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The 24-hour debate
Ten Ontario departments are using 24-hour shifts including Kitchener, Ont., which adopted the longer shift in January. We look at the pros and cons of the 24-hour rotation on page 8.
AsOn the road again . . .
I sat down to write this I had just come back from a road trip through Hastings County (near Belleville, Ont.) where I was the guest speaker at a mutual-aid meeting for nine eastern Ontario fire departments.
Before the meeting at the Marmora Community Centre, I toured fire halls in Trenton, Stirling-Rawdon and Marmora, all tranquil and charming spots far removed from the bigcity rat race and darned proud of their fire departments.
After the meeting, I drove east on Highway 401 to Kingston, Ont., for a photo shoot.
This kind of road trip should be mandatory training for provincial and federal politicians and ministers whose portfolios include public safety.
The contrast between the rural departments, with their aging or hand-me-down pumpers and built-from-scratch rescue trucks, and the state-of-the-art technical rescue unit delivered the day before in Kingston, was startling. Sure, it’s apples and oranges – Kingston is a big city with different needs and challenges than Marmora. And while the quality of the fire fighting in Kingston and Marmora may not be any different, the quality of the equipment is an issue.
I know I’m preaching to the choir – you all know through surveys (Fire Fighting in Canada, September 2008) that volunteer departments are underfunded, their equipment is out of date and doesn’t meet NFPA standards, and they’re making do through the ingenuity and hard work of their talented members.
But with fire chiefs’ associations from coast to coast and the Canadian Governmental Committee working tirelessly to present a clear picture of the inequity to provincial and federal politicians, the road trip and its contrasting scenarios proved an interesting exercise.
The CGC, made up of fire service officials and manufacturers, expects to have its website up and running shortly (www.fema/femsacgc.org). It’s working to get the message across to Ottawa that the fire service needs federal funding to meet standards and its public safety obligations. And the chiefs’ associations are working through their provincial ministries to educate provincial governments about the risks of underfunded fire departments. But they need your help. E-mail or write to your MPP (or MLA or MNA) and your MP, or drop in to the constituency office with a Tims for a chat. Call it Lobbying 101 – a constant and consistent message from all levels of the Canadian fire service will get results. It takes time – FEMSA in the U.S. slowly but steadily built a relationship with Washington that has resulted in federal grants for fire equipment. FEMSA reps are advising the GCG on best practices. Stay tuned.
We tried to reach curler John Morris, a firefighter in Chestermere, Alta., after his Olympic gold medal performance in Vancouver with skip Kevin Martin, lead Ben Hebert and second Marc Kennedy before our March 1 deadline but the Olympian’s schedule didn’t leave much time for magazine interviews. Congratulations!
This issue features several stories on health and wellness, a growing concern for firefighters and managers, including our cover story on the trend toward 24-hour shifts (page 8) and a piece on so-called occupational athletes and the steps firefighters can take to prevent injury (page 26), along with our regular FitSmart column (page 30). Health and wellness takes on a larger presence in our sister magazine, Fire Fighting in Canada, starting next month with the introduction of a column by Ian Crosby, wellness and fitness co-ordinator with the Calgary Fire Department.
Ilove hearing stories about the job. Portrayals of smoke-filled houses as hot as liquid metal and as loud as firecrackers, where the fog of water in front was the difference between walking out and being carried out; or accounts of the horrific car crash and how the tools were wielded around a mangled wreck of steel and flesh with the precision of a surgeon brandishing a scalpel to save the trapped victim. These are great stories, especially when told by members who have been around for many years and have come close to seeing and doing it all. Somehow these guys have the ability to recount an event from years past and will it to take on a personality; they have the ability to make the story come alive. I think the characteristic that all of these tales of adventure share is danger; that’s what we find interesting – the possibility of disaster. Although I love the stories, I wonder if when I find myself in similar situations I will have the skill set to make the right decisions.
We all know that this job comes with risk and danger and we assume that the risk is at least somehow weighed, calculated to assure us that we are acting in the safest manner in an unsafe situation. But who is evaluating the safety of the environment? Who says the roof will hold us or the room won’t flash over? Our officers account for a size-up of the scene and senior members have an eye and ear open for dangers inside but, ultimately, all of us are accountable for our own safety and we are responsible to watch the backs of our brothers and sisters. We cannot make the mistake of always thinking that someone else is going to watch over us; we have to be that watcher too. This issue poses an interesting dilemma for members who are new on the job and lack experience: How are we supposed to identify danger if we aren’t always sure what to look for? How are we supposed to mitigate risk when we are unaware of the warning signs? And what should we do when we find ourselves in that dire situation?
it’s easy to be gung-ho and leap before we look; the real challenge lies in consciously doing our jobs effectively while maintaining a low risk threshold, and not being afraid to speak up when the time arises. I’m not talking about hiding in the shadows or taking a back seat on the big call; I am saying we should always be thinking a few steps a head and having a plan, and a plan B. Whether it’s our own safety, the crew or the victim we are trying to save, the goal is that everyone goes home alive.
Jesse ChAlloNer
We cannot make the mistake of always thinking that someone else is going to watch over us; we have to be that watcher too.
One answer to these questions is training – getting together as a crew and using different techniques to learn what to look for and what to do if we identify a hazard. Another way to prepare for problem situations is to read up on different scenarios that have posed issues for firefighters in the past. There is a wealth of information on the Internet and in the pages of magazines that can be applied to personal and crew safety. I believe that one of the best learning tools is experience – practising and going through the motions until they are reflexes. The goal is to have all members of a crew be apt at dealing with any adverse circumstance, or better yet, able to identify problems and act to avoid disaster before the unthinkable occurs.
I am not at the point in my career where I can say with confidence that I see all the angles of any situation, but through experience, training, and study I am slowly becoming more comfortable sizing up situations as they arise. As junior members of a service
I’ve seen the topic of safety discussed from both sides. One school of thought is that the fire service has become too safe. The argument might be that almost any risk is too great and only in perfect conditions should we execute the rescue or attack the fire. Although this attitude may create a safer working environment, it may also precipitate few extinguished fires or, worse, fewer saved victims. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those who simply say it’s a dangerous job and we do what it takes to get it done. Unfortunately, I would venture that this perspective would elicit frequent accidents and more risk than is necessary. I think the most acceptable perspective is a balance between the two – calculated risk where needed. It’s our job to look at the environment and make a plan geared toward accomplishing the task, and do so in the safest manner so that we can move on to the next task.
I heard a terrific analogy for our job once and it stuck with me. “When the garbage man heads off on his route, he expects to pull around the corner and see garbage; he expects to pick up trash. When we go out on a call, we should expect to pull up and see smoke or flames; we should expect to fight fires and rescue victims.”
The point of this statement is that we basically already know what our tasks are; we should be ready to perform, and always be reevaluating our plan of action. If we head into a call prepared, and with the mindset of doing the job, we will be proficient at dealing with whatever is thrown at us. We will also be able to perform these tasks using the safest approach possible.
Our job will never be 100 per cent safe; I would wager that none of us would really want that. The excitement is part of what draws us. There will always be new stories about inferno-like fires, exploding airbags or smoke so thick a hand in front of your face is invisible. It’s inevitable that risks will be taken but with planning, preparedness and safety we will be able to come home and tell the tales we all love.
Jesse Challoner has been involved with fire/EMS since 2002 and has been with Strathcona County Emergency Services in Alberta since 2005. He is a second-year paramedic student and instructor at the Emergency Services Academy in Sherwood Park, Alta.
The 24-hour debate
Pros and cons of longer shift
by James Careless and Laura King
In January, the Kitchener Fire Department in Ontario adopted a 24-hour shift for its 188 full-time firefighters. Kitchener is the ninth Ontario department to try the 24-hour shift as support for the longer workday and its touted lifestyle benefits gains momentum among Canadian firefighters and their unions.
“We’re still in the honeymoon phase,” says Kitchener Fire Chief Tim Beckett. “It’s too early to tell if it’s working.”
While most Canadian fire departments still use 10-14 shifts or variations, some cities outside Ontario, including Calgary, are starting to hear union rumblings of support for the longer shifts. Fire chiefs associations expect the trend toward the longer shifts to spread as Ontario departments work out kinks in the system and more firefighters in other regions grasp the notion and bring it to their unions.
While the 24-hour shifts appear to work for some departments – Windsor and Woodstock, Ont., have had 24-hour shifts for years – some fire chiefs are wrestling with the lengthy shift and its human resources and management challenges.
At the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs labour relations seminar in January, several chief officers and HR managers participated in a forum on the 24-hour shift. Their thoughts? Generally, young firefighters tend to like the 24-hour shifts because working just seven days a month allows for more time to do other things. Veteran firefighters almost universally despise the longer shifts because their bodies can’t cope with the lack of sleep. And platoon chiefs, in particular, who have to stay awake for the entire 24-hour shift, find the hours onerous.
Some departments that have adopted or attempted 24-hour shifts can rhyme off a litany of administrative headaches: sick days need to be redefined – is one 24-hour shift one sick day or two or three?; training schedules need to be amended – firefighters can’t train for an entire 24-hour shift, but getting the required amount of training in on seven shifts a month is next to impossible; and grievance procedures have to be modified – generally grievances must be filed within seven days of an incident but what if a firefighter isn’t on duty for several days following the incident? One major quibble among fire service managers is what they call the “disconnect” between firefighters who work 24-hour shifts and the
department, again because the firefighters are in the fire hall just seven days a month.
Other chiefs say the 24-hour shift has its share of challenges but so do all other shift configurations.
There’s an enormous amount of research on the effect of 24hour shifts on the likes of medical interns and assembly line workers but no conclusive studies about the impact of the 24-hour shift on firefighters and how being awake for 24 hours affects their abilities to do their jobs. Managers worry about firefighter safety – if firefighters are called out to a major incident 21 hours into a shift are their cognitive abilities impaired and can they function at 100 per cent in potentially life-threatening situations? What about onthe-job stamina and the risks of driving home after being awake for 24 hours? Proponents counter that firefighters on 14-hour night shifts come to work already tired after being awake all day or working at a second job and are just as tired after work as those who have worked a 24-hour shift.
the background
The 24-hour shift has been the norm in parts of the U.S. for years; indeed, according to a 2006 discussion paper by the Ontario Association of Fire Chief on 24-hour shifts, Minneapolis has used the 24hour shift for more than 50 years to effectively manage its 56-hour work week operating under a three platoon system.
In Canada, Windsor adopted the 24-hour shift in 1965 as a system for managing its 48-hour work week (rather than the standard 42-hour week) while Woodstock’s suppression division adopted it in 1996 to reduce absenteeism on weekends.
The London Fire Service in Ontario adopted a 24-hour shift in 1997 when the city faced fiscal pressures and would have had to lay off eight firefighters. The London Professional Fire Fighters Association proposed the implementation of a 24-hour shift schedule to avoid layoffs. Since then, Barrie, Kingston, Mississauga, Newmarket, Oakville and Toronto have adopted 24-hour shifts, Kitchener is doing a three-year trial and Peterborough recently adopted the 24-hour rotation to save money on salaries and sick time.
Younger firefighters are said to prefer the 24-hour shift but older workers and managers are less keen on the longer shift rotation.
“The problem with the 10-14 hour rotation is that fatigue built up when you were on the night shifts,’ says Steve Jones, president of the Kitchener Professional Fire Fighters Association. “There was no way you could catch up on sleep in the 10-hour periods between shifts. You would be exhausted and your sleep patterns got all mixed up by the time you came in for that last night.”
In contrast, says Wisconsin-based sleep researcher Dr. Linda Glazner, the 24-hour rotation doesn’t fundamentally disrupt human circadian rhythms, the 24-hour biological cycle that governs living things.
Glazner has compared the impact of 10-14 and 24-hour shifts on firefighters in Toronto, California and New Jersey. Her research has convinced many fire departments to move to the 24-hour rotation.
“A healthy person’s circadian rhythms, which can be measured electronically, look like a ‘sine wave’,” says Glazner. “The circadian rhythms of someone who works the 24-hour rotation conforms to this shape. The circadian rhythms of a 10-14 hour worker do not.”
Glazner agrees that 24-hour workers have to sleep heavily the day after a shift to catch up on rest. But she says the scientific evidence is clear: “Twenty-four hour workers do not suffer the sleep disruptions – and potentially the health problems associated with them – that 10-14 hour workers do.”
Some chiefs in departments that have implemented the 24-hour shift say firefighters seem to like the new shift better than the old 10-14.
“I find that when I ask our employees, they feel better and have improved morale,” says Chief Harold Tulk of the Kingston Fire Department. “On balance, I’d say that 80 to 85 per cent are happy with the change.”
But critics of the 24-hour shift say that although Glazner’s research on sleep is credible, it doesn’t specifically address firefighters and the inherent risks of their jobs.
Chief Mike Figliola of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority opposes the 24-hour rotation even though his department had adopted it.
“The biggest problem with the 24-hour shift is the impact of sleep deprivation,” Figliola says. “Sleep deprivation after 24 hours awake is the equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.10. That’s 25 per cent above the legal limit.”
After considerable discussion with the union, Figliola’s department adopted a modified 24-hour shift rotation that provides a minimum of 48 hours off between 24-hour shifts and every second weekend off. It also avoids the traditional Friday on, Saturday off, Sunday on weekend pattern that firefighters and their families find onerous. Figliola says two patterns meet this criteria:
Asked about Figliola’s point about lack of sleep equating to a blood alcohol level of 0.10, Glazner says Figliola is correct “except that this doesn’t happen all the time. Typically, officers on 24-hour shifts get the chance to get some sleep.”
Chief Richard Boyes of the Oakville Fire Department notes that platoon chiefs don’t get such breaks. “They have to be awake the entire 24 hours to monitor what’s going on, and that’s pretty hard on them,” he says.
Figliola is not moved by Glazner’s argument. “The rate of technical errors increases after 16 hours without sleep,” he says. And in those instances where firefighters do not get any sleep – as can happen in busy urban areas – the danger of accidents being caused by sleep deprivation is very real.
“There have been catastrophic events attributed to sleep deprivation,” Figliola says. “They include Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, the Exxon Valdez and the Challenger Explosion.”
The 24-hour rotation costs no more than the 10-14 schedule because the hours balance out over the month. As a result, “there has been no adverse impact on Toronto Fire Services operations,” says Toronto Fire Services Division Chief David Sheen.
“In fact, thanks to the positive benefits that we’ve been able to negotiate with our union, the 24-hour schedule is working for us.”
Toronto Professional Fire Fighters Association President Scott Marks agrees. “We’re up to a 95 per cent approval rating among our members for the 24-hour rotation,” he says.
training challenges
Training is another issue that worries chiefs, because training officers tend to work a 9-to-5 schedule. “It is hard to get people who are off-shift back in for training classes,” admits Kingston’s Chief Tulk. “Of course, it was hard to get them in during the old 10-14 hour schedule too.”
In the same vein, it is difficult for senior officers to mentor upand-coming talent simply because they don’t have much contact with one another under the 24-hour rotation.
Another concern is how emotionally connected 24-hour firefighters are to their departments, given that they are on duty just seven days a month.
“We run the risk of fire fighting becoming a well-paid part-time job,” says Chief Figliola. “They are supposed to be relaxing when they are not with us. But we all know how busy firefighters are in their off hours.”
Finally, not everyone is able to adjust to working 24 hours straight. “We find the younger people can handle it, but the experienced people in their 50s find it’s too much,” says Chief Boyes. “In Oakville, we’ve had eight retirements since we made the change [in 2008]. Not all of them were related to going to the 24-hour rotation, but some definitely were.”
In the executive summary of its 2006 report on 24-hour shifts, the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs identified concerns with the 24-hour shift schedule and urged departments to consider a lengthy checklist of items from call volume to sick days before implementing the longer rotation.
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
“Individuals’ cognitive and physical performance tends to decline after 24 hours without sleep,” the report said. “Occupational health and safety studies indicate longer shifts and shorter rest periods increase the probability that accidents will occur. Moving to a 24-hour shift may increase exposure to legal liability.
“Fire departments considering a change to the 24-hour shift schedule should proceed with caution.”
A mission statement for fire service leaders
I’ve had the good fortune to work with fire service leaders, chiefs and company officers who inspired and challenged me to be the best firefighter and company officer I could be.
Like great leaders anywhere, those with whom I had the privilege of working shared qualities that I always hoped I could emulate and one day pass on to others.
In my effort to do so, I attempted to define those qualities with the ultimate goal of developing a personal philosophy or mission statement to live by.
The common traits were relatively easy to identify: pride, enthusiasm, respect, discipline, motivation, dedication, stubbornness, empathy, courage, humility, kindness, assertiveness, and knowing when to risk a little or a lot.
Over time, I realized that a philosophy requiring straightforward and consistent application of these core values was the key.
The following mission statement for fire service leaders is not new or revolutionary but may offer some ideas for those willing to give it a try: I will do everything in my power to ensure that those firefighters for whom I am responsible can work safely, conduct themselves professionally and enjoy coming to work.
Although it can be difficult in the inherently risky business of fire fighting to achieve any one of these goals individually, the real challenge lies in consistently achieving all three together.
For example, if working safely were our only objective, chiefs and company officers could simply insist that defensive strategies be initiated at all structure fires.
• Encourage physical fitness and lead by example through your own personal fitness level.
• An incredible 50 per cent of annual line-of-duty deaths can be attributed to heart attacks, strokes and other medical issues associated with poor health and fitness.
• Ensure that your members understand that they can question an order if they see something dangerous that you don’t.
PeTer hUNT
Pride and professionalism are infectious, and if our leaders demonstrate it consistently, so will our members.
The obvious problem with this strategy is that most buildings would burn to the ground, many more civilians would die, we wouldn’t look very professional and we’d have a lot of unhappy (but safe) firefighters to deal with.
Here are some suggestions on how fire service leaders find the appropriate balance between safety, professionalism and job satisfaction.
working safely
There’s an old saying in the fire service that goes something like, “Let no man’s ghost return to say his training let him down.”
• Train lots, and never forget the basics. Take advantage of the incredible resources available today through websites, books and the ingenuity and creativity of your crew members.
• Ensure that department policies and budgets allow adequate time and resources to train.
• Discuss strategies and tactics with your crew regularly and cross train with neighbouring stations and mutual-aid departments.
• Although you can’t anticipate everything, on the way to the fire is not the time to review who does what.
• Review riding and tool assignments regularly and never assume that your firefighters are mind readers – let them know what you expect.
• Wear all your PPE, stick together, insist on a radio for every member and communicate with your crew at all times.
Professional conduct
I’m not talking about career versus part-time or volunteer firefighters but about an attitude that says I’m here for my community, I know my job, I’m well trained and the public can count on me.
It’s not an accident that firefighters are among the most trusted and respected members of society; fire service leaders have a responsibility to ensure that this tradition continues with each new generation.
Whether you’re fighting the big one, or preplanning a new building, remember that you are representing the entire fire service. Pride and professionalism are infectious and if our leaders demonstrate it consistently, so will our members.
Get out in the community as often as you can. Act like a professional, show respect to the public at all times and let them know you’re out there training, inspecting and pre-planning regularly. They deserve our best in everything we do.
enjoy coming to work
Although firefighters typically enjoy a high level of job satisfaction, strong leadership can only improve an already good thing.
Fire service leaders must ensure that their members know their opinions matter, that they have a voice in the organization, that their ideas have value, that their health, safety, and survival are a priority, and that they can respectfully question department policies.
Ironically, the best trained firefighters are generally the happiest, as they are confident knowing they are prepared for most situations, understand what is expected of them, can work safely in otherwise dangerous environments, have confidence in their leaders, can conduct themselves professionally and will continue to earn and deserve the respect of the communities they serve.
There is no room for complacency in the fire service and especially among our leaders, so make an effort every day to ensure that those members for whom you are responsible can work safely, act professionally and are happy.
Peter Hunt, a 29-year veteran of the fire service, is a captain in the Ottawa Fire Department’s suppression division. He can be reached at peter.hunt@rogers.com
RIT tactical considerations
by Mark van der Feyst
The thermal imaging camera has changed the way rapid intervention teams operate. RIT members no longer function blindly inside structures that are on fire. The TIC has enabled us to see thermal or heat energy inside structures and is a useful tool for conducting searches for civilian victims and for overhaul operations. It is also useful for searching for lost or missing people in open areas such as fields. TICs help us determine the number of passengers in a car at a accident by looking at the heat energy left on the seats. When we conduct primary searches for civilian victims inside a structure, a TIC increases our chances of finding victims and allows us to quickly locate and remove them. The same tactical consideration can be applied to locating a mayday firefighter; the TIC makes it easier for us to locate downed firefighters and reduces the removal time.
We need to remember that the TIC works on thermal or heat energy. It displays the temperature difference between hot and cold objects and presents an image of the surrounding environment. The TIC creates pictures made of heat exposure rather than of light. But it has limitations. TICs cannot see through objects or water and will detect the user’s reflection if it is pointed at a shiny object such as a mirror or a piece of metal. The one big limitation is its battery; the TIC is useless if the battery is not charged regularly.
The TIC is usually among our tools when we conduct overhaul operations to look for fire extension behind walls and around doors
and windows. It would be beneficial to use the TIC at the start of the operation rather than only at the end of it but firefighters often tend to overlook this. When RIT members establish the staging area, they need to make sure they include the TIC among their tools and use it at the beginning of the operation.
When a firefighter declares a mayday, time is of the essence. The quicker a mayday firefighter can be located and extricated, the better the chance of survival. When RIT members conduct a search for a mayday firefighter, they are going to either go to the last known location or follow the sound of the PASS alarm. Following the sound of the PASS alarm is quicker than going to the last known location and beginning the search from there. Regardless, either of these methods means RIT members are searching blindly. Having a TIC enables them to speed up the search.
In RIT training, students are taught that the officer or team leader holds the TIC. Using the TIC means the officer will be able to direct the crew much more efficiently. However, RIT members cannot rely wholly on the TIC during a mayday search; they still need to use search skills. While the TIC is a good tool for helping us locate the mayday firefighter, too many firefighters rely on the TIC to lead them in and fall prey to the trap of the TIC. The TIC shows only
Photo by Mark van der Feyst
Examples of two styles of TICs. Both are hand-held devices.
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what it is being aimed at. If the TIC is being aimed up at the ceiling, it will show only an image of what is up at the ceiling. If we use this device to lead us in, we are going to miss important things like holes in the floor, conditions above us and our point of reference. When we search using our skills, we are going to be either using a left-hand or right-hand search. The reference point is the wall. If the RIT team is using a search line, the reference point is the search line. The reference point is important because it is our way out. Not having a reference point and relying too much on the TIC to lead us in and to lead us out is a dangerous mistake. The TIC is not our reference point. Ensure that you always have a reference point with either the building or with a search rope.
When the RIT team is inside the structure and has located the mayday firefighter, the TIC can be used to monitor the conditions around the mayday firefighter and the RIT team. The officer will want to be located a little bit back from the RIT, allowing team members to do their jobs while monitoring the conditions. Monitoring the conditions will also help the incident commander control the fire. If the conditions are getting worse, the RIT officer will have to decide whether it is acceptable to continue the operation or call for more resources.
The TIC can also help us to figure out whether the mayday firefighter is breathing. The TIC shows dark images that represent cooler surfaces. With the TIC aimed at the SCBA of the mayday firefighter, we can see if the hose going from the face piece to the reducing block is cooler – or darker – than the air in the cylinder going to the face piece. If it is not dark in colour on the screen, then there is a good chance that the firefighter is not breathing.
As the RIT officer is monitoring the fire conditions around the operation, he may determine that the original exit point is not sufficient. He will be able to locate a secondary point of exit using the TIC. This secondary point will offer a quicker removal process, thus getting the mayday firefighter out of the danger zone more quickly.
The TIC is only be as good as the person using it, so practise with the TIC and become familiar with its operation.
Mark van der Feyst is a 10-year veteran of the fire service who works for the City of Woodstock Fire Department in Ontario. He can be reached at Mark@ FireStarTraining.com
Up in smoke
Clan lab bust chalked up to experience for B.C. department
by Shannon Moneo
When Sooke Fire Chief Steve Sorensen was contacted by the local RCMP in late December, the call for assistance was unlike any other the 27-year department member had received.
Sooke RCMP Staff Sgt. Stephen Wright doubted he could secure a search warrant to investigate a suspected illegal drug lab. But as concerns about public safety mushroomed, he decided to enlist the services of the 45-member volunteer Sooke Fire Department, which serves roughly 12,000 residents in a rural/ urban area about 30 kilometres west of Victoria.
“We did not have enough information to obtain a search warrant,” Staff Sgt. Wright says. “We felt it was prudent to check it out.”
Following Staff Sgt. Wright’s decision, an operation was set into motion for a surprise descent at a trailer park that had seen better days but not likely such a show of police force.
Joining Sooke’s 10 volunteer firefighters was a four-man specialized clandestine lab team from Vancouver, a five-man emergency response team and police dog and handler from Victoria, and five Sooke RCMP.
All of them were acting on the suspicion that a clan lab, with its inherent dangers to both the trailer park residents and emergency responders, was producing some sort of illegal drug.
The joint firefighter/police operation, large by Sooke standards, required surefire organization. “Our plan was that we go in under the Fire Services Act, ask the property owners if they would let us look at the property to determine if it was a hazard. If it became a criminal matter, the RCMP would take over and get a search warrant,” explains Chief Sorensen, 49, who took over the department’s top job in June 2009.
Under Section 21 of the Fire Services Act of B.C, following a complaint, a fire commissioner or fire inspector can enter any premises, anywhere in B.C., if there is suspicion that a fire hazard exists on the premises.
In addition to Chief Sorensen, the Sooke department has three
paid, full-time members. Roughly 40 per cent of department calls are medical-related, 20 per cent are for MVAs and five per cent are fire calls.
According to Staff Sgt. Wright, police in B.C., and even across Canada, regularly ask fire departments for their help to investigate clandestine labs when search warrants can’t be obtained. He said fire departments’ training for hazardous materials is invaluable to the police. Members of the Sooke Fire Department are no exception.
Yet this “tag teaming” is being slammed by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
“You’re doing through the back door what you can’t do through the front door,” says Micheal Vonn, a policy director with the Civil Liberties Association. “We don’t want to see legitimate safety concerns used as a means to circumvent warrant procedures.”
The separation between policing and safety should be maintained, says Vonn from Vancouver. The two agencies have different responsibilities and merging them could pose risks in many areas, she says.
But an exhaustive amount of information is needed to convince a B.C. judge or justice of the peace, beyond a reasonable doubt, that premises should be entered by police, maintains Staff Sgt. Wright. Background checks, recent activity at the suspect premises and specific information about the suspected crime are needed.
Suspicion alone isn’t enough, says Staff Sgt. Wright, who arrived in Sooke late in 2009 from the Whistler RCMP detachment. “We can’t enter a residence even if someone reports they’re making bombs,” he says.
To build their case, Sooke RCMP began collecting evidence following a complaint to the RCMP of a chemical smell in the roughly 25-trailer park. During a drive around the park, the police spotted
Photo courtesy sooke Fire dePartMent
Four members of the RCMP clandestine lab team who responded to an incident in Sooke, B.C., just before firefighters moved in for a “raid” on an alleged drug operation that turned out to be perfectly legal.
several antifreeze containers and propane bottles on the suspected property. Reports of suspicious activity were also received, Staff Sgt. Wright says. The Sooke Fire Department also got a complaint about “strange odours” in the trailer park, says Chief Sorensen.
Within days, the police decided to act and on the morning of Dec. 23, after police and firefighters were in place, a plan was mapped. Soon after, Chief Sorensen and his training officer, Capt. Matt Barney, donned bulletproof vests, a first for both of the fathers.
“I was doing OK until they gave me the bulletproof vest and then the danger of it kind of sunk home,” recalls Chief Sorensen. Going into the operation, Sorensen and Barney initially thought it would be a rather casual event, not the full-on undertaking it became.
“It almost looked like a parade. There had to have been a dozen police and fire vehicles. It’s not unusual to see Mounties with sidearms but when they start showing up with fully automatic weapons and the yellow hazmat team is coming in on the running board of the suburban, it’s straight out of the movies,” said Sorensen of the police who remained hidden from the trailer residents. “They were all over the place. If somebody ran they were trying to cover the bases.” Sooke’s firefighters were also hidden from view, with adrenalin pumping, prepared to spring into action.
As the two fire officers approached the aging trailer, a few steps behind were two plainclothes emergency response team members, ready to take over if it became obvious an illegal operation was found. Coincidentally, there had been a fire, believed to have been started by discarded cigarettes, at the same trailer several years ago, Chief Sorensen recalls.
An older woman answered the door and soon after her middleaged son joined her, bearing documents from Health Canada that stated he could grow medicinal marijuana on the premises. A doctor had prescribed marijuana as a way for the man to treat his chronic pain. With the revelation that the suspected clan lab was actually a legal marijuana patch, the “air went out of everybody,” Chief Sorensen admits.
Eager to show his unexpected visitors his legal grow op, the male occupant led Sorensen, Barney and the two plainclothes police to his three-metre by three-metre cedar shed as the clan lab team, the German Shepherd and rest of the operation continued to hide nearby.
Inside were about 30 young marijuana plants. The man’s Health Canada licence allowed a medicinal marijuana garden of up to 97 plants. “He was very proud of what he’d built,” say Chief Sorensen. Also a journeyman carpenter, Chief Sorensen was impressed with the well-constructed shed that contained a smoke alarm and charcoal air filter. “We didn’t smell anything when we got there so I don’t know what people were smelling before,” he says. The man and his mother did not face any charges.
Local taxpayers will pay the substantial cost of the pre-Christmas strike, Chief Sorensen estimates. (The Vancouver-based clan lab team had to travel on B.C. Ferries from Vancouver.) And at a debriefing session later that day, the police and fire responders “felt a bit silly,” about how the surprise visit played out. “Did we do the right thing?” Chief Sorensen wonders. “Now the police are worried that because we went in like this, the neighbours know and the neighbours talk. Say they’ve observed something going here and elements put two and two together. So I think you’ve actually put the guy in more danger by doing it this way.”
Staff Sgt. Wright’s view is that public safety for the entire neighbourhood outweighs concerns for the individual in whatever activity is presumed. He would employ the same strategy again if necessary to safeguard the public.
The Sooke Fire Department and RCMP are urging Health Canada to make fire and police aware of registered medical marijuana sites.
But the bigger issue that emerged from this event is that fire and police departments in B.C. are not told by Health Canada where registered medical marijuana sites are located. Health Canada fears that if the information were released, criminals would find out and break into legal marijuana operations.
Currently, if local authorities suspect a property has such a site, they contact Health Canada with the address and Health Canada either confirms or denies a medical marijuana site at that address.
In January, the District of Sooke’s Protective Services Committee, which includes the Sooke Fire Department, Sooke RCMP and Building and Bylaw Services, asked that Sooke Council send a letter to Health Canada. The agencies want Health Canada to tell police and fire departments where registered medical marijuana sites are located. They maintain the information would be safe with them.
“There’s brand new medical marijuana grow ops all over the place,” says Chief Sorensen. “They don’t have to tell the police or anyone in the community.”
His fear is that, while legal, they may be shoddily built and carry with them all of the hazards of an illegal marijuana grow op. “It’s a safety issue. If we don’t know what’s there, we don’t know what we’re dealing with. Just because they have a licence, it doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
Chief Sorensen’s final impression of the December event: he isn’t sure when he’ll load on a bulletproof vest again.
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Big rig rescue, part 2
In the January column on big rig rescue, we discussed the anatomy of large trucks and trailers and a few late-model design characteristics that pertain to their construction. Here, we will focus on arrival, assessment, stabilization and interior rescue duties.
Large trucks
Large truck safety is an important concern for all highway motorists. Fatalities from large truck crashes have been steadily increasing. Large trucks — including tractor-trailers, single-unit trucks and certain heavy cargo vans with gross weight more than 10,000 pounds — account for a disproportionately large share of traffic deaths based on kilometres travelled.
As well, people in passenger vehicles are especially vulnerable in collisions with large trucks because of the great difference in weight. The majority of the fatalities in two-vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles and large trucks were the occupants of the passenger vehicles (see photo 1).
Dispatch
understanding the different sizes, shapes, types of trailers and what products they are designed to carry will help with the hazard identification and assessment. (For our purposes, we will assume there are no hazards present.)
Outer and inner circle surveys
As first responders, gaining as much information from your dispatch centre as possible before your arrival at the scene of an incident involving large vehicles is a priority. Typical questions that should be asked are the location, the number of vehicles involved, a description of the load or cargo and the hazards involved, as the truck may be hauling hazardous material.
Gasoline, diesel and fuel oil comprise more than 95 per cent of all hazardous materials shipped in the U.S. and Canada. If you suspect that hazardous materials may be involved, prepare to gather information on the proper handling of these volatile products. Resources such as CANUTEC, CHEMTREC or the DOT Hazardous Material Response Guidebook should be consulted and/or have the local hazardous response team dispatched as soon as possible. Consider calling a heavy wrecker or have one put on standby.
Arrival at the scene
Upon arrival, size up the incident from a safe distance and take note of any placarding on the container or vessel; a quality set of binoculars is essential to help identify the cargo. Knowing and
As with any proper incident command system, outer and inner circle surveys are essential for successfully identifying additional hazards, the number of patients, the degree of entrapment, any spilled product and other potential problems. Having a charged line deployed at these types of incidents cannot be underestimated. Always start by completing the outer survey with a full 360-degree viewpoint; avoid having rescuers conduct the inner survey too early in case a potential hazard is identified during the outer survey. Examples of potential hazards are downed electrical wires that are not initially apparent, electrical kiosks that have been run over and are hidden by the wreckage or propane tanks from holiday trailers in situations where the vehicle has overturned and the hazard is no longer visible. Rescuers should never perform inner and outer circle surveys empty handed; always have a fire extinguisher, blocking and other necessary tools in hand. Watch for patients who may have wandered off. This is also the time to request additional resources.
initial hazard control
A blanket of foam will suppress vapours and control diesel or gasoline fuel spills from saddle tanks that may have been breached in the accident. Diesel fuel is quite slippery on pavement; ensure that rescue crews are mindful of this when working at the scene. Absorbent material can also be considered to minimize this hazard. Environmental concerns have to be taken into consideration by the incident commander for any product that has leaked out. Containment diking of the product to stop any dangerous goods from entering waterways or sewer systems is paramount.
If feasible, inner circle survey personnel should quickly attempt to chock the tires of all vehicles involved if it is safe to do so. Start the interior assessment at the point closest to the impact. Once rescuers are in a position to make eye contact with the driver(s), they
Photo 2: The front ends of passenger vehicles often slide under cargo units of large trucks.
rANdy sChmiTz
Photo 1: Most fatalities in two-vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles and big trucks are the occupants of the passenger vehicle.
Photos by randy schMitz
Photo 3: Truck and trailer must be stabilized before rescuers begin work.
should also attempt verbal contact. Standard dialogue should follow these lines:
• Are you hurt?
• Is there anyone in the vehicle with you?
• Please turn of the engine.
• What kind of cargo are you hauling?
• Do you have shipping papers or cargo manifests? (Manifests should be obtained once medical aid enters the vehicle’s cab.)
Manifest documents are required to be within reach of the driver; manifests are often located in the operator’s door pocket.
Stabilization
Stabilization is of the utmost importance; large trucks require more stabilization than passenger vehicles when disentanglement/ extrication operations are to be undertaken. Stabilization methods will differ depending on whether the unit is upright and still on its wheels, laid over on its side or if another vehicle is underneath. Many passenger car and light truck fatalities are due to side and rear impacts with large trucks. Small vehicles involved in side and rear crashes with large trucks have much higher than average frequency of serious physical injury. The front ends of passenger vehicles often slide underneath the cargo units of large trucks (see photo 2); in some cases, the passenger compartment is sheared off. Passenger vehicles are also subject to front underride of large trucks as well as rear override by large trucks; both situations result in serious injuries or fatalities to occupants of the passenger vehicles.
Upright truck and trailer
If accessible, use the airbrake system to your advantage by uncoupling the two red and blue glad hands behind the cab area attached to the pogo stick. This will engage the emergency brakes of the trailer to stop any forward or backward movement. If possible, avoid cutting the coloured hoses to release the air as this will make towing the unit more difficult.
There are various methods of stabilization depending on your equipment. Heavy duty struts are an excellent option if your department has them. Attaching the strut heads to frame rails/members or other structurally sound components is extremely important to reduce shifting and prevent load failure. Other options are to use a combination of struts and box cribs, including those made of plastic or wood. The minimum size should be 4
cm). Using the two-crib-per-layer method, a box can hold up to 24,000 lbs (10,000 kg). Adding one more piece of cribbing to make three cribs per layer increases the weight to 48,000 lbs (20,000 kg). Ideally the crib stack height should not exceed twice the length of the cribbing; in this case, 48 in. (120 cm) would be the maximum height. Using 6 in. x 6 in. x 24 in. (15 cm x 15 cm x 60 cm), two per layer, the weight increases to 60,000 lbs (27,000 kg) and to 120,000 lbs (54,000 kg) by adding a third piece to the layer (see photo 3). A good rule of thumb for estimating the weight of a large vehicle is to multiply the number of axles by 20,000 pounds (9,000 kg). Lastly, the most desirable option would be to use basic stabilization with a commercial tow truck on scene. These large tow trucks carry towing straps/slings which, along with struts and or box cribs, provide a quick and safe method of stabilization. If applicable to the incident, some good locations to build crib stacks are under frame rails for added strength or near the underside/override protection guard at the rear of a trailer. These are engineered to be structurally sound and are lower to the ground, which is ideal as the box crib height required is minimized for a faster deployment.
Other good areas for stabilization are the dolly jacks on the trailer section of a truck and trailer, which can be lowered and used for additional stabilization only if they have not been damaged. Blocking may be used under the dolly jack base plates to increase the lift height if raising of the front end of the trailer is anticipated during extrication operations. Note: if this is the intention, the fifth wheel that attaches to the trailer’s kingpin must be released before the trailer jacks are activated. A pull handle on the operator’s side of the fifth wheel plate will disconnect the kingpin. If a truck and trailer is on its side there may be many voids that need to be filled; corners are a good location to insert cribbing or large wedges as they can still be intact and remain relatively strong for support. Another important task is to ensure the integrity of the cargo container. Avoid opening side resting “barn door style” trailer doors unless absolutely necessary as they are acting as a structurally integral component in their closed position. Opening them could cause the box trailer to collapse or the contents inside to shift and fall out. Check the refrigeration unit; if it is
Continued on page 36
Stress management Understanding the physiological responses to dangerous situations
by Brant Kiessig
An experienced firefighter battling a structural fire is alone in a heavy smoke filled environment. Without warning his SCBA malfunctions and he has trouble getting air. Suddenly, the low-air alarm activates.
In his book On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace, Lt.-Col. Dave Grossman describes typical physiological and psychological responses to the sudden and unexpected deterioration of a situation. The dilemma would increase anxiety. An already elevated heart rate would quickly rise beyond 175 beats per minute. Rational thought starts to dissipate. Appropriate reaction to the predicament becomes difficult. When the heat is on and sudden, unexpected negative changes occur, the effects of acute stress will impact firefighters the same way it affects soldiers in combat.
How can acute stress be recognized? How does it affect decision making? How can firefighters keep from freezing at a critical moment? Can the effects of stress be reduced? Is everybody affected the same way? There has been lots of talk about stress management for first responders but much of it has focused on after-incident, or post traumatic stress. There is plenty of research on the stress that occurs during incidents and
Canadian fire departments should understand these findings and adopt the researchers’ recommendations.
the impact of high temperatures
Ambient air temperatures can reach more than 250 C within the fire space. PPE reduces the ability to relieve thermal stress through perspiration. A 2002 compendium of energy/oxygen use for physical activities by Barbara Ainsworth of the University of South Carolina shows that the expended energy in typical firefighting operations equates to the metabolic action of running 12 kilometres per hour (eight-minute miles) at a one per cent incline.
In the late 1990s, an Illinois Fire Service Institute study discovered the average tympanic temperature (measured through the ear) of firefighters completing 16 minutes of activity in an atmosphere varying between 76 C and 92 C was 40 C (normal body temperature is 37 C). Results revealed a reduction in heart stroke volume and increased dilation of blood vessels closest to the skin, causing a dangerous drop in blood pressure.
A 2007 study of physiological stress associated with fire fighting by Indiana University and the Indianapolis Fire Department reported a direct link between firefighter fatalities attributed to stress or exertion and the onset of acute stress symptoms. The assumption is that these LODDs are attributable to
acute stress induced cardiac compromise. Interestingly, the Illinois study discovered that despite thermal stress, dehydration and elevated heart rates, firefighters perceived their efforts during extreme operations to be “hard” rather than the expected “very, very hard”. This response was attributed to impaired cognitive ability. In other words, firefighters could be in heat distress and not realize it.
When encountering extreme temperatures, firefighters must maintain situational awareness while engaging in strenuous physical activities. It is accepted that individual response varies due to age, experience and overall health and fitness but there are a number of presumptive measures that can help to alleviate heat stress.
• Advances in technology have resulted in PPE with a high degree of protection from flame and thermal insult, while still providing some metabolic heat dissipation. They are lightweight, durable and allow flexibility. In order for this equipment to work it must be worn, cleaned and maintained to manufacturer specifications. Dirty equipment is no badge of honour.
• Maintaining proper hydration before, during and after firefighting operations helps to alleviate heatrelated stress. The American College of Sports Medicine released an
article in 2003 containing research on hydration. It suggested that to properly re-hydrate, it is necessary to ingest 150 per cent of water weight loss after physical activity, coupled with increased sodium intake. It was noted that most commercial sports drinks do not contain appropriate levels of sodium and suggested augmentation with sodium-rich foods such as pretzels and pizza.
• It’s important to recognize that metabolic heat build up occurs during fire operations. Rehabilitation, with
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an accompanying two-bottle policy (automatic rehab after two SCBA bottles are used), even in cold weather, will keep crews fresh and reduce heat stress. A 2006 study by the University of Manitoba showed that immersion of forearms and hands in 10 C and 20 C water effectively reduced core temperatures.
• Better levels of health and fitness would help to minimize stress effects on firefighters’ hearts and other physiological functions; we’re not talking Olympic athlete here, just
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a regular regime of balanced cardio and strength fitness. (For more information, see the story Standard operating procedures in the October 2009 issue of Canadian Firefighter and EMS Quarterly.)
• If the SCBA comes equipped with a thermal alarm understand its parameters. What information is it giving?
• Evaluate the need to be in the high heat areas. Would proper ventilation, positive pressure attack, transitional attack or other exterior techniques reduce fire space temperatures?
• Stay current on offensive hose stream techniques and equipment avoiding situations that force enduring more heat than necessary.
• Wear appropriate garments under the bunker gear. Some departments have fatigue clothing that is required to be worn. Hopefully it is made of lightweight Nomex or some natural fibre. Some firefighters are wearing space-age polyesters that wick moisture under their station wear. These were never intended for firefighting operations. Synthetics melt against the body during a high heat intrusion. Witness the agony of a burned firefighter having melted synthetics removed and discussion on the matter will likely cease.
While firefighters experience the effects of metabolic heat buildup, the Illinois study found anxiety induced increase in heart rate and also impaired cognitive ability. Understanding the body’s nervous system explains this phenomenon. It is made up of the somatic system (responsible for voluntary muscle action) and the autonomic system (responsible for automatic functions) which will be the primary focus of the explanation of the physiological effects.
The autonomic system is further divided into two directionally opposing systems. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is responsible for everyday bodily functions at rest such as bladder control, bowel control and slowing the heart rate. The other is the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). We’ve all heard the saying “that scared the crap out of me”. When subjected to high stress situations such as a sudden unexpected event (flashover or collapse) or extreme anxiety (lost in a building or running out of air) the brain’s alarm system releases a burst of adrenaline that switches the body to the SNS from the PNS. It prepares for fight
or flight. The pupils dilate to enhance vision, the heart rate increases to move greater quantities of oxygen to the large muscles and peripheral circulatory system constricts to reduce bleeding if cut. When resources switch to the SNS, the PNS is effectively shut down, resulting in potentially uncontrolled bowel movements or urination.
The most important effect of SNS primacy is the increase in heart rate. Figure 1 shows five levels of anxiety, progressing from white (normal resting heart rate) through to black where irrational fight or flight, freezing or submissive behaviour occur. Stress-induced heart rate increase is not synonymous with increases due to physical activity and no conclusive analysis is available on the cumulative effects.
commander who suddenly feels out of control or overwhelmed will react in the same negative manner. There are some measures that can help to control the fight-or-flight response.
1. Don’t panic. Learn to recognize the onset of personal panic symptoms. Tactical breathing is effective at combating stress. Inhale deep belly breaths through the nose to expand the stomach like a balloon. Do the following four steps to a mental four count and repeat four times.
• In through the nose, two, three, four.
• Hold two, three, four.
• Out through the lips two, three, four.
• Hold two, three, four.
2. Maintain good sleep habits. Seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep is benefi-
Lt.-Col. Dave Grossman’s book On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace and its messages about stress are applicable to the fire service.
• Irrational fight or flee
• Freezing
• Cognitive Processing deteriorates
• Loss of peripheral vision (tunnel vision)
• Submissive Behavior
• Voiding of bladder and bowel
• Fine motor skills deteriorate
• Normal resting heart rate
• Complex motor skills deteriorate
• Loss of depth perception
• Loss of near vision
• Auditory exclusion
Reaction
Graph adapted from On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace by Lt.-Col. Dave Grossman and Loren W. Christensen, PPCT Research Publications, 2004.
The U.S. Firefighter Disorientation study released in 2003 by the San Antonio Fire Department examined the role of a firefighter becoming disorientated and its connection to firefighter fatalities. In 100 per cent of the cases studied, sudden changes from manageable situations to a feeling of being overwhelmed or loss of control of a situation led to a surge of the SNS reaction, resulting in the firefighter moving to the black zone very quickly. Firefighters effectively freeze, become incapable of rational thought or display the submissive behaviour of curling up in a ball and hoping the threat subsides. This becomes a life-threatening scenario for a firefighter who is lost, trapped or facing a sudden or unexpected deterioration in his situation. An officer or incident
cial for body maintenance and mitigating stress effects.
3. Immediate Action Drills (IAD). Police and military personnel train in drills that don’t require cognitive function when a life-threatening event takes place. Training comprises practising an evolution hundreds of times to make the response automatic. Firefighters should train in mayday evolutions or survival techniques so the action will engage automatically when the SNS is triggered. Many firefighters believe they have the experience to think their way out of a situation. Remember, cognitive ability is severely impaired. Have the IAD get you out of harm’s way until you can recover some cognitive function.
4. Predicting precisely what will transpire at a response is difficult; however, mental rehearsal of simple functions will refresh the memory. Visualize the task, forecast potential problems and formulate various actions that would give a positive result.
5. Ensure a thorough understanding of department SOPs, including the incident command system, personnel accountability, RIT and other specific departmental procedures. From firefighter up to incident command, stress can be alleviated by understanding what’s in place at responses and how they are to be used.
6. Implement a close calls committee. Investigate close calls within the department. Critique these events to identify possible deficiencies in operational SOPs or required increase in training or education. Lives may depend on it.
These measures pertain to fire responses; however, they can be adapted to apply in all emergency situations.
Capt. Brant Kiessig joined the Thunder Bay Fire & Rescue as a professional firefighter in 1983. He is a certified trainer/facilitator, a certified Community Emergency Management Coordinator, a rope rescue technician, a member of TBFRS high angle rescue team, a certified NFPA 1670 & 1006 trench rescue technician, a member of the TBFRS HUSAR team, an auto extrication instructor and the 2001 over-40 national FireFit champion. Contact him at firewarrior3@gmail.com
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Occupational athletes
Canada-U.S. study looks at first responder injuries and prevention
by Rosie Lombardi
Firefighters and EMS workers often suffer injuries in the line of duty. As “occupational athletes” first responders often face the risk of injury and must frequently cope with chronic pain and disability. An innovative study is looking to the sports world for new approaches to reduce that risk. Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Pensacola, Fla., and the Pensacola Fire Department are working together on the multidisciplinary project to find ways to develop effective injury prevention programs by incorporating job-related biomechanics.
Moving to a new paradigm
Many conventional practices in physical training are very misguided, says Tyson Beach, a researcher at Waterloo’s department of kinesiology. “In their quest to
achieve optimum fitness, firefighters and other occupational athletes often destroy themselves in the gym.”
That’s because many people go into training without considering the biomechanics of their movement systems. Traditional training typically focuses on measures of fitness –how strong or fast firefighters can get – without considering how a person moves while achieving those goals, says Beach. This does not physically prepare occupational athletes for the demands of their jobs.
While this biomechanical approach is well-established in professional sports, it is seldom applied to occupational athletes. “Coaches say you can’t run to train – you have to train to run. If you run to train and do it badly, you’ll hurt yourself,” he says, pointing out that there is a large body of evidence from recreational athletes to support this view. “Injury rates for runners are astronomically higher than any other recreational activity. They get shin splints, plantar fasciitis and other chronic problems.
But if people are prepared and conditioned properly, they can avoid those injuries.”
People develop their particular movement patterns at an early age, and these may predispose them to musculoskeletal problems later on if they don’t learn how to move properly. “There are many things your body adapts to over time. These adaptations aren’t necessarily anomalous, but they may create problems when you do things that are physically challenging.”
Interestingly, age does not play as big a role in injuries as the way people move, he adds. “A 25-year-old firefighter may be very strong and fast, but he may activate
Photo by Laura king
The IAFF is working on a study to demonstrate the benefits of comprehensive health and wellness programs in reducing health-care costs for firefighters, who risk injury on the job in day-to-day operations and during training.
his muscles in ways that place him at greater risk than a 50-year-old who is less fit but moves with the proper biomechanics. He may not hurt himself at first, but if he continues for five to 10 years, he may get chronic injuries.”
The major thrust of the Waterloo study is to determine which specific movements and training can help firefighters perform tasks such as pulling hoses and breaking doors without hurting themselves in the long run, says Beach. “Not all injuries can be prevented, but we think a sub-category can be.”
To determine which injuries can be avoided, the study divided participating firefighters from the Pensacola Fire Department into two groups who trained three times a week for 12 weeks. One control group did a traditional fitness-based program with cardio, running and weights. A second test group did a similar program, but with greater emphasis on how they moved while they trained, mimicking the movements used on the job such as climbing a ladder.
“In this group, we tried to transfer their training to their occupation, so they’ll use the same approach they used in the gym when they climb a ladder or bust a door,” says Beach. Movement is a skill, like throwing a baseball, he adds – when people are coached a certain way, these movements become subconscious over time.
Another part of the study focuses on screening firefighters before they even enter a training program to determine if aberrant patterns in their movement systems can be identified and corrected early.
Many chronic pain conditions could be avoided if people were treated earlier and taught how to correct their alignment problems before they escalate, agrees Dr. Wolf Schamberger, a clinical associate professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of British Columbia and author of The Malalignment Syndrome.
“Firefighters can do this on their own if they get guidance on how to check and do some simple corrective exercises. If they’re done on a daily basis, the body eventually grows accustomed to the new aligned pattern, and it stops the advancement of problems.”
Collection of the data for the Waterloo study was completed in the fall of 2009 and the researchers plan to release their findings later this year when the analysis is completed. High-tech gear such as sensors, force plates and 3-D body positioning was used in the study to collect objective evidence.
Beyond firefighters, the study will have
broad implications for other occupational athletes, such as EMS workers, who perform demanding tasks and will bring more science to this area. “People can learn from this paradigm and start looking at how people perform tasks to prevent injuries,” says Beach.
changes afoot in physical training
Firefighting associations are looking forward to the study, as job-related injuries exact a huge toll. “Anything we can do to prevent injuries is a step in the right direction,” Murray McGrath, WSIB committee chair for the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association.
In Ontario, between 800 and 1,000 firefighters suffer loss of time due to injuries annually, says McGrath. The average claim costs about $21,000 for loss of pay and healthcare benefits, which means loss-time injuries cost about $16 million annually for Ontario alone. These costs aren’t tracked nationally in Canada, but McGrath believes other provinces’ experiences are similar, based on their populations.
Even more important is the loss of quality of life. Many firefighters sustain multiple injuries, which can have a deleterious lifelong impact. “I haven’t done front line work in the past 12 years since I assumed a
management position, but I still have to go to physiotherapy for flare-ups to this day,” says Bruce Burrell, Calgary-based president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, who injured his spine, ankle and shoulder during his years of active duty.
Although firefighters are often in dangerous situations, McGrath points out that most injuries are actually caused by performing routine, repetitive tasks while wearing and carrying heavy gear. The weight exerts an enormous strain by itself, and it also deters the use of proper biomechanics because it throws firefighters off balance.
Most fire departments have expectations their staff will maintain a high level of fitness but few have formal health and wellness programs in place. McGrath and his counterparts in other provinces are working to change this state of affairs.
“We’re pushing for more sanctioned voluntary fitness program and trying to establish them within integrated health and wellness programs. We’re trying to do a soft sell on them at this point to make it voluntary and get management and the unions to endorse them,” he says.
However, there’s a lot of resistance to this change. Cash-strapped municipalities
are reluctant to spend taxpayer money on these health and wellness programs. “This is short-term thinking, as they see this as an extra cost instead of an investment that will be recouped in the future in lower costs to care for injured firefighters,” he says.
And firefighters themselves are also fearful. “Many who have been injured or are older are concerned that it means the end of their career if there’s a physical standard and they don’t meet it.”
Although the introduction of more health and wellness programs would be a step in the right direction, it’s still not enough, as these type of programs don’t prevent injuries. “Even the most fit firefighters experience injuries on the job, so the highest standards of fitness are not enough,” McGrath says, noting that the proper techniques that should be used while firefighters perform their regular duties are seldom considered. “Firefighters just try to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible before
their limited air supply runs out.”
McGrath says he has a keen interest in seeing the Waterloo study’s findings later this year with a view to developing evidencebased injury prevention programs specifically for firefighters.
Another necessary step is getting evidence that can help make the financial case for injury prevention and other integrated health and wellness programs for firefighters, he adds. “Employers are focused on costs, so we need a proven case of a community that can show it saved money by adopting a program.”
A separate study is underway to do just that, says Burrell. The International Association of Fire Fighters is working on a study to demonstrate the tangible benefits of comprehensive health and wellness programs in reducing health-care costs. Under its auspices, the Calgary fire department is participating in a 10-city pilot across North America to track the health benefits and
financial impact. (See Fire Fighting in Canada, August 2009.)
“We have a full-time health clinic we run that firefighters can go to, and gyms at every station,” he says, noting comprehensive programs are essential, as there are other worrisome medical trends to consider for firefighters beyond injury prevention.
“In the 1980s, we started seeing a higher incidence of occupation-related diseases. We’re the generation that paid the toll due to our occupational exposures, as we’re now seeing cancer rates for firefighters that are six times the public average. We changed the protective gear and our policies and procedures over the years to prevent this from happening to the next generation,” says Burrell.
Rosie Lombardi is a Toronto-based freelance writer.
Photos by Laura king
The University of Waterloo study is to determine which specific movements and training can help firefighters perform tasks such as pulling hoses and breaking doors without hurting themselves in the long run.
Offering: A 2 course certificate in incident command for experienced incident commanders. Please contact our office for more information.
Are you looking to take on more responsibility in your Department? Trying to round out your technical ability with leadership skills? Preparing to advance your career?
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For more information and a program brochure please contact:
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You will also find the information in our brochures or at the following internet address:Web site:http://collegeofcontinuinged.dal.ca
Better your body composition
Many FitSmart columns have focused on how to become stronger, fitter and faster. This time, we’ll explore the broad world of body composition and how we can live leaner lives through proper training.
Fat burning is among the top reasons most fitness facilities exist, and with good reason. There are numerous major health risks directly associated with excess fat, especially in the abdominal area. Weight loss and fat reduction is the primary reason people join gyms. However, bettering our body composition doesn’t have to be solely about losing weight. I’ve had several clients happy with their weight who are looking simply to burn that lingering layer of fat that hide their muscles.
Body composition and testing
This method of health measurement, in my opinion, is far superior to the archaic changeroom weigh scale we’ve all used for so many years. Obviously, the only thing a scale can tell you is how heavy you are. The scale can’t tell you how much of that weight is muscle or fat. For instance, you may weigh 190 pounds and you may know that is within the norm for you. You may not know that you have 35 per cent body fat and are at an increased risk for hundreds of health problems. As a reference, the healthy, fit body fat range is between seven and 15 per cent for adult males and 14 and 22 per cent for females. Guys should start to see abdominal muscles around the 10 per cent mark. I encourage everyone to get a baseline body composition test done at least once. You may be pleasantly surprised, or it may be quite an eyeopening motivational tool. If you’re about to start a training and nutrition program it’s a perfect time for the test. Get a benchmark now and then a follow-up test in a month or so. Nothing makes us more accountable than documenting our progress. If you’re curious about your body composition it may be worth asking at your local gym. Most gyms offer the service and many offer it at no charge. The test is easy and can usually be done in less than five minutes.
improving body composition
training has been shown to raise the metabolic rate for up to 24 hours following a workout, and to increase your VO2 max and athletic performance.
The following program is designed based on your rate of perceived exertion or RPE. The RPE is a zero to 10 rating that you assign to your exertion level, with zero the equivalent to sitting on the couch and 10 the maximal exertion you are unable to sustain for more than 15 seconds.
BrAd lAwreNCe
Some of the best fat blasting exercises are lunges, squat variations, dead lifts, pull ups, Olympic lifts and step ups.
Try this program for a total of seven sets, or 21 minutes after a warm up. Follow with a proper cool down and get a great cardio workout in about 25 minutes. Add more sets as you progress.
weight training
Training sessions with these goals should be performed five to seven times a week and at a high intensity. Keep your rest intervals to 30 seconds or less when dealing with non-competing muscle groups. Keep your workout relatively shorter as well; shoot for around 45 minutes. If you can train for much longer than 45 minutes while performing a fat loss routine you need to up the intensity and shorten the workout. Consider a workout partner to help make you accountable if you feel that could become an issue.
You should be using heavy loads and choosing exercises that require a high metabolic output. Some of the best fat blasting exercises are lunges, squat variations, dead lifts, pull ups, Olympic lifts and step ups. Make sure your weight training occurs before your cardio training; this will release up to 1500 per cent more growth hormone than saving your weight training until the end.
Several variables affect your body’s fat burning ability including weight training, cardio and diet. Those who have had success burning fat have probably found a positive balance among the three. The following is a quick reference guide to finding that proper formula for the gym.
cardiovascular training
Cardio training plays a major role in burning fat off our bodies but you may be making things harder on yourself. Recent research has confirmed that traditional, long distance aerobic exercise is not the most effective way to burn fat. HIIT, or high intensity interval training, burns more calories and fat in a fraction of the time. HIIT
When you discover your goal in the gym, commit to making it a goal in your life. Shortcuts in the gym or the kitchen don’t do anything but set you back and cheating yourself is never worth it in the end. Train hard, sprint hard and eat well to better your body from the ground up.
Check back in July for a detailed nutrition guide to go with your better body training program.
Brad Lawrence is a firefighter with the Calgary Fire Department and a certified personal trainer who specializes in training and nutrition for emergency responders. He has trained and coached countless firefighters through all aspects of fitness and overall wellbeing. E-mail Brad at bradlawrence@gmail.com
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Resource allocation
Risk-assessment approach helps department prioritize
by Karin Mark and Len Garis
In a perfect world, emergency responders would have the resources to address every call immediately and completely. The reality is that during major events such as storms, which produce high call volumes, resources may be tied up by less serious incidents merely by virtue of when they are called in.
This was the case in British Columbia in the winter of 20062007 when five major winter storms stretched the capability of fire departments and BC Hydro to respond to public safety hazards related to numerous downed power lines.
The situation prompted BC Hydro and the fire service (represented by the Fire Chiefs’ Association of B.C.) to form a joint task force in early 2007 to improve the response in the future. The Mutual Response to Downed Power Lines Report, released in December 2009, includes 16 recommendations that address education and awareness, communications and co-ordination, operations and finances.
What also emerged was the beginning of an innovative riskassessment approach that prioritizes calls for a more strategic response – and also suggests that changes to an agency’s response policy can significantly increase its resource capacity.
At the heart of this risk-based approach is a priority matrix for major events involving many downed lines. The matrix ranks calls into three categories based on risk, determined by cross-referencing the likelihood of the downed lines being energized with the potential for public interaction. For example, a line down across a remote road that leads to a hospital would be a priority one call, but a line down in a quiet residential area where no power outages have been reported would be a priority three call.
That’s not to say that a perceived priority three call is not a serious public safety threat. The report is clear in stating that no downed power lines should be considered safe until an authorized electric utility representative declares such. However, in circumstances where response resources are stretched as a result of abnormally
high call volumes, ranking of calls is necessary to provide a managed response.
At the moment, the culture within B.C.’s fire service is to send firefighting resources to all calls and to maintain fire crews at the scene until the issues are resolved or until firefighters are relieved by other agencies. Fire service calls are generally not triaged and many of them are also received by other agencies such as paramedics, police or utilities. Not surprisingly, this approach can quickly overrun department resources when call volumes are high.
By using a common ranking system, as proposed in the report, emergency responders could improve their ability to protect public safety by focusing their resources on higher-priority calls. For example, first responders to a downed line call could use the common criteria to evaluate the situation and inform their electric utility, thus ensuring an appropriate level of response by the various agencies.
“It’s a really clever way of looking at the problem,” noted FCA BC president Steve Gamble. “More importantly, this approach could be quite applicable to disaster planning and major emergencies, where you have multiple calls for service but resources are on the thin side.”
Building on the work of the task force, Surrey Fire Service studied the effects of several different response policies on a department’s capacity to respond. The policies ranged from maintaining existing units and staff to adding additional resources and allowing fire officers to protect a scene and then leave to attend to a higherpriority call.
The results of the experiment showed that certain policy changes could more than double a department’s response capability. The sample policies and effects are as follows:
First responders to a downed line call could use common criteria to evaluate the situation and inform their electric utility, ensuring an appropriate level of response by various agencies.
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of units and staff BUT allow
Use the existing number of units and staff PLUS two additional units and staff to manage expected high call volume AND allow fire officers to protect the scene and leave priority two and three calls, if the next call is of a higher priority
The report recommends that the ranking matrix be refined and tested under various scenarios through a risk-ranking workshop run by the fire service and BC Hydro. But even in its initial form, it illustrates the potential benefits of a risk-based approach in helping agencies to more efficiently and effectively manage their resources.
The report also addressed the issue of legal liability for local governments that adopt a priority matrix along with other of the report’s recommendations. A legal opinion obtained from the law firm Staples McDannold Stewart in Victoria indicated that local governments could shield themselves by adopting the recommendations as corporate policy. It further noted that local governments that do nothing to protect residents from downed lines are not likely
Duo-Safety Ladder Corp.
to be insulated from possible legal action. The opinion states: “… The report provides a model for local governments to adapt to their particular circumstances for the purposes of adopting it and putting its recommendations into practice. As long as the recommendations are carried out consistently and competently, it will provide a needed service to the public and become an important part of the risk management strategy for local governments in this province.”
The report does recommend that local governments obtain their own legal opinions before adopting the recommendations. Other report recommendations directed to fire departments include:
• Firefighters should never attempt to move or come within 10 metres of a downed power line until the local electrical authority has confirmed it is safe;
• In advance of the storm season each year, BC Hydro and fire departments should undertake increased messaging to the public about the hazards associated with downed power lines, proper generator use and emergency preparedness;
• All firefighter training officers should participate in free trainthe-trainer workshops on electrical safety offered by BC Hydro;
• When electrical hazards are present, fire departments should continue to explore safe alternative approaches to a scene, such as using a ladder to look inside a vehicle;
• Local governments should explore engaging a force of trained non-traditional responders to cordon off areas and provide traffic control in cases of downed power lines, in order to free up firefighters and BC Hydro crews;
• Fire departments should conduct a triage exercise like the
one conducted by Surrey Fire Service to compare and contrast policies for managing high call volumes (a sample exercise is included in the report);
• Fire departments should develop contingency planning for extreme storm events that are likely to tax their ability to respond to downed power line hazards;
• If local governments intend to follow the recommendations in the report, it is recommended that their elected body adopt the recommendations as corporate policy, that the fire department consider adopting the sample Operational Guidelines included in the report, and that the organization obtain its own legal opinion.
In the wake of the report, members of the task force continue to work together to improve the mutual response to storm events. For example, they are exploring the widespread use of new and distinctive barricade tape to cordon off lower-priority downed lines, along with the use of light sticks to improve night-time visibility of this barrier. The tape, for example, includes wording such as “Danger – Electrical Hazard – Keep Back 10 Metres” rather than the typical “Caution – Keep Out” tape. In addition, further development of the priority matrix is planned for 2010-2011, as is the continued enhancement of BC Hydro’s web-based electronic interface that supports timely communication of information (for example, status reports) to first responder dispatchers in an effort to reduce wait time on the dedicated fire and police phone line.
A copy of the report can be downloaded from the Fire Chiefs’ Association of B.C. website at www.fcabc.bc.ca.
Karin Mark is a Metro Vancouver-based writer and graphic designer who writes for publications and corporate clients. She previous worked as a newspaper reporter for 13 years, earning multiple provincial and federal awards for her news and feature writing.
Len Garis is the fire chief in Surrey, B.C.
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Big rig rescue, part 2
Continued from page 19
not posing a problem or hazard, leave it on to preserve the cargo. It will have a separate power unit and fuel tank so it could start up automatically any time.
If a passenger vehicle has underridden a tractor-trailer unit from either the rear or the side, truck underride and override guards can substantially mitigate the severity of passenger vehicles-large truck crashes. This protection begins with energy absorbing rear underride guards that are adequate for preventing passenger vehicles from underriding large trucks. It will be beneficial to crib up near the area of the fifth wheel to reduce movement. Wedges or 4 x 4 blocking should be inserted between the top of the fifth wheel plate and the underside of the trailer where the kingpin intersects. Rescuers must also check to see if the cab of the large truck has become dislodged from the frame; if so, it must be secured with chains or ratchet straps to prevent movement and allow it to be made safe for entry and perhaps extrication operations if necessary. Use pike poles to place straps or chain over cab.
Puncture a small hole in the sheet metal, fibreglass or Metton material of the lower part of the cab to secure a ratchet strap hook into. From there hook the other end to the frame below, which will then allow a quick lockdown. The truck /trailer combination is ready for rescuer entry (see photo 4).
Gaining entry into the cab
If the cab of the truck is not compromised from the crash, the windows may be your best point of access. Of course, you should always try the doors first, as this may be all it takes to gain entry. The adage “try before you pry” applies here. If the doors are not an option, then use the front windshield. The windshields are large and usually separated by a centre post that can easily be removed. If the glass is gasket mounted,
removing it will be quick and easy. If the centre post is cut and removed, it will allow a large access area for access and, possibly, for patient removal. Take full advantage of this option if possible.
cab hazards while gaining entry
Hot engine coolant from the heater core that has been breached from the crash may have burned the occupants. Be on the lookout for weapons, animals (pets such as dogs) and be mindful of exposed wiring, hydraulic oil, fuel leaks and fumes while inside the cab
cab interior rescuer duties
Ensure engine shutdown prior to battery disconnection – turn off the master switch. Inform outside rescuers that it is OK to disconnect the batteries; as with most standard battery shutdown protocols, negative (black) first then positive (red) to reduce the amount of arcing. Use latex medical gloves or tape to cover cable ends. Deploy the park brake or pull the yellow airbrake button and shut off the ignition switch. Start patient assessment; inform command of degree of entrapment and the number of patients on board (see photo 5).
This concludes all the steps that need to be undertaken by rescuers in regards to preparing the vehicles for extrication.
In July we will discuss lifting options and techniques for extrication.
Randy Schmitz is a Calgary firefighter who has been extensively involved in the extrication field for 17 years. He is an extrication instructor and has competed internationally. He is the education chair for Transport Emergency Rescue Committee (T.E.R.C.) in Canada, a T.E.R.C. International extrication judge and a tester and evaluator for manufactured prototype products for extrication equipment. He can be reached at rwschmitz@shaw.ca
Photo 5: Deploy park brake or pull yellow airbrake button and shut
Photo 4: Cab must be secured with chains or ratchet straps.
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APPARATUS
in pursuit of performance
You,” I said, pointing my finger at a rookie firefighter, “Run a supply line from the portable pump to the pumper.”
The rookie nodded and grabbed a couple of lengths of two-inch hose. It was a simple order, and no one had to tell him to hustle. Visions of the $20,000 sauna fire spreading to a $200,000 house were inspiration enough. A lake was close by and within minutes we would have an unlimited supply of water.
However, things don’t always go as planned, especially at night, under stress and with high stakes. The rookie connected the supply line to the discharge port of the pumper instead of the intake port (confound those Storz connections). Fortunately, I noticed the error, switched the line and averted a potentially spectacular line rupture.
Afterwards, the rookie assured me that he did know the difference between an intake and a discharge port. He had been trained but obviously not enough.
So, how do you know when it is enough?
Training is a race. Time is the opponent. Firefighters must cram a marathon of learning into a hundred-metre dash worth of time. In my department there is no such thing as enough training, except in the misty realm of my piein-the-sky daydreams. I need premium results in a handicapped time frame.
As a fire chief and an instructor, I know that words are like shooting stars. The majority don’t penetrate through the atmosphere of the firefighter’s mind. To get maximum value out of minimum opportunities the words must be captured by the gravitational force of the listener’s will. Dwight Eisenhower put it in a nutshell: “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
Tim BeeBe
In my department there is no such thing as enough training, except in the misty realm of my pie-inthe-sky daydreams.
Each year, fire departments are expected to cram more paraphernalia into our already overflowing training bags. From bureaucrats to legal beagles, everyone has an opinion about what should be adopted, and, by default, what gets dumped. When the water hits the fire, we find out one of two things: we focused on either the right stuff, or the stuff that someone thought was right. Your crew may know the difference between bleach and ammonia but if they just raised a ladder upside down on the fireground, you have . . . well, you have a tidy cleaning cupboard and an upside down ladder.
All fire chiefs can hear the occupational health and safety bloodhounds baying in the distance, urging us to toe the training line. And we all know what happens if they catch up to us. It’s tempting to cover our tracks with the right piece of paper, the right words written on it and the right number of hours logged . . . all properly filed away like an insurance policy. But at the fire scene, that nice piece of paper isn’t worth its recycle value when the firefighter hooks a supply line to a discharge port. Ultimately, performance is the goal, not attendance at a course or hours on a training record. The paper trail may keep the hounds at bay for a while, but performance will silence them.
Performance is the ultimate proof of “enough” training. It is the fruit of a well-cultivated training program and there are barns full of strategies to bring in the harvest. All of them work well if the participants buy into the farm. None are effective if they perceive themselves as mere day labourers.
Knowledge must appeal to the palate of the mind or it will be rejected. Try giving your kids a choice between turnip greens and chocolate cake. If they are like mine, they’ll pick chocolate cake every time. Years ago, I studied an instructor manual that was so full of Bloom’s Taxonomies, Herzburg’s Theories and Maslow’s Hierarchies that I was cognitively psychomotored right out of the affective learning domain (say what?). I retained a fraction of the valuable information contained in the manual but the book was pure turnip greens. No one can change the annoying human tendency to swallow what is trivial and fun and spurn what is vital and boring. If we minimize the turnip greens and make essential learning taste like chocolate cake, we will improve the odds of it actually being digested and converted into action.
Of course, appealing to the senses is not the only way to get the message across. Last fall I did a presentation on holiday fire safety at our community centre. I pinned up eye-catching posters and sent out a snazzy flyer to make sure everyone knew that coffee and cookies –not turnip greens – would be served. The day arrived and a microscopic handful of people came to hear my brilliant discourse. Even by Upsala standards it was a lousy showing.
Contrastingly, that same day, the local nursing station set up a flu clinic, advertised with a small, handscrawled poster. The villagers came en masse without being offered so much as a glass of water. What was the difference? H1N1 captured their imagination. Fear of the flu was the only meteorite that made landfall that day and it didn’t require hours of instruction to produce action.
A million hours of training logged in firefighter Pete’s file does not ensure he will perform at the moment of truth. It has to be the right training and it must make its way into Pete’s hands and feet on the fire ground. A savvy firefighter who is safe and efficient is better than any insurance policy.
The question remains: How do we get people to do what we want them to do? I know I’m rethinking my strategy. Forget luring them with food and coffee and entertainment. Just offer to jab a needle into their arms and they’ll respond in droves.
Tim Beebe is the fire chief in Upsala, Ont. Contact him at upsalafd@tbaytel.net and check out his blog at www. beebewitzblog.blogspot.com
