet. 

The unit is not identified as a tanker because some of the requirements defined by the NFPA, but it sure fits the bill in water capacity and its ability to deliver water with its 1,500-gpm pump. The unit also has a direct tank fill. The rig carries the standard complement of tools, equipment, and ground ladders as a regular engine company. Additionally, the ground ladders are even low on the side of the rig for easy access. 

When looking at the rig up close the other day, aside from the water capacity, it has the functionality of an urban engine with a low hosebed and sufficient number of attack lines with varying lengths. So on your next purchase of a unit that needs to carry a lot of water, take the time to design it so it meets all your operational needs—not just the water-carrying requirement. Work with your manufacturer and don’t settle for the standard. Instead, opt for an operational rig your firefighters can easily work off of and deliver the best service to your citizens.

RICKY RILEY is the fire apparatus manager for the Prince George’s County (MD) Fire/EMS Department. He previously served as the Operations Chief in Clearwater, Florida, and as a firefighter for Fairfax County (VA) Fire & Rescue. He also currently serves as the rescue-engine captain at the Kentland (MD) Volunteer Fire Department. He is a memb

An emergency management official now working in Everett is in line to replace Bob Hamlin as the director of Jefferson County’s Department of Emergency Management (DEM). The Jefferson County commissioners today will consider approval of an employment agreement with Lynn Sterbenz, who was “the top pick from a field of 15 candidates,” said County Administrator Philip Morley.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2016 9:38:40 AM - SOURCE: Port Angeles Peninsula Daily News