By Collin Hofschulte
Firefighters must check tools to fulfill their duty to their community. Although one can make an argument that all tools on the fire apparatus should always be ready and operable, I choose to initially invest my time in checking victim-necessary tools every day I come on shift.
Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), hoseline loads, and rotary saws are victim-necessary tools that must be checked daily or as regularly as possible. These tools are used more often in saving lives than salvage covers, socket sets, and recreational fire pamphlets sitting in cabinets.
- Better Apparatus and Equipment Checks Save Time, Money, and Lives
- Be Sure to Check Your Bunker Gear on a Regular Basis
- Organizing Your Apparatus for Fast and Effective Operations
- Daily Apparatus Checks Are Commitment to Safety
THE FIREFIGHTER’S LIFELINE
I always begin my time at the fire station by checking my SCBA. The SCBA is the firefighter’s lifeline. I see it this way: Firefighters cannot rescue potential victims if they cannot breathe fresh air. To increase my comfortability in placing my mask on while wearing gloves, I operate and check my SCBA at all times while wearing gloves.
Follow the air. Ensuring that the firefighter gets air means that every seal from the tank cylinder to the face piece must be in order. Follow the air systematically from the tank to the face piece. I visually inspect my face piece, pack frame, bottle, and gauge components for any cracks, discoloration, deformities, and missing pieces. I take a mental note of pressure gauges and hydrostatic test dates. Check buddy-breathing systems, if present. Importantly, also check the RIC-UAC connection. Many times, the protective caps over this connection are damaged from wear and tear or are missing completely. This can lead to dirt and debris impacting connections and air flows. Inlets to the air system are just as important as outlets. Make sure O-rings on high- and low-pressure connections as well as seals along the regulator and face piece are not damaged or cracked.
Perform a functional test. NFPA- compliant SCBA will have a personal alert safety system (PASS), which is integrated into the SCBA itself. When the cylinder valve is opened, the PASS alarm will turn on. A properly functioning PASS system will prealarm after 20 seconds of motionless activity. Without moving the motion sensor, the PASS will move into full alarm mode. Open the tank cylinder valve to pressurize all SCBA hoses and engage the PASS alarm, then immediately close the valve and place your face piece on. With the PASS alarm awaiting motion, I conduct a breathing exercise while waiting for the prealarm to signal. Remain still and breathe as slowly as possible until the hoses are empty and the PASS alarm has engaged. I momentarily open the purge valve to check its functionality as well.
After 30 seconds when the PASS alarm has activated, I know that my air system circuit is intact and functional as well as the motion sensor. I choose to breathe down my face piece so that I feel the effects of negative pressure from an empty hoseline. By doing this many times over a period of time, I am comfortable with my equipment and do not have any feelings of claustrophobia or anxiousness when this happens. After all this is complete, engage the PASS alarm emergency button to ensure it is also functional. Last, power down the system and remove your face piece to check that the SCBA cylinder tank is as completely filled as possible. Anything below the maximal operating pressure is unacceptable. Many firefighters have found themselves in situations where every breath of air from their tank is absolutely necessary. When you are rescuing victims or attempting to save yourself, SCBA air provides every chance possible for another breath of life. Give yourself, and the community you serve, the benefit of another breath by checking your SCBA often and filling the tank maximally.
OTHER TOOLS
After looking over the SCBA, I dismount the unit and walk around the apparatus while thinking about the location of pertinent victim-conscious tools. Since I normally carry hand tools in my riding position on the apparatus, I think of hosebeds and rotary saws and chain saws next.
At emergencies, victims do not usually have time for firefighters to delay getting water on a fire by fixing a conglomerate mess of hose in the front yard. It is up to the intelligently aggressive firefighter to deploy water as quickly and efficiently as possible while members are going into the building to search for and rescue victims. Every fire company across the country has a different hose package. It is your job to become intimately familiar with the package used on your apparatus. You may spot inconsistencies and potential issues with hose deployment when you understand how it is packed and how it should look when it is loaded properly. Thankfully, I have been able to avoid potential issues by checking the hosebed immediately in the morning. There are also times when crew members do not relay a change in the hose status to others. Hoses not loaded properly will not be deployed easily and timely. Many times, I have stripped the hosebed of an apparatus so that it can be prepared as it was intended. I have found this as an enjoyable, positive learning process. I have understood more about the deployment of hose from packing it than I have learned from pulling it.
When I speak to firefighters about saws, most tell me that saws are for vertical ventilation. While chain saws provide a means for creating much needed vertical ventilation holes at fires with lethal smoke, I also think of rotary saws and their usefulness in forcible entry or rescue situations. At the start of every shift, I attempt to start every saw and small engine on the apparatus, including positive pressure fans. To some, this may seem excessive. But, I routinely find motor-operated saws inoperable, broken, low on fuel, and not lubricated adequately. By using manuals or quickly searching the Internet, you can ensure optimal performance of your saws by examining each part of the saw according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I once had to explain the importance of checking saws and powered equipment to a new firefighter on my shift. Months earlier, I had responded to a call for a structure fire with possibly two children trapped inside. Dispatch reports indicated a garage that was showing smoke and fire. The first arriving company reported heavy smoke and fire conditions along with difficulty gaining access to the structure because of garage doors and heavy hoarding conditions inside. The officer of this company called for a rotary saw to gain access. Being that I was riding the next unit to arrive, it was my responsibility to fulfil the mission of gaining access for further search and extinguishment. Mentally, I was prepared and ready.
Having already donned my SCBA face piece, I was immediately heading to the compartment for the rotary saw when the parking brake was engaged. I anticipated a metal garage door and grabbed the saw with a diamond-tipped blade on it. With a hand tool in my other hand, I headed to the building. Unfortunately, I had not personally checked the saw earlier that day.
When I arrived at the building, heavy smoke was pushing from the soffits and gable vent of a one-story nonattached garage in the alley behind a commercial building. I tried to start the rotary saw, something I had easily done numerous times before, but this time it wouldn’t start. My company had to ask for another unit’s saw. This was not only embarrassing but certainly not in the best interest of the public. I was ashamed for not checking my tools intimately in the morning.
Every piece of equipment from my riding apparatus should be completely operable and with a competent operator. My only consolation at this fire was that there were no victims inside. The time for firefighters to make access into the structure and search for trapped victims was delayed—in this case, because my saw had not started. Firefighters must not only ensure that their saws are operable but that they are fueled; lubricated; properly tightened and adjusted, without imperfections in the blade; and clean.
Rotary saws, in particular, are most times used to access areas that are fortified and too difficult for conventional forcible entry access. Victims often are trapped in these areas. Victim-conscious tool checks are now the first step in my life safety activities. The only sure way to know that equipment will be effective is to inspect and operate it yourself.
MAKE IT APPLICABLE
Those in volunteer departments are not exempt from frequent tool and SCBA checks. In fact, it makes checking equipment even more important. Start and inspect saws every time you make it to the station. Turn on and field test SCBA—it only takes a few minutes.
When I was a volunteer firefighter, I routinely chose to not start saws because I was uncomfortable and unfamiliar with their operation. But because of my conviction for life safety, I learned how to operate them myself when I took accountability for my success on the fireground. Checking tools will not feel time-consuming when you recognize that it is preemptive to successful rescue of victims or fire extinguishment.
HUMAN NATURE
Many departments have a weekly or monthly policy for apparatus and equipment checks, but this policy does notaccount for technological or inanimate object failures, such as saws and SCBA. Humans are the only stop gap. Regardless of department policy or local culture, do not be dissuaded by those who tell you it’s not necessary to check your equipment as often as possible. If you want to be ready for the rescue, all your tools must be spotless and operable. Your SCBA must be fully filled and charged with batteries, your hosebed must be neat and tidy, and your saws must start at the drop of a hat.
The fire department has an explicit responsibility to be prepared for a wide variety of emergencies. Emergencies involve victims and victims require rescuers. Rescuersrequire tools and knowledge. You are provided with a station and apparatus to bring operable equipment and knowledgeable personnel to the scene of an emergency. Ensure that your equipment is prepared and that your mind is always victim-ready.
COLLIN HOFSCHULTE is a firefighter and fire instructor for the Duluth (MN) Fire Department. He provides EMS training and education to more than 135 staff members as a medical coordinator. Additionally, he has served as a paramedic preceptor for Mayo Clinic Ambulance and as a fire instructor II for fire instruction and rescue education and for the Duluth Fire Department.
