BY Justin McCarthy
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! The person with whom you ate hours before is calling a Mayday with a fear like no other. He thinks this is his last breath. I now ask, are your completely confident in yourself? Will you react appropriately? Is your department prepared? It may not seem like it on the surface, but just delve in a little. Ask how ready the members in your company are. I imagine there is not the confidence one may expect. A Mayday is that one thing, the common fear, we all have. We listen to story after story thinking that won’t happen here or we don’t get fires here. Instead, shouldn’t we be asking, how would we deal with that? Firefighters are experts at pushing our fears deeper and deeper, yet the more dishonest we are with ourselves, the less prepared we really are. From the firefighter calling the Mayday to the incident commander receiving it to the members operating around the same scene, it is that surreal moment we never expect. With everything we now focus on, we all know that it is the fundamentals that are so often forgotten and that is where a simple, all-encompassing, versatile training and policy fit in so well.
As a firefighter, you have a duty to yourself and to your friends and family to come home the same way you left. We have listened to the speakers, watched the YouTube videos, and read the articles, but what are you going to do if it is you? My first thought is muscle memory. When most are asked to do something as routine as putting a seat belt without thinking about it, this is the same muscle memory we must work on when it comes to Mayday. In a recent training session with members of a large urban department, 75 percent of the members could not activate their PASS alarm manually without hesitation. Member after member would initially hit the silence or reset button because that was the button they always associate with the PASS. Once simple artificial stress was introduced the members continuously resorted back the button they always hit; that is the reason we must train as we do to avoid this complacency.
The next common problem we are seeing is members are waiting longer to activate a Mayday or a distress signal. Why? I have asked several people, and the same replies keep coming out. “I don’t want to get my chops busted.” “I just needed a few more minutes.” My response to these comments is, “It is 2013!” We have been through this, and yet the same things that were written in articles in the early 1990s are still coming up. The issue as I see it is not why are we not calling the Mayday. It is why haven’t our members been made to feel comfortable calling the Mayday. I love to use the analogy of the tools in the toolbox. Mayday is just that, a tool in the toolbox. It is another thing in our firefighting cache that we have at our disposal to help make our jobs easier and safer.
Now that the member calling the Mayday has done his duty, it is up to you, the incident commander (IC) and the members operating. We spoke above about working to better ourselves in case we need help, but I ask, when was the last time your ICs received training on reacting to the Mayday? We beat it home on drill night, LUNAR, U-CAN, LIP, but can you as an IC say with confidence “I AM READY?” The old adage is that the first five minutes of an incident set up the next five hours, I say with confidence that a Mayday is no different. Time after time, we hear audio of members giving Maydays that are missed or not acknowledged. These members are doing their part; you need to do yours. Drills and training are not just for those crawling down the hallway, and they do not stop because you have a white helmet.
Now we all know that the job of the IC has reached a point of ridiculousness. The same person running the house fire is also responsible for the rope rescue or the extrication. Unfortunately, the one in charge at these calls must execute to near perfection on every call. As a realist, I know it is impossible to remember it all. Now, throw in a member taking what he thinks are his last breaths, and it is very easy to forget what needs to be done. Insert the “Mayday checklist.” It seems so simple, yet I can think of only one department where I know it is utilized. All you need is an easy-to-access cheat sheet for the IC to use to assist him in running a Mayday. Simple things like answering the Mayday, activating an additional alarm, advising all members to continue their tasks, and so on. It seems so trivial. Yet, why do we have a map book on the apparatus? These simple-to-use, simple-to-make cheat sheets will hopefully collect dust, but if for one minute they help facilitate a rescue, the hour of work and $5 lamination cost were worth it.
Recently, I was speaking to a class of firefighter recruit students on Mayday, and I asked a question. The answer surprised me. We had covered the person calling the Mayday as well as the IC’s role, but I wanted to know what they would do if it were their friend calling the Mayday. All the time we are practicing for getting out of a situation, yet our members are still unsure of how to react. I say without hesitation, “Keep operating.” There is a misconception that if a member is calling a Mayday that we need to stop what we are doing. Some say we need to evacuate; some say we need to try to find our brother or sister. I say do none of the sort. When a Mayday is called, this is all the more reason to get to the seat of the fire and get it out. This is the time for discipline overkill. When an IC receives a Mayday, his mind will go into overload, and when he begins to put it all together, the pieces will lead him to believe you are where he sent you last. The moment that a member breaks free of the task to begin to work on the rapid intervention team, he has created a monster that is out of control. This does not mean being tuned out, though–monitoring the radio, listening for members, or paying attention to a PASS alarm is vital as always. The key to the positive outcome is for everyone to stay focused, stay on task, listen, and follow directions.
Call after call, members are able to separate themselves from the incident. Today’s firefighters are seeing the horrific on a regular basis and are able to shut it off. A Mayday does not afford the same luxury. We know the person on the other end of the radio. We see him every day. We know the family, and now we hear him struggle as he breathes what he thinks may be his last breath. It is every member’s responsibility to ensure he/she is prepared for himself as well as for his colleagues.
BIO
JUSTIN MCCARTHY is a firefighter in the New (CT) Fire Department. He is a fire instructor for the Wolcott Regional Fire School. He has a BS in fire science and has co-written Fire Engineering Tactical Perspective DVDs with Frank Ricci. He also co-hosts the “PJ Norwood Show” on FE Blog Talk Radio monthly.
