PREPARING YOURSELF: THE SHOULDIS TECHNIQUE

PREPARING YOURSELF: THE SHOULDIS TECHNIQUE

TRAINING NOTEBOOK

WILLIAM SHOULDIS

In 1972 Joseph E. Galvin, a fire chief from New York City, wrote a letter to the New York Times commenting on his 20 years in the fire service. He warned those entering the fire service to “brace yourself” for the challenges ahead. He exhorted the new and inexperienced to be ready to provide a full spectrum of services.

Chief Galvin stated that the “nittygritty” of our profession is not structural fires but a host of unexpected emergencies such as vehicular extrication and life-threatening medical calls. Furthermore, he hinted that although we don’t always have the proper equipment or training, “we do the job.” Throughout his editorial, “They Sometimes Fight Fires,” he graphically described the odd ordeals a firefighter encounters.

We, the present generation of firefighters. are charged with many of the same diversified duties as were our brothers and sisters of yesteryear, but we also must deal with complex health, safety, and environmental issues that were unheard of 20 years ago. In the 1990s firefighters no longer can afford to just “do the job.” We must be properly prepared with upto-date equipment, and—perhaps even more important—plans for handling nonfire situations.

HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS—THE GREATEST CHALLENGE

Hazardous chemicals can be the most challenging of the nonfire scenarios. They are the “silent killers” to our rank and file. Fire, police, EMS, and other safety professionals across the nation almost daily find themselves at hazardous-material incidents without an organized action plan. As a result, many are unnecessarily jeopardizing their safety. They get too close to a gaseous release or liquid spill; some even enter vapor clouds before the involved product is properly identified. Too many of us find ourselves trying to “catch up” to rectify the effects of an incorrect initial operational decision.

Although we hear and read much about preplanning, many of us find it difficult to come up with a concise and systematic plan to deal with an “out-of-control” hazardous material.

Preincident plans must be broad enough to cover the unexpected. Responding to leaking drums, for example, is a frequent occurrence for us at the Philadelphia Fire Department. While spreading absorbents and using overpack drums have become routine procedures for these incidents, there have been occasions when some of these incidents grew in size and complexity, necessitating that we expand the preincident plan to mitigate the attending problems.

INCLUDE BASICS AND ANTICIPATE “UNKNOWNS”

The incident commander’s priorities—life safety, incident stabilization, and property conservation (as taught at the National Fire Academy) —never change, of course; and they must be the basis of our strategies and tactical decisions. Every department must have a workable command system that accounts for on-scene personnel, controls the placement of apparatus, and ensures that the needed equipment and supplies will be brought to the emergency site.

Despite the most extensive preincident preparations, however, we at times encounter variables that we never anticipated and see important considerations “slip through the cracks” —our level of education, depth of training, and extent of experience notwithstanding. Moreover, although the same product may be involved in incidents, our action plans will vary according to the circumstances.

One example that comes to mind involved a cryogenic gas. The first response was to a hospital where liquid oxygen was leaking from a tank in the hospital’s enclosed backyard. Here, we determined that the wet-rag scaling technique was appropriate.

We, however, used different and more involved tactics when we confronted the same cryogenic gas aboard a pressurized truck that had been involved in an accident with an automobile on a crowded interstate highway. There was no apparent leak, but we had to anticipate that one could occur and carefully monitored the gauges on the tanks in the back of the truck.

In both cases, the major concerns— such as setting tip safety zones and guarding against ignition sources— were addressed, but some of the minor tactical procedures were forgotten

Another incident involved leaking ethylene oxide in a fourth-floor hospital laboratory. Although we were fully aware of the flammability hazards, toxicity was our primary concern in that scenario.

Flexibility is a key to preparedness. Although illegally dumped chemical drums may be your most common response and generally are handled by routine procedures, preplans and training must be broad enough to facilitate effective response to unusual and complex incidents. Strategy and tactics must reflect the circumstances of each particular incident. A cryogenic gas leak on a crowded highway demands different tactics than a cryogenic gas leak in a secluded part of an industrial area. Likewise, burning propane cylinders on a city street pose different haxards—and require different tactics—than a natural gas leak in an apartment building.

(Photos by author.)

Ignition sources, flammable range, and vapor density were our concerns when a man slit his wrist and turned on the gas jets, causing natural gas — which is lighter than air—to leak into a fully occupied apartment building. Yet, when 14 of 24 cylinders of propane—which is heavier than air and collects near the floor or ground — stored in a street vendor’s garage were burning and the remainder leaking from the relief valves, the focus was on expansion ratio, evacuation, and BLEVE.

Decon is always a major consideration when a haz-mat team is on the offensive. Yet, the night a large pit of oil in an old Amtrak yard ignited, although PCBs were on everyone’s mind, I, as the operations chief, had to address many other tactical objectives, including containment of the fire and protection of the exposures.

The “real world” of hazardous-material mitigation involves much more than simply reading placards, classifying container shapes, and obtaining shipping papers. Very often checking resource books for chemical and physical properties along with health hazards is helpful, but this information is only a piece of the puzzle. Interpretation and judgment are critical. Logical thinking is essential. What’s needed at the emergency scene is the capacity to apply the printed and visual information in an organized way. While I have found the D.E.C.I.D.E. approach helpful when making decisions as incident commander, 1 also found that I needed a checklist of specific operational steps to accompany it. A tailor-made crib sheet can help a company officer to make the “mental shift” from an aggressive structural firefighter to a cautious hazardous-material mitigator.

Presented below are guidelines for the first-out unit or hazardous-material response team. They are presented in mnemonic format to help you remember them. I call the approach the “Shouldis Technique.”

S: Stage initial units and set up a command post for complete control; self-deployment can be deadly. No one should enter into a spill or vapor cloud—regardless of the scenario— until the product has been identified. Identification can take a few moments if waybills, bills of lading, or cargo manifests are available, or several hours if samples must be taken. Designate safety officers to identify and correct health and safety problems. Have on standby safety team (backup team) members wearing the same gear as entry team members. Whenever damaged containers or vessels are involved, think about setting up evacuation shelters.

H: Establish the hot zone early. Observe the plants, vegetation, and animals in the immediate area for signs of toxicity. Halt if there are drastic changes in the noise level at the relief valve. Mark the perimeters of high-hazard zones clearly with a single-access point to restrict entry only to responders who have had appropriate baseline physicals.

O: Oxidizers and explosives require special precautions. Position the apparatus outward, as it obviously is much easier to drive an emergency vehicle forward than backward.

U: Upwind, uphill, and upstream are ideal positions for the command post, staging areas, rehab sectors, and observation points. Utilize the facility’s built-in fire protection equipment (HVAC, containment pits, holding tanks, dikes, and security cameras) whenever possible.

L: Lines of water, unmanned master streams, should be placed at or near the flammable area in an umbrella fashion to control nonwater reactive vapors.

D. Decon must never be an afterthought. Detain the entry team for medical evaluation and brief its members on the signs and symptoms of exposure before they head home. Delegate tasks and keep a reasonable span of control (normally three to seven responders). Documentation must be an ongoing process. Darkness and insufficient supplies (disposable clothing, plastic bags, soap, neutralizing solutions) lead to a defensive operation.

I: Eliminate ignition sources. Identification-. Obtain chemical information from at least three separate sources. Local industry, CUEMTREC, and CAER provide accurate information. Note, however, that when three or more chemicals are released and mix, there are no “experts.” Isolate the immediate area and monitor with instruments (detector tubes, explosive meters, and oxygen indicators). Implement functional areas—command, operation, planning, logistic, finance; the multijurisdictional agencies involved will require it.

S: Stop the flow of product. Although salvage procedures should prevent additional risk to emergency responders, wildlife, and the environment, cleanup and disposal operations are beyond the scope of emergency responders and should be accomplished by shippers, manufacturers, and private contractors.

Chief Galvin was prophetic when he warned us 20 years ago to “brace” for the increased demand in our services. With today’s unparalleled production, transportation, storage, and use of hazardous materials, the responsibilities of the incident commander have become monumental, and the rules of the emergency response have changed. The fire service is—and for the foreseeable future will be —the critical difference between a minor problem and an environmental nightmare, control and chaos, and mitigation and litigation.

Making this critical difference, however, depends on our learning from past mistakes. By having the foresight to incorporate operational steps into your checklist, your department will be in a better position to avoid serious or fatal mistakes. Start preparing yourself today!

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