Thermal imagers were introduced to the fire service nearly 20 years ago. At first considered mystifying tools to see through the smoke, they were large, bulky and expensive. Now TICs constantly are shrinking in size and price, and their uses are nearly endless in the hands of ingenious firefighters.

With models ranging from simple with little more than an on/off switch to advanced with transmission and data-recording capabilities, a thermal imager is a tool, just like an ax, a fan or a nozzle. Firefighters must train on and use it to gain proficiency.

All tools are designed to give the user an advantage when doing work; whether it is to do more work or make the work easier, the goal is higher productivity. When adding a new tool, purchasers must consider a number of things, including the end users' attitude, knowledge and skills. Without a concern for these things, the tool will sit on the truck gathering dust or enter the building without being turned on. Remember what happened when PASS devices were separate from SCBA? This tool became a nuisance and most firefighters soon disregarded its importance.

So how do departments engage firefighters to use thermal imagers correctly and more effectively? First, departments should give firefighters a voice in deciding what options are important and what make and model will be most effective. Remember, although the chief may wear the bugles, the ones who use the tool should have the loudest voice. More often than not, they will have very good reasons for preferring one unit over another.

Firefighters most likely will look for ease of use, effectiveness and durability. Ask vendors to drop off a few for firefighters to try out. Firefighters are curious; give them a few hours and they will know the good and the bad about the units. Ask them to rate the units in very general categories and on a scale from 1 to 5 for easy data collection.

I have found that large groups allowed input will yield better results than work groups in both data collection and buy-in.

Remember, though, that the choice is ultimately the chief's, and he or she won't please everyone. That's why it's important for chiefs to reinforce that this new and expensive tool is there for firefighters, their safety and their performance. Buy in is critical to all new things in the fire service, and chiefs have the ability to create good and bad attitudes.

Most firefighters have some knowledge of what thermal imagers do and how they work. There are informational programs available through vendors and manufacturers, in trade magazines and on the Internet. The more technical jargon is not likely to top importance for line firefighters. They don't care which microbolometer the unit has; they care about what the buttons do and what they are seeing on the display screen.

Any training program must provide basic information on how the unit operates. Knowledge of buttons and knobs to care and maintenance, batteries to display options, is necessary for basic operations to happen. An NFPA standard for thermal imager options and information display format is underway, with an expected completion date of fall 2009.

The training program also should show the types of tasks the unit can assist with. Start the ball rolling by taking the crew into the kitchen of the firehouse. Turn on the oven and a stovetop burner and open the refrigerator door. Allow the crew to scan the kitchen area with the imager. As they do, have them point out a number of things. The thermal imager sees temperature differences, and these differences are relative to the environment. The oven will show heat signatures similar to overheated electrical equipment, while the burner will show flames and radiated heat waves. The oven and the refrigerator will show the contrast between hot and cold, and if there are reflective materials, such as stainless steel, glass or polished or coated surfaces, firefighters may see reflections and double vision. They also will be interested in insulation values.

This introduction to the TIC is usually enough to generate enthusiasm for additional training and entice discussion on advantages and disadvantages of use, tactical considerations, and additional applications. But this isn't the end of imager training.

From this point, training can be more practical, taking advantage of a drill tower or an acquired or vacant structure. Departments will need to construct a simple course to teach proper scanning technique and image interpretation, but that can be done for little to no cost. Place a number of items within the building with contrasting temperatures. These items can include jugs filled with water — hot, warm and cold — mirrors and windows, firefighting tools, a charged and uncharged hoseline, dolls that have been soaked in or filled with hot water, a doorknob with a hot pack on it, an electric blanket on the floor, a space heater or smudge pot with smoldering straw, and a “downed” firefighter in full PPE and on air.

Firefighters' objective is to find and identify the objects using a consistent search pattern and scanning method. Have search teams choose a search type and use a number of scanning methods, including the “3,” “E,” “W,” “T” and “U.” Have them carry the units in different ways and at different places on the search team to identify pros and cons of each. There are a number of ways to accomplish the same task, and users should make that determination.

The exercise's goal is to familiarize firefighters with the tool, what they are imaging and consistent scanning of all portions of the rooms they image. But crews may become over-reliant on the imager and forget basic points of search. Use closets and hidden areas, as well as all levels of the room when placing objects. Remind them that it is only a tool, and tools — especially electronic ones — sometimes fail. Traditional search techniques still apply — walls followed, doors checked, piles of clothing and blankets moved — and should be incorporated into the course.

The training program should conclude with live-fire training, allowing firefighters to use the imager as they would in the field — an incident scene is not the place to learn new things. This type of training needs additional planning and should be done in strict accordance with local and state laws and NFPA 1403, Live Fire Training.

Start every evolution with an explanation of current tactics and add in the ideas and benefits of using the imager. Thermal-imager use will enhance nearly all fireground tasks. Start with the initial size up. Add in location and extent of the fire, and proceed to ventilation considerations. Although trainers will have covered search in the previous session, they should include both a victim search and a fire search here. Firefighters can view reach, penetration and water application with the imager.

Follow these tasks with overhaul, salvage and fire investigation to complete the live-fire portion. Allow each crew ample time to view images through the camera and get used to the differences in views between the interior and exterior.

Remind firefighters that they are viewing relative temperature, which means that the warmer interior operations will have inverted colors from the exterior views; what is normally grey will be white, and white may be black or grey. For instance, a victim will be white in ambient 68°F temperatures, but will appear grey or even black in an interior fire room. This is the real importance in conducting live-fire training with the cameras — allowing firefighters to view objects as they would under real fire conditions.

The imager can and should be used in other applications. It allows visualization of escaping chemicals, thermal reactions and tank levels during hazmat incidents. It aids in victim location and personnel accountability on large-scale scenes like auto accidents, wildland fires, and wilderness and water rescue. And after lights out, it's one of the only ways instructors actually can account for student activities, especially when training under IDLH environments.

The list of incident type and tasks thermal imagers can be used for are limited only by the user's imagination and ingenuity. The thermal imager is not an end-all, cure-all for the fire service, but if used to its potential, it can have desirable effects.

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Anthony Piontek is a 16-year veteran of the fire service and a firefighter in Green Bay, Wis. He is a certified Fire Instructor II and teaches for Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in the fire protection associates' degree program and the Wisconsin fire certification program and is lead instructor for the Rapid Intervention Training and Acquired Structure Training Programs. He is co-owner and president of Fire and Industrial Response Enterprises, through which he instructs throughout the country on a variety of fire service and industrial emergency response topics. Piontek was a contributing editor for the Fundamentals of Firefighter Skills.