‘Duty’ to respond

Asst. Chief Brian Crawford's article “To Die For” on firefighter duty-to-die syndrome in the May issue generated a number of reader comments. The original article is available at www.firechief.com.

I suppose what really caught my attention was your comment, “This includes instances where a firefighter believes that dying in the line-of-duty is part of the job or actually has a rewarding aspect.” Having completed my master's thesis in suicide terror, published and titled “Understanding Suicide Terrorism from a Cultural and Memetic Perspective” … I found the parallels between how suicide terrorists and firefighters are trained or “indoctrinated” to be very similar … the mental aspect of being a hero, as well as the promised rewards.…

Unfortunately the comments heard by my brothers after a recent LODD funeral of, “Wow, I want that to be me,” or “If I have to go, I want to go like him” really stuck in my mind as both a provider and educator. While there is no disgrace in dying for your service to the community, like you mentioned, we must draw a dividing line between, if I may, “frivolous” deaths and “life-saving” deaths.

When the ability to decipher the firefighter mentality becomes available, so will the ability to lower the number and scope of LODDs, as well as your syndrome, Firefighter Duty to Die.

My impression of [the] overall article and theory was a multi-step reaction: First, amazement that someone was willing to investigate a fire service issue from a psychological perspective which is not often seen; second, that in a split second, I could name a half a dozen individuals that I personally have worked with that fit the model that you presented.
— David Wiklanski, M.A.
Senior Emergency Services Instructor
Piscataway (N.J.) Fire School

Putting this topic on the table and making these concerns an explicit topic of discussion is an essential part of reversing the current trend in firefighter fatalities. I have flagged this article as required reading for our members and for inclusion in the reading packet for our next probationary firefighter academy.
— Bttn. Chief Ed Hartin
Gresham (Ore.) Fire and
Emergency Services

I am a firefighter in a German volunteer fire department and have recently noticed such behavior, as you have described it among my comrades.

I have talked to other firefighters about these people, and they see it exactly in the same way as I do. We even have a special German term for those who show such behavior; we call them nassgeschwitzt, directly translated as “wet sweated.”

There are firefighters who think they are the most important men in the world when their alarm pager goes off. For example some of them drive an estimated 60mph through the city to the station for only minor incidents like a burning car in a parking lot or a burning trash container. And there are even trained engine drivers who risk not only their own [lives] but also the lives and health of their fellow firefighters and other people on the street with their overly aggressive driving.

My problem now is that these people are not at all reasonable. Unfortunately, as a simple firefighter [I am] not in the position to denounce such behavior, [and] the people who should be affected by your article will not listen, although they are responsible not only for their own lives.

Sadly many leaders who should prevent such hazardous behavior do not care or even are part of the problem.

With [this] article, there is now something to work with and show to the firefighters concerned and also to the leaders in charge so that they all might start thinking.
— Karl Scheele, Germany

Faulty delivery

An interesting editorial in March. [“Find & Replace,” available at www.firechief.com.] One more question that can be asked, however, is when will the fire service become interested in fire protection? The fire service's idea of fire protection is more and larger fire apparatus, especially if we can get someone else to pay for it (grants, etc.).

In a paper written a number of years ago as part of the EFO program, I wrote that “fire officials must attend building code conferences, make recommendations for changing the building code and become active members in building-code associations. Fire officials must include building officials and planning officials in discussing their fire problems, including the impact development has on the fire and rescue service delivery system for their communities.”

If more fires came in as “waterflow alarms” and we responded with a reduced assignment (less exposure) and reduced speed (less risk), and more fires were out on arrival due to sprinkler activation, how many lives could this save in the long run?

On May 11, my community [celebrated] the 20th anniversary of the passage of sprinkler legislation requiring all new construction (except residential) over 2,000 square feet be protected with automatic sprinklers. In December of next year, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the passage of sprinkler legislation requiring all new residential construction be protected with automatic sprinklers regardless of square footage (new housing starts); that is proactive fire protection, instead of the reactive mode we have been in for 200-plus years.

Fire department response is fire protection of last resort.
— Chief Fire Marshal John Waters
Upper Merion Township, Pa.

Decon warnings

“Cold Shock” mass decontamination is more problematic than just the frigid temperature issues mentioned in Robert Stephan's article. [March 2007, available at www.firechief.com.]

[The] ideographic “picture” sign shown may be useless. Why? Vision-impaired victims might not read it. Illiterate victims might not understand it, regardless of the multiple languages printed. Acid/alkaline contaminated eyes might be stinging shut, even after strip/flush/strip hosedowns.

Directional path signs, likewise, may be useless for dementia/Alzheimer's victims or even victims who get easily disoriented. My late parents were examples.

Thorough flushing may not get done by poor hygiene victims who are infrequent or non-bathers altogether. Dementia victims are prone to this, as was my late father.

Full-cycle attendant will be needed for each individual victim, just as for the non-ambulatory victims that the author did consider and mention.

Mass decontamination may be very labor and time intensive, just as for the wheelchaired, crutched, walkered and caned victims. Beware!
— Chief Donald E. White
N. Virginia Mental Health Institute
Falls Church, Va.

Seatbelt snafu

I would like to share with you our recent experience in trying to improve the safety of our firefighters as it relates to the use of seatbelts. About four years ago our small department changed the running order of our apparatus, switching from a Ford C model E-One with open rear-facing jumpseats to a four-door Freightliner/E-One with enclosed seating for five. [“Buckle Down,” February 2007, available at www.firechief.com.]

The two engines were originally (and in some ways better) designed for the older truck to leave first, but we felt that the enclosed seating far outweighed any of the conveniences of how the apparatus were designed and otherwise equipped.

Having recently experienced a fire apparatus [motor-vehicle accident] the department has a renewed emphasis in the mandatory use of seatbelts by all members in all vehicles at all times. The problem with this plan is that no one can wear the seatbelts in the rear seats of our four-door Freightliner/E-One. The belts simply do not reach around a firefighter wearing turnout gear, and the buckles themselves are unreachable by most as they lay on the floor and are very difficult to reach.

Our motor officer has inquired about obtaining both seatbelt extensions and new seatbelt buckles on “stalks” so that the belts could be reached and buckled. The short story is that Freightliner says it's an E-One problem and E-One says it's a Freightliner problem. Neither is willing to address the issue, and the end result is we can't wear seatbelts in a truck built in 1996. The funny thing is we can wear seatbelts in the open jump seats in the 1989 truck!
— Dep. Chief Matthew Ronn
Boylston (Mass.) Fire Department

Editor's note: This letter was forwarded to representatives at E-ONE, which responded immediately by sending the Boylston Fire Department new seatbelt extenders.