Letters to the Editor
July Editorial Comments
Newark, Calif.
I have just read your editorial in the July edition of Fire Engineering. In the final paragraph, you bring forth some valid points regarding the resources available to larger departments.
While I must agree with your appraisal of a need for cooperation, I must point out to you that many advancements in the fire service have been an outgrowth of cooperation among smaller, less affluent departments.
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits in fire department operations was the development of mutual aid and automatic aid pacts. These came about, not because of generosity, but because some departments realized that they were not large enough to meet the ultimate needs. It was the smaller, less affluent, departments who have developed operational techniques to maximize the use of smaller numbers of personnel. It is the medium sized and smaller departments who initiated such progressive concepts as master planning and sprinkler ordinances.
Yes, large departments with large resources will benefit all, if all sizes and types of departments are willing to share their commonality, their experience and their knowledge with an understanding of each others problems.
F. P. Spalding
Chief, Newark Fire Department
August Cover Remarks
Ames, Iowa
The safety record of the fire service in the United States can be summarized into one ward—deplorable! If a private industry were to experience the number of on-the-job injuries which some fire departments experience annually, it would probably be forced to go out of business. Firefighters have been carried off to hospitals so often, for so long, that we now accept injuries as “part of our job.”
Unfortunately, your cover photo on the August 1980 edition of Fire Engineering does little to dispel these notions. Visually, it is a spectacular fire shot; educationally, it is a poor example of applying sound safety practices to the fireground. Even without knowing the background information, one must question it takes four firefighters, particularly the two standing idly by, to man the master stream appliance being used to cool both the drums and the fire.
Firefighters, and especially fireground commanders, must realize that their people are also “exposures.” If the fire service is to get its act together relative to firefighter safety, then we must become part of the solution, rather than our oftimes traditional role of becoming part of the problem.
I certainly hope that your magazine uses better discretion in selecting photographs which display sound firefighter safety practices in the future.
Gregory G. Noll,
Instructor Iowa State University
Toxic Gas Study
A study designed to pinpoint the hazards of toxic gases in house fires will be conducted by the Southwest Research Institute, in cooperation with the San Antonio Fire Department.
Firemen at three stations will wear small instrument packages to collect atmospheric samples for analysis. The packages will be activated at various time intervals during a fire to determine potential inhalation hazards.
The device, to be worn on a breathing apparatus belt, consists of an instrument box with two separate intake ports. One port takes air through an absorption column which removes hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, benzene, acrolein and acetaldehyde for quantitative laboratory analysis. Air from the second port is passed through a filter which removes the particulates, providing an index of smoke density.
The 12-month program is sponsored jointly by the United States Fire Administration and the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc.
EMT Insurance
The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) has announced the availability of a comprehensive professional malpractice insurance program for its members.
NAEMT President Rick Vomacka said, “In the past, the cost of individual malpractice insurance for EMTs was prohibitive, and in addition too many EMTs thought they didn’t need insurance coverage in the first place.”
The program is administered by the American Agency in Overland Park, Kan., and provides coverage for EMT-basic, EMT-intermediate, and EMT-paramedic students and providers. Benefits of the program, according to Vomacka and Howard Handler, the program adminstrator, include 24-hour coverage—not just on-duty time— legal costs and judgments up to $500,000.
For further information contact NAEMT, P.O. Box 334, Newton Highlands, Mass. 02161.
Turnout Gear Test Set
Thirteen fire departments will test the protective clothing developed during the last four years by Project FIRES (firefighters integrated response equipment system). The turnout clothing, designed through the cooperation of private industry and the National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration under a grant from the United States Fire Administration, will be used routinely to evaluate how closely the drawing board has met the needs of the fireground.
The departments that will use the gear for about nine months are Boston; New York; Alexandria, Va.; Pinellas County, Fla.; Dallas; Los Angeles: Seattle; Cincinnati; Madison, Wis.; Casper, Wy.; Oklahoma City; Bloomington, Minn.; and Flowing Wells, Ariz. Geographical location, climate, number of alarms and participation in the projects’s user requirements committee influenced the selection of departments. The estimated cost of each set of protective clothing is $470.
Ban Fireworks Supplier
A two-year battle to stop a major supplier of illegal fireworks from conducting business in California has resulted in a permanent injunction and a $59,500 penalty.
The Buckeye Fireworks Manufacturing Company of Deerfield, Ohio, has been the principal source of mail-order fireworks, which are, for the most part, banned in California.
State Fire Marshal Phil Favro said, “Our statistics show that the majority of fireworks-related fires and injuries are caused by the kinds of items supplied by Buckeye.” According to state fire marshal records, 1,467 of the 3,583 fires attributed to fireworks last year occurred outside the Fourth of July season.
EMT Training Program
The Birminghan, Ala., Fire & Rescue Service Department recently completed a specialized EMS training program to accomodate the large percentage of emergency medical calls they receive.
The National Apprenticeship for Emergency Medical Technicians program, a joint effort supported by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the International Association of Fire Fighters, began classes in September 1978. Instructors were provided by the Regional Technical Institute, a division of the University of Alabama, Birmingham. A total of 550 men participated in the program, from battalion chiefs to fire fighters, as well as fire prevention and fire training personnel.
The course included 71 hours of classroom work and 40 hours of supervised instruction in an emergency room. Students passed the RTI certification test and the State Board of Health Proficiency examination. Additional continuing education is required for at least one year.
This training was accomplished on an onduty basis without any additional cost to the city. Funding was supplied by the apprenticeship program and the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Service System.
Firemen’s Olympics
The Anaheim, Calif. Fire Department was the overall winner in the ninth annual Firemen’s Olympics held at the University of California at Davis last July.
A total of 38 gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to 13 members of the department for such events as racquetball, tennis, and track. The statewide competition in 16 events attracted 1500 entrants from fire departments throughout California.
