By Janet Wilmoth for Mutual Aid
A FIRE CHIEF blog
I rarely ask you for anything, but this week I am. Please take the time to read the investigative series published this week in the Chicago Tribune that examines the relationship between the fire-retardant and tobacco industries. This is one of the most significant reports I have read in all my years writing about the fire service.
By Anna Gorman
For the Los Angeles Times
Just before 10:45 a.m., Keith Marks called 911 and the Los Angeles County emergency response system sprang into action. A fire engine, a paramedic squad and a private ambulance — eight men in total — rushed to the Martin Luther King Jr. urgent-care center in Willowbrook.
When they arrived, Marks, 56, was sitting calmly in a wheelchair just outside the entrance. His complaint: he was having joint pain from gout and wanted his medication refilled.
“I can’t walk,” he said. “I need to go to the closest emergency room.”
The paramedics checked his vital signs. Marks told them he called 911 after the county clinic wouldn’t see him for free because he had other insurance. Then the paramedics did what Marks wanted — sent him by ambulance to St. Francis Medical Center.
During an eight-hour period at L.A. County Fire Station 41 last week, paramedics responded to a handful of calls but only one actual emergency — a man who reportedly had a seizure while driving on the 105 Freeway. Several other calls, they said, could have been handled differently if there were other options. The call from Marks was one.
“Really, what are we going to do for gout?” Capt. Ernie Clayton asked.
The incident illustrates a chronic problem — unnecessary 911 calls that result in costly trips to already crowded ERs, which divert resources from true emergencies. Increasingly, uninsured patients rely on 911 as their only way into the healthcare system.
Now, four decades after public safety agencies began launching fast-response paramedics, counties around the nation are overhauling the 911 system to save money, improve care and reduce ER overcrowding, an especially acute problem in the Los Angeles area. Federal health reform is driving the changes, as hospitals try to reduce readmissions and the healthcare system prepares for more patients
Click here for the full story.
Photo credit: Allen J. Schaben for the Los Angeles Times
From NFPA
According to a recent report released by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 610 civilian deaths in the United States were attributed to smoking material fires in 2010, a number at or near the all-time-low and well down from the 1980 levels. During 2010 there were an estimated 90,800 smoking material fires resulting in $663 million in direct property damage.
Several factors, including a decline in smoking and stricter fire resistant standards on mattresses and upholstered furniture have been credited with the decrease in smoking material fire deaths over the last 30 years. The most recent drops in fatalities and injuries, though, owe much to the “fire-safe” cigarette legislation.
In 2003, U.S. states began requiring that all cigarettes sold must be “fire-safe,” that is, have sharply reduced ignition strength (ability to start fires), as determined by ASTM Standards. By 2010, fire-safe cigarette legislation was in effect in 47 states. From 2003 to 2010, the number of civilian deaths in smoking-material fires fell by an average of 21 percent.
Read the full story here.
From 9news.com
An East Tennessee firefighter has designed a new device to help his colleagues stay safe on the job. Now, his invention is grabbing the attention of fire departments across the country.
“We’re so hot, we just pretty much cook inside,” said Rural Metro reserve firefighter Michael Robinson Sr. about the heavy protective gear firefighters must wear. “When we come out of a fire environment, our number one priority is to cool off.”
While fighting a house fire and brush fire in Heiskell last fall, one of Robinson’s firefighter colleagues collapsed from heat exhaustion.
He recovered, and the incident inspired Robinson to begin researching rehab techniques.
“I never really knew how important rehab really was until I started researching, and how many firefighters had paid the ultimate price for this heat issue.”
With his research, he created a device called the “HeatSeeker,” a rehab mist cap that fits onto any water discharge pipe on a fire truck, hose, hydrant, or portable unit.
Click here to read more.
From PRWEB
The American Helicopter Services and Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA) in conjunction with the US Forest Service is working to bring modern large airtanker aircraft into the fleet of aerial firefighting platforms.
The devastating wildland forest fires in recent years have focused increasing attention to the nation’s aging and dwindling fleet of large fixed-wing airtankers used as an initial attack tool for wildland fire containment. In fact, the American Helicopter Services & Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA) has long recognized the 11 remaining large air tankers– former US Navy P2V aircraft, specially modified for dropping fire retardant–are stretched thin and nearing the end of their service lives. With a 50-year average age of aircraft, there will not be any large airtankers for wildland firefighting by the end of the decade unless the fleet is modernized and increased in numbers.
The US Forest Service (USFS)–the agency that oversees wilderness protection–has also known for years that indefinite deployment of the current large airtanker fleet is not an option. But it was only on March 6, in a prepared statement to Congress, that USFS Chief Tom Tidwell reported that his agency’s diminished and aging fleet of contractor-available, contractor-operated airtankers is insufficient to combat the nation’s increasingly severe fires. Just a month prior to that–on February 10–the USFS released the “Large Airtanker Modernization Strategy” and has sought proposals from private industry for next-generation large airtankers. Yet, well before this document was made public, the AHSAFA Members were already taking the first steps toward bringing in newer aircraft, which would be mission-ready well before the last of today’s large airtankers are finally grounded.
Click here to read the full press release.
By Claire Bessette
For The Day
Norwich – Whenever Thomas LaFreniere hears a fire siren, he returns to April 3, 1962.
With the fire chief out of town and the deputy responding to another call, LaFreniere, a lieutenant, was in charge at 1:22 p.m. when trucks were backing into the cramped Chestnut Street station.
“Truck fire at Van Tassel Warehouse,” came the call from the switchboard operator. “Be careful, explosives aboard.”
When firefighters arrived, they were met by a massive explosion that was felt as far away as Montville and Preston. Four firefighters were killed in what is the second worst fire tragedy in the state’s history.
LaFreniere, now 83, will return to Norwich from Florida April 3 for a memorial ceremony on the 50th anniversary of the worst firefighter fatality disaster in the city’s history. He will give the keynote speech in honor of his four fellow firefighters killed that day. A plaque will be unveiled with the names of all 10 Norwich firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
That fateful day
Three firetrucks screamed to the narrow dead end of Forest Street.
“You always think a truck fire is in the engine compartment,” LaFreniere said this week. “Wrong. It was in the box car.”
Firefighters saw smoke coming out of the truck cargo box, which was loaded with highly explosive peroxide-based chemicals. The truck was parked in a narrow opening between two buildings. One barrel aboard had leaked.
To read the full article, click here.
Photo credit: Tim Martin, The Day
By Christopher McGowan
for the Salvation Army EDS
West Liberty, KY – Recovery after a major disaster requires a number of aspects, among them is the ability to return to work. For residents of Morgan County where tornadoes devastated much of the downtown commercial area, along with numerous homes, this is a significant challenge.
“The building’s just gone…we couldn’t go to work even if we could get there,” said Tony, a West Liberty resident lamenting the double loss of his automobile and his job. “But we’re lucky, our whole family is safe,” he added, struggling to find a bright spot.
The bright spot for many Morgan County residents shines on Lion Apparel, the largest non-governmental employer in West Liberty. “We were spared the damage and loss so many others suffered,” said Dorothy Adams, the Lion Plant Manager and life-long resident. “We have dedicated employees; our shifts were full as soon as the lights came back on.” Adams noted that a handful of employees had lost their homes or cars; and all have gone without electricity for several days. “We make protective, ‘turn-out’ gear for firemen all over the world—its important work, but it isn’t easy.”
From FEMA
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| Young woman as an AmeriCorps NCCC volunteer |
On March 13, 2012, the White House announced an innovative partnership between the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to establish a FEMA-devoted unit of 1,600 service corps members within AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) solely devoted to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. This partnership builds on the historic collaboration between the two agencies and will enhance the federal government’s disaster capabilities, increase the reliability and diversity of the disaster workforce, promote an ethic of service, expand education and economic opportunity for young people, and achieve significant cost savings for the American taxpayer. When the program is at full operational capability, and in an average disaster year, we expect to see a savings of approximately $60 million in a year.
By Henry J. Costo
For FIREHOUSE magazine’s Tools & Technology feature
Change is an inescapable reality of our everyday lives and certainly the fire service is not immune to that reality. Sometimes, the need for change is recognized by an organization and generated internally. Other times, change occurs around us and we are compelled to adapt. Change and the consequences of change can at times be obvious – for example, when the fire service transitioned from long coats and rubber boots to modern-day fire-resistant bunker coats and pants. More often, the changes may be more subtle, yet the effects may be profoundly significant. Either way, the most successful and durable organizations recognize change as an opportunity to improve rather than as a burden.
From the Innovation News Daily Staff
Fire has proven deadly for sailors throughout the centuries of naval warfare. The U.S. Navy wants to counter that ancient foe with a humanoid robot capable of throwing extinguisher grenades as it nimbly moves about the narrow passages and ladderways of modern warships.
A robot firefighter capable of walking or climbing in the manner of human sailors would present a huge advantage over one of today’s military robots — which rely upon wheels or tanklike treads — in operating in the cramped quarters of warships. But the U.S. military also has set its sights on “other potential warfighting applications” in choosing to create a humanoid robot, according to the Naval Research Laboratory.
The Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR), which is still 18 months away from being tested, would not only battle flames on its own, but work together with sailors. It would follow the gaze of a human leader, respond to hand signals and even obey voice commands.
Click here to read the full story.
Photo: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
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