Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Pry, Pry Again
By Todd Hoffman
As today's vehicles become safer for their occupants, little is being done to protect our first responders. With as many as 12 airbags in one vehicle...
‘Base’ is for Basics: How to Use it at Routine Incidents
I. David Daniels
Welcome to "Command Course," a new monthly column by Chief I. David Daniels on incident command, with special attention on integrating principles of the new National Incident Management System. ...
Tangled Web
By Paul A. Watson & Hidekatsu Kajitani
Low temperatures, high winds and no safety ladders hindered this tower rescue....
A Matter of Physics
A. K. Rosenhan
The laws of physics are unvarying, especially the law of gravity. If the physics facts conspire to cause a problem, it will indeed happen. The use of...
Lethal Secret
By Michael S. McCampbell & Sam Phillips
Beware of the dangers hiding in clandestine drug labs....
Private Matter
By Timothy P. Butters
Last month, two train cars derailed and overturned in a Georgia rail yard, one spilling its cargo of styrene into a nearby dike. Styrene is a flammable...
Study Challenges Fire Management Tactics
By Douglas Page
Last year's devastating fires ignited new research challenging the assumptions for managing arid, fire-prone regions. Natural fires, such as those found...
Alarm Sounds for Evacuation Research
By Douglas Page
Two new studies illustrate the urgency of developing better building evacuation schemes following the World Trade Center attack and The Station nightclub...
Pipeline Preplans Improve Info Flow
[ JOHN LINSTROM ]
Beginning in 1859 when the first commercial oil well in Titusville, Pa., was completed, pipelines have been used to transport crude oil from the wells...
Time Lapsed
By Pat Dale
Time is critical at an incident. Most firefighter deaths on the fireground happen within the first 30 minutes of arrival. This doesn't suggest that crews...
Circuit Training
By Michael A. Santilli
Firefighters know very little about electricity, but they must deal with its harms on a daily basis. To handle electrical incidents safely, they must...
Making the Rounds
By Donald L. Loeb
Are you in a fire department that's fortunate enough to be fully staffed with both firefighters and officers? Then these words will not be to your benefit....
Massive Attack
By Dominic Colletti
Compressed-air foam, a tool that evolved out of the wildland fire sector, is being adopted by municipal fire departments faster than ever before. The...
Alert: Ladders Slip Off Metal Roofs
Emergency Response Guide for Ford Hybrid Posted
Use Your Noodle Before You Use Your Nozzle
Chief Donald Loeb (Ret.), Contributing Editor
Grain Drain
By Ted Halpin
Many of the structures on farms have qualities that would cause them to meet the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard as a confined...
IAFC Offers Ricin Resources
Following the discovery Monday of a white powder that has tested positive as ricin, the International Association of Fire Chiefs is offering fire departments its guide for responding to substances suspected as biological threats....
FROM THE FRONT SEAT
By Bob Pressler
After an uneventful day tour, the fire station had quieted down for the night. The house chores had been completed and the apparatus had been refueled...
Technical Review of 'Alligator Alley' MVA Released
With a goal of spreading lessons learned, FEMA released a technical report today on a 2002 Florida multiple vehicle accident that killed three and involved 17 tractor trailers....
Strategic SOPs Are Needed for Collisions
[Lawrence Bennett]
On Saturday morning, March 9, 2002, I was in my law office as a rainstorm blew through with very high winds. My fire pager went off for an alarm drop,...
Look to the Skies to Improve Delivery
[Bruce Evans]
Why not use the same kind of system that the aviation industry has used for more than 25 years to reduce pilot error and accidents in the skies to reduce...
Help in a Heartbeat
By Asst. Chief August F. Ghio, San Diego Fire and Rescue
Public-access defibrillation gains ground in San Diego, saving the lives of those who suffer sudden cardiac arrest....
Behind closed doors
By Lt. Bob Pressler (Ret.), Fire Department of New York
Proper size-up starts with a knowledge of the fire buidling’s construction and continues until the last apparatus leave the scene....
NFPA's Research Foundation examines how quickly smoke incapacitates
NFPA's Research Foundation examines how quickly smoke incapacitates
NFPA's Research Foundation examines how quickly smoke incapacitates...
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