Is Firefighter Equipment Safe Enough Essay

These are needed to examine the scene of the fire to determine if it is safe to enter. This is by turning any gas off and that the electrics are safe. They also ensure that there are no live or hanging wires that can cause harm to the fire fighters in any form.

The article "Beating the Heat" by Stephanie Warren Drimmer, is about two high school students who saw the suits that fire fighters wear wore fail, and as a result, 19 firefighters died. They decided to research and improve how firefighting suits are made. They discovered that designs for firefighting suits are nearly 40 years old. They discovered that the material the suits were made of would disintegrate at only half the temperature of a rapid-moving fire.

A firefighter’s ability to communicate directly and in real-time is essential, and serves as a lifeline to safety. Any communications delay or failure puts lives at risk. Replacing obsolete portable radio equipment will ensure we can meet mission critical and basic response needs, promoting interoperability with federal, state, and local partners; ensuring compliance with state and federal laws; and supporting the safety of our firefighters, public safety responders, and the citizens we serve.

In the article, “Undulation Training for Development of Hierarchical Fitness and Improved Firefighter Job Performance,” a research was conducted when a critical problem emerged from the extraordinary job risks of firefighting. In this article, it was recognized that firefighting was a high risk occupation in which many activities were life threatening. Yearly incidences brought on from these life-threatening activities and conditions included cardiovascular disease from the inhalation of smoke as well as musculoskeletal injuries from the physical demands of the job. The problem was lying in the fact most fire departments were failing to adequately prepare the firefighters in terms of health and physical fitness to take on the

Validity claims are deriving from the potentially unbalanced and discriminative approaches to determining ones capabilities through and within the City of Lakewood’s firefighter program. Claims of standardized equipment restricting the physical capabilities of one’s movement is effecting ones results, however, fire retardant boots and gloves are required for the protection of firefighters during the course of duty and should not be compromised. The main purpose is to ensure the individuals are mentally prepared, conditionally effective, and supplied with the abilities to endure prolonged periods of exposure to highly intensified situations. Although such requirements are demanding, strenuous and potentially hurtful, it is extremely vital that when delivering products of public

Led the grant writing team for submission of a FEMA grant in 2005. This grant request was for replacement of all Self Contained Breathing Apparatus. The securing of these funds would bring the Beavercreek Fire Department into compliance with NFPA 1981 “Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus for Fire and Emergency Services” (2002 Edition), NIOSH CFR Part 84, State of Ohio Homeland Security Plan and NFPA 1500 “Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program”. FEMA awarded a grant for $300,156.00 to the Beavercreek Fire Department October 28, 2005.

For years if not decades, firefighters have responded to a reported structure fire that turned out to be a fully involved single room. This fire scenario requires a core set of fire tactics and skills to control and extinguished the fire, but is it this simple? Perhaps twenty years it may have been, but new dangers are lurking in every scenario and may have detrimental outcomes for unsuspecting and unaware firefighters and victims. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) agency along with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) have been conducting research to understand fire behavior and fire dynamics. This research is providing firefighters with new information about how and why

equipment. There are injuries that the vests and helmets can’t protect, but they protect the

The fire shelter is a personal protective device designed to be used by wildland firefighters in the United States. These shelters have been in use since the 1960’s , and since their first introduction into standard wildland firefighter equipment, they have saved over 300 lives and prevented serious injuries to countless others [IWFC-Anderson]. The shelters are easily carried and easily deployed by firefighters as a last resort to protect against heat injury if they find themselves in an emergency situation.

Today we have many of our guys who like to push the envelop. Our gear is the best and it will protect us in any kind of conditions. But is still has limits. You may be protected from the heat and fire to an extent but you can only go as far as the SCBA will let

The legislation carries on to say that “Any non-automatic fire-fighting equipment so provided is easily accessible, simple to use and indicated by signs.” (The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, page 11, 13 (1) b.).

According the agency of the Department of Homeland Security states that motor vehicles crashes are the leading cause of death for an on-line duty fireman. Other significant causes of death are: caught/trapped (10%), fall (5%), collapse (3%), and other (7%). Intentions of firefighters are to make the community safe as possible, but we the people need to think twice before we do anything else when dealing with fire. The other things that it 's a national problem for firefighters is not wearing their seat belts when driving out to an emergency. They are so focused on saving our lives when first it 's supposed to be the opposite, their safety is first, but firemen put their lives at risk.

Much like the firefighters in 911 (figure 1); many people would say that a firefighter’s health is very important. Life is a precious thing and before we sit around and let controlled burnings take control, we should protect the lives of those who protect us.

     After visiting some actual fire departments, I realized as a firefighter you certainly have a lot to be proud of. It’s not your average job and does require quite a bit of organization to stay on top of everything. Everyday you have to be ready and prepared for just about anything that can happen. You never know what kinds

Nomex has an outer shell, a moisture barrier, and a thermal barrier. The outer shell is water-proof and does not weigh much. The moisture barrier has strong fire resistants’ for the liquid-impermeable films to perform well. This barrier helps protect against the entrance of water, chemicals, and viral agents. This layer is also very breathable and it keeps you cool during the activity that the firefighter is performing. The thermal barrier is the most mobile layer and keeps the firefighter warm while keeping water out and making water dry very quickly. The shirt is a yellow color which is easily visible to other wildland firefighters. When the shirt is touched with fire this part of the shirt becomes darker like a brownish color and it is not able to be washed out. Over this shirt they also wear a “brush coat” which is also made of Nomex and the coat is also a bright yellow. Firemen wear them at night though because these coats are not fire-proof and will not really keep you safe. They also wear green, high-strength, fire-proof, synthetic pants also made of Nomex like the pants. The firefighters must wear 100% cotton undergarments under their fire shirt and fire pants. According to pbs.org the boots the wildland firemen wear are, “Eight-inch, lug-soled leather boots provide firefighters with