firefighter safety mistakes & best practices - gasaway · 2018-12-31 · mistakes!!!...
TRANSCRIPT
The good… the bad… and the ugly.
Safety Mistakes & Best Practices
Presented at 2012 Firehouse World Expo
San Diego, California
Program Outline
Fire Chief (ret.) Richard B. Gasaway
www.SAMatters.com
Mistakes
1. Performing high-‐risk activities without proper staffing and equipment.
When firefighters died…
It often happened in the first 12 minutes and there were less than eight members on the scene.
2. The person in-‐charge performing hands-‐on activities.
When firefighters died…
The person who was supposed to be in charge was performing firefighting duties instead.
3. Failing to conduct a 360-‐degree size-‐up.
When firefighters died…
The first-‐arriving crew often failed to completely walk around the structure and they missed seeing critical clues.
4. Failing to know when to be defensive.
When firefighters died…
Firefighters were often engaged in offensive (interior fire attack) when the strategy should have been defensive (exterior fire attack).
5. Flawed training
When firefighters died…
It was often attributed to improper training, inadequate training or the department training officers took shortcuts when leading training sessions.
Best Practices
1. Ensure you have the proper amount of help responding immediately to the call.
Implement an automatic aid program
Ensure you have 15-‐20 firefighters responding to structure fires immediately, 24-‐hours-‐a-‐day.
Change expectations of performance and outcomes based on staffing levels.
2. The person in-‐charge should be in a vehicle or a remote location, putting distance between the commander and the action.
Provides a big picture view
Reduce the impact from distractions and interruptions
Reduces temptation to be hands-‐on
Reduces complications from “multitasking”
Provides an environment to think about future events
3. Conduct a complete size-‐up to ensure an understanding of what is happening.
360 degree size up.
Capture and comprehending the critical clues and cues that form situational awareness.
Develop shared situational awareness by communicating findings (“Upon completion of the 360 degree size-‐up, we have...”)
4. Conduct a risk-‐benefit assessment.
Every fire is NOT an offensive (interior attack) fire
Sometimes victims are not savable
The “go” versus “no-‐go” dilemma/debate
What does “no-‐go” look like?
What does “no-‐go” look like at your burn building?
5. Re-‐evaluate your training program.
The best practices to ensure training will be duplicated under stress:
Make the training environment realistic (e.g., sounds/smells)
Repetition of cognitive and muscle memory tasks
Use emotions to seat lessons deep into memory
Use memorization techniques (H.O.M.E.S.)
Use memory aids to assist prospective memory (checklists)
Practice does not make perfect!
Practice makes permanent!
realistic, repetitive, emotional and
NO shortcuts!
This program is a call to action!
Center for the Advancement of Situational Awareness & Decision Making & The Public Safety Laboratory
Fire Chief (ret.) Richard B. Gasaway, PhD
www.SAMatters.com