By ROBERT GOPLIN

According to the results of a 2009 survey of 187 firefighters across several Midwestern states, most firefighters felt that their coworkers wouldn't know when to call a Mayday. Almost half said they would not call a Mayday even if they were in a flashover or a backdraft. The research project, "Human Factors Affecting Mayday Decisions," asked questions that, although not scientifically developed, were intended to determine how firefighters decide whether to call a Mayday and how comfortable they were with calling one.

Sixty-four percent of firefighters believed that there are nationally recognized situational parameters that instruct them as to when to call a Mayday. No such parameters exist.

One of the research project's more positive results revealed that about 92 percent of firefighters felt they knew how to call a Mayday; at a minimum, this means that we are doing our jobs with regard to Mayday training. Unfortunately, these same firefighters said they felt only about 50 percent of coworkers know when and how to declare a Mayday. So, although we are training our people, we aren't making sure that they have faith in each other's abilities. This is very important. If you don't think the member next to you knows how to get you help if you need it, how confident will you be when going through that door?

Part of the reason firefighters might believe that nationally defined Mayday parameters exist is that, in many cases, they have been defined locally. Seventy-three percent of the participants said that their department has a policy that defines when they should call a Mayday. If you don't have locally defined situational parameters, your firefighters might not be certain when your department expects them to call a Mayday, which will delay the call. When they do decide to call, the situation will be worse for them and the rapid intervention team sent in to help them.

Too many of us may feel that it's obvious when a Mayday should be called; therefore, there is no reason to define Mayday parameters. However, when asked if they would call a Mayday if they were caught in a significant fire event, which was defined as a flashover, backdraft, or "smoke explosion," only 54 percent of firefighters said yes. Additionally, research into the theory of recognition primed decision making (RPDM) shows that firefighters must have experience with a given situation to ensure that they will recognize it as a danger. Gary Kline discovered RPDM in 1984 when researchers were studying how people make decisions. Klein's researchers studied a group of fire department incident commanders who had to make critically important decisions in very short time frames. The researchers learned that firefighters use previous experiences to successfully make decisions at an unprecedented rate. To get the experience necessary to ensure an understanding of these dangerous situations, firefighters must be involved in hands-on practical training that will mimic real-world scenarios to the safest extent possible. The key here is to reproduce these situations in a safe environment conducive to learning.

Displaying 1/2 Page 1, 2 Next>
View Article as Single page